Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 67, The Whiteley Galleries

Bottle Ticket

ca. 1850-1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. Here the letters SW have additional lettering that identifies the contents as a spirit, whiskey.

Contemporary gazettes begin to refer to ‘labels for bottles’ in the 1770s but it was not until the 1790s that they were established as wine or decanter labels. These tickets also illustrate in miniature the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials was enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.

This example is made of electroplated nickel silver. In this process the nickel base has been coated with a thin layer of silver deposited onto it by electrolysis. The British firm Elkington & Co. pioneered the electroplating technique in the 1830s and by the 1840s it rapidly replaced Sheffield plate.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Electroplated nickel silver
Brief description
Electroplate, no marks, England ca.1850-1900
Physical description
Bottle ticket with the letters "SW" with the additional lettering "HISKEY." Electroplated nickel silver, Gothic capitals engraved; chain attached.
Dimensions
  • Length: 6.3cm
  • Width: 5.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • No marks
  • SW (HISKEY)
Gallery label
"SW" Electroplate Britsih, 19th century M.1255-1944(2000)
Credit line
P. J. Cropper Bequest
Object history
Acquisition RF: 44 / 177
Bequest - P.J. Cropper
per W J Sheldrick
‘SW’ for Scotch Whiskey.
Summary
Bottle tickets identified the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials. Here the letters SW have additional lettering that identifies the contents as a spirit, whiskey.

Contemporary gazettes begin to refer to ‘labels for bottles’ in the 1770s but it was not until the 1790s that they were established as wine or decanter labels. These tickets also illustrate in miniature the skills of the silversmith over the last two hundred years. While the variety of styles and materials was enormous, silver bottle tickets tended to reflect fashionable designs and technical advances in metalware generally.

This example is made of electroplated nickel silver. In this process the nickel base has been coated with a thin layer of silver deposited onto it by electrolysis. The British firm Elkington & Co. pioneered the electroplating technique in the 1830s and by the 1840s it rapidly replaced Sheffield plate.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
M.1255-1944

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
Record URL
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