When Did The Sealing Of Glass Bottles By Taverns End?

Glass bottles were sealed with an insignia or sign of either a family or a particular tavern or inn in the 16th century but, by 1730, the sealing of tavern bottles dwindled to virtually nothing. The tradition continued into the 19th century for private individuals who wanted their own wine collection marked by a glass seal showing their coat of arms or their family crest.

Other institutions and wine merchants took over the practice. The Oxford colleges started using sealed bottles around the middle of the 17th century and wine merchants began to seal bottles with their names from the late 18th century. 17th century bottles were wine and fat with a short neck and a wide base but later 18th century bottles took on the taller cylindrical shape that wine bottles have today.

Seals showing the brand name of a wine producer did not start to appear until the 19th or twentieth century and some still have them today, although labelling is now the normal way of identifying wine.