Rare Silver Calcavella Label, c.1780

This is a very rare late 18th century silver Calcavella wine label in the form of cut-out script lettering and is in fine condition.

Wine labels with their full names cut-out from sheet silver are very scarce from this early date and according to "Wine Labels 1730-2003" cut-out word labels are generally thought to have been introduced in the 1860's. This example however, is distinctly different from Victorian examples being curved rather than flat, unmarked  and Calcavella was a particularly fashionable tipple of the 18th century too. This label is described by Andrew Gilmour in Wine Label Circle journal Autumn 2009: Volume 12, number 7, page 356.