Susanna Barker facts for kids

Susanna Barker was a very skilled silversmith from England. She lived and worked in the late 1700s and early 1800s, creating beautiful items, especially unique labels for wine bottles.

Who Was Susanna Barker?

Susanna Barker was an English silversmith. A silversmith is someone who makes things out of silver. She was known as a "smallworker," which means she focused on making smaller, detailed silver items rather than large pieces.

Her Work as a Silversmith

Susanna Barker started her business in London. She officially registered her first mark (a special stamp for her silver) on June 25, 1778. She registered two more marks later, on August 12 and August 26, 1789.

She was especially good at making wine labels. These were small, decorative tags that hung around the neck of a wine bottle to show what kind of wine was inside. Susanna was famous for her unique designs, especially those shaped like stars and eyes.

What Are Wine Labels?

Imagine a fancy bottle of wine. Before paper labels were common, people used small, often decorative, tags made of silver or other materials. These "wine labels" or "bottle tickets" would tell you if the wine was Port, Sherry, or something else. Susanna Barker made many of these.

Where She Worked

Susanna Barker had shops in London. For a time, she worked from a shop at 16 Gutter Lane. Later, from 1790 to 1793, she was recorded as working as a goldsmith (someone who works with gold) at 29 Gutter Lane. It's possible that another silversmith named Robert Barker, who registered his own mark in 1793, was her son.

Her Legacy and Art Today

You can still see some of Susanna Barker's beautiful work today in museums.

• The National Museum of Women in the Arts owns three of her wine labels, which were made in 1792.
• The Victoria and Albert Museum has a silver bottle ticket made by her, dating from around 1800.