Topic: Three glasses

[Antwerp1954]

I recently bought these three glasses in a lot in Germany. They are all made of soda glass showing yellow luminescence under UV. At first sight they are identical but on closer inspection they are all slightly different though made to the same pattern and style. Do these inconsistencies indicate mass produced glasses with little quality control over consistency?

They are all slightly different in height and foot diameter, not in itself that unusual. i don't believe the rims and feet have been ground down. They all have folded feet and hollow stems with the first one showing some redness in the inside of the stem. All have broken pontil marks

The engraving on the bowls is also inconsistent but based on the same design. Two of them have a pattern repeated three times whilst the other has an elongated version repeated twice.

The cushion knops immediately below the bowls are all of a slightly different shape and size. In one case only this knop has been decorated with ground ovals.

The auction house described them as baroque glasses from about 1730-40. Is any one able to add any thoughts especially on their likely place and date of manufacture. Saxony (see Krug Collection Vol 1 No.112) or Liege? All ideas welcome.

[oldglassman]

 Hi ,
             I would think the auction house description is about a good as you may get for these , I would not call them mass produced ,as far as blown glass can be mass produced, but would have been churned out in large numbers , I would say made quickly to a price and the same for the engraving , the quality of both is not that great,the form was pretty much used all over the place in one guise or another , the Saxon glass you refer to though is of much higher quality with facet cutting to the bowl base and stem with a high conical folded foot and the engraving is superb,yours could also be Saxon but could easily be from elsewhere

cheers ,
              Peter.

[Antwerp1954]

Peter

Many thanks. They are also much like four glasses sold today in Switzerland and described as "Alpenraum" - from the Alps and second half of the 18th century. Mine are very similar in a number of ways.

[oldglassman]

 HI ,
           yes they are similar , as I said the form was used all over the place though why these are being called from the "Alps" I have no idea ,

cheers ,
              Peter.