Topic: Cut Glass Decanters

[Leni]

The recent questions about decanters reminded me about these cut glass decanters.  May I try again to get an ID for them?  I posted them here a year ago, but didn't get a single response  :cry:  And they haven't appeared in the Unresolved forum either   

We saw one of them in a display outside an antique shop, and noticed it was badly chipped on the neck and the foot, but it still looked to be very beautiful cutting.  When we went into the shop we saw the other decanter of the pair, which was perfect!  We asked the price of that one, and were delighted when the seller 'threw in' (not literally, thank goodness!) the damaged one!   

Someone has suggested that they look a bit like the Richardson design shown in Hajdamach which was made for the  Crystal Palace exhibition, while I found a Webb pattern no. 12140 which (to me) looks like similar cutting  :huh:

Any of our cut glass experts have any idea?

[Bernard C]

Leni — Decanters are tricky, expensively manufactured in quantity for the middle classes following the Victorian lifestyle rule books, and just not really used that much today.   I've still got two or three photocopied sheets from the Percival Vickers pattern books of decanter patterns that the late Tom Percival gave me, asking me to find him just one, without success.   And the whole collecting field made so much more difficult by decades of mix-and-match merchants treating their customers with contempt.

I'm sure I looked up your decanters last time around — with no luck.   Have you checked Glen's Sowerby CD's?

It won't help much with attribution, but have you checked whether your decanters were made like English Rock Crystal, cut from a thick blank, or whether those gadroons were started by being mould-blown.   Check the inside with something that won't scratch.

Bernard C. 

[Leni]

Definitely cut from a very thick, heavy blank rather than mould-blown, Bernard!  It was actually the discussion on moulds versus cutting that reminded me of these decanters, because the clear panels are actually very rounded, almost like the 'bosses' being discussed in the skeleton mould thread, but elongated. 

[krsilber]

Very impressive decanters!!!  Nice find!  I don't know much about British rich cut glass, and it's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like the cutting on these isn't super deep.  That suggests to me that they were made before the "Brilliant Period" of the late 19th and early 20th C, when power-generated wheels came into use and enabled deeper cutting.

[krsilber]

...I mean the fine pattern cutting isn't very deep, not that there wasn't a lot of glass cut away.  Larger, flatter cuts could be done with a large diameter wheel, the cutting speed of which was easier to keep up with a treadle than small wheels - or at least that's what I surmise.  The material the wheels were made of may have played a role, too.

[Leni]

Actually, it's just the poor photography, Kristi    The cutting is really very deep!  The stars on the 'belly' of the decanter stand out about 3/8ths of an inch!   And the glass is really very thick.  Even the stoppers, in spite of appearing to be hollow-blown, with a bubble in the centre, weigh 214g and 218g each! 

I also notice that the cutting is 'sharp' to the touch, rather than the duller feel of acid-smoothed cutting.  I always associate this sharp feel with ABP, although I think these decanters are English. 

Anyone got any tips for photographing clear and cut glass?  It's something I really struggle with   

Leni  xx

[Frank]

Check David's tips, the black card on each side works well.

[pamela]

French? St. Louis?  :huh:
just an idea - no knowledge at all. I'm afraid 

[pamela]

Leni, I've gone through all my Val St.Lambert today - I had hoped to find yours... but unfortunately only similar...
Will you upload more photos please ? I'm not giving up so quickly 

[Leni]

I have vowed to take more (hopefully better  ) photos of my cut glass - these and my ABP bowls - but have been very busy with another poorly cat    plus lots of school work over the exam period, and now I am going to be on Jury Service next week!  I will try to do the picture session this weekend sometime, I promise!  :spls: