Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. > British & Irish Glass
Breaking News Nailsea / Bristol hat found in charity shop in Bristol for £1.50
Paul S.:
I was rumaging in Rye, Sussex, this morning, and was reminded of this thread when I saw a glass bowler/top hat, which seemed cheap at £3., so I invested heavily in what I'm hoping is an antique. ;) Description reads............
Pale bottle green, with one large and some much smaller bubbles - one white seed and a number of very small black ones.
Glass is quite thick and pontil has been snapped, with dirt and discolouration around the sharp edges as to be expected from period snapped pontils. The hat has spent some of its life sitting inverted (used as a bowl/jar or whatever??), but the underside of the brim shows quite massive wear as per the pic - on the front and rear ends, with virtually none on the sides. Height is c. 3.5" and 5" back to front.
This is nothing like the posh hat frigger showing in Hajdamach, and my only book specifically on C18 and C19 coloured glass is a volume from 'The Collector's World in Colour' by Davis & Middlemas - which unfortunately doesn't show any hat friggers. However, the colour of this hat seems an exact match with what was a common colour of Victorian 'door stops/dumps' showing in the book - so I'm inclined towards thinking this hat is from a Midlands factory c. 1870.
The snapped pontil can be a confusing feature - I thought for some time that it was found only on first half C18 glass, but now know that it is occurs not uncommonly on some second half C19 pieces - especially, for example, on what are known as the 'thumb print' ale glasses, which are known to have been made around 1860 - 1880.
If the Mods wish to shove this on a new thread, no problem - it just seemed relevant to make a comparison perhaps with the other hat here. Must admit I did think that Mike's hat looked rather like a 'stetson' - and I wonder if the maker would have put the rim on one side only?
Of course, if I'm off the wall and mine was made in China last year, then I've wasted £3, but please be gentle. ;)
Ref. 'Coloured Glass' - Derek C. Davis & Keith Middlemas - 1968.
Paul S.:
apologies, there was meant to be a side view which I forgot.
flying free:
does yours have a part folded rim?
m
Paul S.:
no folded rim m, I was speaking of Mike's example when I mentioned that. :)
Baked_Beans:
Really sorry I havn't replied earlier , I havn't looked at GMB for a few days.
I did own a hat of the same colour once , it was a little taller and had the same matt band to the underside of the rim (which wasn't folded as in this case) . The pontil scar was snapped off and wasn't heat treated so much as this one. This other hat had been bought by the previous owner from an auctioneers in Bristol (he still had the reciept) and they had described it as either from Nailsea or Bristol. This is the basis of my assumption about this one . Plus the fact that is was bought in a charity shop in Bristol.
There is a really good book on 'Nailsea glass' the same as the title written by Keith Vincent published by David & Charles. In the book there is a photo of a hat display at Clevedon Court (between Nailsea and Clevedon) . I've taken a couple of photos of the photos in the book !
The greens ranged from pale bottle green through to dark green (plain).
I do need to do some more research here and I will be taking the hat to Clevedon Court to have a look at their collection.
I would like to add that I think (based on the previous hat I once owned :'( ) it is highly likely that this hat in question is from Bristol /Nailsea . It certainly has an age to it .
Yours Paul could well be a pale bottle green example from Nailsea....but I'm no expert !!
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