Port Armorial Label, 1790

This very rare Georgian silver wine label is in the form of the Latham family armorial. The shield-shaped label is surmounted by a crest depicting an eagle preying on a child in swaddling clothes with an oak branch at the head of the child. The coat-of-arms are shaded in typically heraldic fashion, so that the tincture for the upper half is sable (black) and the lower half is Or (gold). The reverse side of the label bears original script engraved initials "HL" in script. The armorial is for the Latham family and fits perfectly with the script initials - possibly Henry Latham?

This port label is discussed by John Beecroft in the Wine Label Circle Journal in 1978, where he erroneously describes it as electroplate. Although unmarked, it has been positively XRF tested as silver and the style of lettering suggests a mid-19th Century dating.