Corkscrews, Tasters, Labels, Brandy Pans, Lemon Strainers Wine Accessories such as corkscrews, tasters, labels and lemon strainers were often made in silver and are a popular collecting field. Silver Corkscrews were made for opening wine bottles and also for scent bottles.
Corkscrews, Tasters, Labels, Brandy Pans, Lemon Strainers Wine Accessories such as corkscrews, tasters, labels and lemon strainers were often made in silver and are a popular collecting field. Silver Corkscrews were made for opening wine bottles and also for scent bottles.
Corkscrews, Tasters, Labels, Brandy Pans, Lemon Strainers Wine Accessories such as corkscrews, tasters, labels and lemon strainers were often made in silver and are a popular collecting field. Silver Corkscrews were made for opening wine bottles and also for scent bottles. They are available in many different forms include travelling and novelty shapes. Wine Tasters. The saucer shaped taster was already in use as early as the 14th century BC in Minoan Crete and has been essential in the production of wine right through to the present time. It is used by the sommelier to determine a wine’s quality by assessing the color, clarity, bouquet and taste. The majority of wine tasters in existence are French. The owners often engraved their name on the taster whose single flat handle often accommodated a neck cord. Very few English wine tasters were made because wine was not a national product however a number were produced during a short period in the second half of the 17th century. These English examples are rare and anything after this date is even rarer. The early English examples were in the shape of a flat bowl, often with simple wire handles (these often have original rough soldering which can appear “blobby”). Brandy Saucepans made their first appearance in this country during the Queen Anne period and continued to be made until the mid 19th century. Some have spouts. The size varies but generally the early examples tend to be smaller. Sometimes they have three legs, these are called skillets, and they are quite rare. Many Brandy Bowls are Dutch in origin. The two-handled bowls were used to celebrate childbirth but may have been passed around at other festive occasions as well when brandewijn, liquor distilled from wine to which sugar and raisins were added, would be served from them with a spoon. Orange or lemon strainers were peculiar to the 18th century and were probably used in conjunction with punch bowls to filter out the fruit pips. They were made with one or two handles. The one handled strainer sometimes had a small tongue or lug on the opposite side of the handle which may have been used to hook it on to the side of the punch bowl. The strainers are normally marked in the piercing in the centre of the bowl. These strainers are popularly used nowadays as tea strainers although the size is larger than a normal tea strainer. 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.