LABELS
As the British were very interested in the provenance of the wine, they had invented the Labels, little metal plates engraved with the product name of origin.
The first evidence of Labels bearing the name “Marsala” dates back to 1793, made by Robert Barker, a London silversmith. Glass bottles began to appear with metal, silver, ivory and mother of pearl labels that were slightly curved to hang more closely around the bottle neck.
The British imported not just wine from all their dominions, but also a considerable series of Port, as well as a large amount of Brandy, Madeira and Sherry, and Marsala just had to be one of the very few Italian wines.
The Labels came in many shapes: oval, star, sickle, rectangular, heart, harp, cask, vine leaf or reproductions of the purchaser’s coat of arms. The main feature of these objects reflected the life style of the time in which they were made, Neoclassical with garlands and classical figures, Regency with bunches of grapes, vine leaves and mythological figures, Victorian with a return of geometric shapes copying the architecture of the period.
Production techniques also evolved to create new, cheaper materials, such as electroplating and plating of the objects, which enabled costs to be reduced and the labels to become more popular.
Over time, Label production extended to all the British colonies. In fact, we find not only work in filigreed silver from India or dragons surmounted by a crescent moon made in Hong Kong, but also pieces of Canadian, South African and Maltese silver, such as the Marsala wine labels made by Gioacchino Lebrun in the Maltese tradition linked to the great Sicilian school of silversmiths.
Our tiny precious Labels are no longer suitable for the host of neo-consumers; paper is definitely more economical and fewer Labels are produced, or are restricted to advertising or commemorative events.