Meetings

Next Meetings

Spring 2009 meeting will be held in London at the Savile Club, Brook Street, W1 on Thursday 14 May 2009 in the evening. In the past the Spring meeting has usually been held in March, so this May date represents a change from previous procedure.

Autumn 2009 meeting will be in Birmingham on Friday 23 & Saturday 24 October 2009. In the afternoon of 23 October, we will have a special visit to the Birmingham Assay Office and there will be an informal dinner in the evening. In the morning of 24 October there will be a visit to an exhibition or location associated with Matthew Boulton, the Birmingham entrepreneur who died in 1809. Following lunch we will then have the AGM on Saturday afternoon. We will post further details as they become available and members and guests are welcome to part or all of the programme.

Recent Meetings

Autumn 2008 meeting and AGM was held in London on Saturday 25 October 2008. We viewed the silver and particularly the labels at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the morning, including those in the reserve collection. Pictures of some of the members viewing labels 'behind the scenes' at the Museum appear below (1 & 3). At (2) is one of the trays of labels. We then had lunch at the Rembrant Hotel opposite the Museum, followed by the AGM. At that AGM, Gordon Proctor (4) was elected President for the next two years and a wine label suitably inscribed for 'Treasurer's PORT' (5) was presented to outgoing Treasurer Patrick Gaskell-Taylor (6).  Then the audience of some forty members and guests (7 & 9) enjoyed a stimulating lecture by David Constable (8) on armorial and crested labels. He illustrated these on screen and members displayed examples from their collections on the table in front of him and were able to examine the labels afterwards.

Joint meeting with the Glass Circle was held on 8 April 2008 to discuss, labels, decanters and glasses and the relations between these associated articles.  The speakers were Andy McConnell, author of 'The Decanter' and the glass expert on the television programme The Antiques Roadshow; and Professor John Salter, Editor of 'Wine Labels 1730-2003' and author of 'Sauce Labels'.

Spring 2008 meeting was held at the Savile Club, Brook Street, London W1 on Thursday 20 March 2008. The theme was enamels, with much appreciated talks by Erika Speel, an expert on painted enamels and the history of enamelling; and Dr Richard Wells, a noted authority on enamels labels who has provided three fine supplements on the subject for members.

The 2007 AGM was held on Saturday 20 October 2007 at the Castle Hotel, Taunton, Somerset. After a visit in the morning to the County Museum and a buffet lunch at the Castle Hotel, around 25 members gathered for the AGM, which commenced at 2.15pm. The year was reviewed, the accounts discussed, future plans were outlined, officers were elected for 2007/08, and suggestions for the continued improvement of the Journal were put forward. After the conclusion of the meeting, Tim Kent led a discussion of Exeter wine labels and members were able to view some 100 such labels. Some photographs at the Castle Hotel below.

The 2007 Spring meeting was held at the Savile Club, Brook Street, London on Thursday 22 March. John Rocyn-Jones led a discussion on the eighteenth century silversmith Susanna Barker and a good selection of labels with her mark were examined by members. Before this talk, members approved an updated Constitution for the Circle.

The 2006 AGM was held in London on Saturday 14 October 2006. After an informal lunch attended by some members, the AGM was held at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Tony Hampton was elected President for the next two years and Nicholas Shaw gave a very well received talk on heraldic and animal labels and showed many examples of these fine and rare designs. To give a flavour of proceedings, we show three photographs - one of the tables at lunch (outside in mid October in London!), Nick Shaw holds up a label during his presentation, and some members inspect labels after the presentation.

Two Organised Meetings Each Year

The Circle holds two organised meetings each year, a Spring Meeting in March and an Autumn Meeting in October - see dates below. Each of these meetings has a theme, such as particular designs or silversmiths. Members are encouraged to bring their own labels illustrating the theme and other labels they wish to discuss and seek opinions. Members also have the opportunity to meet, socialise exchange information and labels and take part in developing the work of the Circle. In addition to these organised meetings, individual members meet informally from time to time, typically around the time of, and indeed at, antique fairs.

 Venues for Meetings

The Spring meeting is held in London, while the Annual General Meeting alternates annually between London and other venues of interest for label collectors such as Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, York, Sheffield, Birmingham. The content of the programme varies but may include visits, hands on inspection of collections, presentation of papers, and lunch or dinner.

When visits have been made to those museums which hold collections of wine labels, members have had the chance, not normally given to the public, to handle and inspect many examples of the label makers' craft. Among the museums visited are the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the London Museum, London. Similar opportunities have been afforded by Birmingham Assay Office, and the Goldsmiths' and Vintners' Companies, London.