; Page 20, January 21, 1979 - Sunday News

Decanter labels, also

bottle tickets, are- small :

plaques on chain loops
which can be
suspended around the
necks of bottles.

They evolved from _ the
‘need to identify table-sized
containers -of wines and
Spirits during the 18th

century, when liquors were-

sold in casks and dispensed
as required .by the
household. -

Curiously, the wine names
were engraved directly on
clear glass decanters as part
of their overall decoration
several years before the
separate sterling label was
devised. Apparently, the
glass cutters’ designs got out-
of-hand, leaving no plain
surface large enough on
which to place the wine
name.

Although it is impossible to
say when the first of the
silver labels was made,
examples exist which can be
dated prior to 1738.
(Hallmarks were not
required on decanter labels
until 1790, though a number
of earlier examples bear
them.)

By the mid-18th century,
the labels were used in great
houses throughout England,
and by 1770, facsimiles were
painted in gold on Bristol
glass decanters for those of
lesser means.

At first, the labels imitated
the shapes of brass key
plates. These escutcheons
might be either very plain or
exquisitely chased with vine
leaves and grapes, no two
being identical as they were
entirely hand worked.

Another early variety was
the crescent, supposedly
inspired by the gorget, the
metal throat plate still worn
by army officers as part of
the uniform of the period.

MARINE

TONI DABBS

Decanter labels

Means of identifi cation-

Narfow rectangles also
were made, sometimes
crowned by chased or

pierced domes, and by -1760, —
‘the pointed oval or eye’

‘shape had been introduced.

Armorial labels, in which
a crest formed the major
part of the design,_were
found from 1780 on and are
eagerly sought by collectors.

Also valued are the early
9th century labels made in
the form of pecten shells —
sometimes naturalistic,
sometimes stylized — which
were produced by casting or
die-stamping.

1860, when the Grocers
Licences Act. was passed,
allowing wine to be sold in
itidividual bottles provided
the contents were clearly

indicated. However, labels

continued to be made, not
only in sterling but also in
silverplate, electroplate,
enamel, porcelain, mother-
of-pearl and ivory, and are in

fact still made today in

limited quantities.

Sometimes, objects of-
fered for sale as decanter
labels are actually parts of
dismembered epergnes or
old trophy plaques that have
been engraved and given
chains. New labels cast from

After about 1820, single authentic ones and original

vine leaf labels and labels
based on architectural forms
were fashionable.

-The quality of the
engraving of the wine name
was an important feature of
18th century labels, the best
labels showing hand
scratched letters of perfect
proportions. A few of the
early escutcheons and more
of the later cast labels had
the wine name pierced, so
that the letters resembled
cut stencils.

The decanter label

declined in popularity after

labels re-engraved with a
more desirable wine name
also may be found.

Therefore, before  pur-
chasing a label, a collector
should examine it under a
magnifying glass,

scrutinizing its hallmarks.

Few books are availabie:

on this collecting topic. The
standard work, “Book of the
Wine Label” by Dr. Norman
Penzer, first published in
1947, has been reprinted in
recent years. There is also

‘“Wine Labels” by E.W.

Whitworth.

e

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