Objects
Bottle
Alcohol
Consumption
Healths, pledging, and drinking rituals
[Taken from catalogue entry]
Southwark Delft blue and white claret bottle, depicting the royal crown, labelled for ‘CLARET’, dated ‘1648’ followed by a flourish, with a strap handle.
This type of vessel is known as a ‘Sack Bottle’ because many examples are inscribed with the word ‘Sack’ or ‘Whit’, as other examples in this collection are (see D.O.C/36 and D.O.C/35 respectively) and a date, usually around the mid-seventeenth century.
They also often depict Royalist emblems (see V&A refs C.1042-1922 and C.114-1938), perhaps due to wine-drinking being more closely associated with the Court, and Royalist supporters. The crown juxtaposed with the date 1648 would have been particularly poignant, for, by the old dating system, Charles I was tried and executed in 1648, an event which precipitated the production of both political and commemorative wares.
The word ‘claret’ is the English name for a type of French red wine from the Bordeaux region of south-west France, commonly drunk by the wealthy English elite in the seventeenth century, increasingly associated as a ‘Royalist’ drink.
It is thought that more of these survive than contemporary, more utilitarian vessels because they were seen as display items, not often actually used.
Production
Dates of Production: 1648
Southwark, London, England
Materials
Earthenware
Earthenware- white
Museological Details
D.O.C/56
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