Bottle Openers

The bottle opener, which emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century alongside the industrial development of bottled beverages, is one of those everyday objects that the decorative arts transformed into a piece of genuine character. Before the standardisation of the crown cap — patented in 1892 by William Painter — bottle openers took many forms: simple levers, screw mechanisms, or combinations with a corkscrew. The most sought-after examples originate from England, France and Germany, where silversmiths and foundries produced, between 1870 and 1920, figural models in silver, bronze or brass, frequently of an advertising nature commissioned by breweries and spirit merchants.

Zoomorphic subjects — dogs, pigs, monkeys — and caricatural figures characterise a large proportion of the output of this period, reflecting the Victorian and Edwardian taste for the utilitarian object touched with quiet humour. Certain English makers, such as Thornhill and Sampson Mordan, signed pieces in silver plate of a notably refined finish. In France, enamelled cast iron of an advertising character constitutes an entire collecting category in its own right, produced in series by regional foundries on behalf of wine and beer merchants.

When assessing a piece, the collector's eye should turn first to the condition of the metal: the absence of re-soldering, crude replating or deformation. On silver pieces, assay marks — the lion passant for English silver, the Hermès or Minerva head for French — allow for dating and authentication. Articulated mechanisms should operate without excessive play, and any founder's or silversmith's signature constitutes an additional criterion of value.