Description

A handsome antique sterling silver bottle ticket in the form of a vine leaf pierced for PORT. Good decorative detail.

Weight 22 grams, less than 1 troy ounce.
Measures 8.5 x 5.8 cm.
London 1826
Maker Thomas Edwards.
Sterling silver.

Marks. Stamped with a full set of clear English hallmarks.

Literature. Wine labels, also known as “bottle tickets”, appear to have originated in the second quarter of the 18th century. They were made in many attractive designs and are a popular collecting field. Generally, the label is suspended around the neck of the bottle by a chain, although some are formed as plain collars which slip over the neck, or formed as a plain rectangle hinged from a wire ring. Among the many good makers are Hester Bateman and family, Phipps & Robinson, Samuel Bradley, Mary Binley and Paul Storr.

Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, often served as a dessert wine, although it also comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties.
Other port-style fortified wines are produced outside Portugal, in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, Spain, and the United States, but under the European Union Protected Designation of Origin guidelines only products from Portugal are allowed to be labelled “port”.