Wyard Druitt in the Press:

Country Life Magazine, February 2004

DECANTER LABELS PAST AND PRESENT

Decanter labels, once as necessary as they were decorative, are amusing to collect, and are also a good investment, and, as STEVEN SPURRIER reveals, those produced by silversmiths today may prove an affordable indulgence.

One of the most delightful collectables and also one of the best investments connected to the world of wine are decanter labels, or bottle tickets as they used to be known. Mostly silver, but some in silver-gilt or gold, and later in painted enamel, these were hung around the neck of the bottle or decanter to identify the contents within. They first appeared in this country in the 1730s and their popularity surged as the clear-glass decanter, pioneered by the great promoter of the English glass industry, George Ravenscroft, developed the decanter as a more attractive alternative to a rough bottle. According to Hugh Johnson, who used to sell a full range in his much-missed shop in Saint James's Street: 'The silver decanter label is one of Britain's minor, but distinctive contributions to European culture: it appeared as a practical device and soon became a pretty conceit, the flourish of a gracious host'.

It should be noted that sale of wine in regular bottles with driven corks was unknown before the 19 th century. Wine was sold and shipped in barrel, and the success of port, sherry and madeira owed as much to the low incidence of spoilage in shipment - or once the barrel had been broached - as to the constant wars with France, which interrupted shipments of claret.

The Galloping Horse, with mane and tail flying. A new design by Wyard Druitt Until the arrival of the decanter, wines were served in solid, rather dumpy bottles that the butler or his staff had filled from the cask. The famous 'six bottle men', Dr Johnson's fellow port-drinkers, had indeed une bonne descente, as the French describe a thirsty guest, yet the flagons were less than half the size of those today. The opacity of these bottles made it impossible to distinguish between the beverages, and with the arrival of the clear-glass decanter, not even an expert eye could tell the difference between Sercial madeira, an Amontillado sherry or even brandy, whisky or rum. Decanter labels were as necessary as they were decorative.

As the range of wines, spirits and cordials available grew, the designs of the decanter labels kept pace. These generally followed the style of other silverware of the period, allowing for a large range of shapes and forms, from the simplest rectangle, with the name either engraved or punched through, to more exotic renderings of vine leaves, animals or family crests. Only by the middle of the 19 th century had paper labels become general on standard-sized wine bottles, but by then the British had exported the idea of decanter labels all over the world.

An article for the Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair written by the Wine Label Circle states: 'In the early 19 th century, they begin to appear in small numbers in most European countries. The British brought them to India, where Indian craftsmen mounted the tusk of boar and the claw of tiger in silver and engraved them to adorn their pursuers' decanters. In China, they were fashioned as dragons, and silversmiths in Canada, South Africa, Australia and America copied them in their own style for local demand.' At the fair, the Wine Label Circle mounted an extraordinary exhibition of no fewer than 258 labels for wines or spirits.

Although original labels are truly collectors' items of both rarity and value, decanter labels are still being made today by a company called Wyard Druitt, ( 5 Adams Court, Waterbeach, Cambridge; 01223 501391). Wine merchant and collector Michael Druitt has created half-a-dozen designs in silver and silver-gilt with names such as The Galloping Horse, The Angry Swan (after a design by Hester Bateman, about 1775), The Pipe of Port (Richard Richardson, about 1780), The Crowned British Lion (Paul Storr 1811) and The Indian Elephant (Edward Farrell, 1818) of which a pair engraved Claret and Madeira sold at Christie's in 2000 for £7,000. Wyard Druitt's price is £160 for a modern pair.

Pipe of Port (after Richard Richardson) Private designs include the Barton coat of arms for Anthony Barton of Chateau Leoville-Barton and a ram intended for Mouton- Rothschild, which it failed to commission, but which certainly pleased my wife, a sheep farmer. There is also a new range, the Battersea Enamel Collection, produced in association with the V&A and Halcyon Days, handpainted to match the original early 19th-century colours. For the price of a classed-growth claret or grand cru burgundy, they are an affordable indulgence.

Country Life February 12 2004

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