Topic: mystery controlled bubble piece.

[Paul S.]

short, squat, heavy, with dirt inclusions and considerable wear on the base, plus smooth ish pontil scar  -  seen a hard life at some point in its career.             Could be a salt - the inside profile does follow that of the outside, to some extent, but really not sure of purpose  -  about 2.5/8 inches tall (65 mm).        Could it be part of something perhaps.            Open to all suggestions, and thanks for looking

[keith]

Got quite a few of these in various colours and have been trying to find a name to put to them and found a reference to one of the 'Stourbridge' glassworks that sounded very close,they were described as match holders,I'll have a look and see if I can find it,here's a few of mine,

[Paul S.]

thanks Keith.............         I may have seen others, possibly, and not really been aware of them, but not something that I'd say was remotely common down south.              I've a number of match strikers, and this was something that went through my mind, but as there isn't any suitable area on which to rub the match, I assumed not.                          What sort of date are you putting on them??

You could well be correct then.

[keith]

Found the piece,page 308,British Glass 1800-1914,CH,last but one paragraph,Richardsons....."small matchstick holders in the shape of a paperweight but with a hollow to take the matches.They are mainly found in clear glass and occasionally seen with inner coloured casing,c.1880" this is under a section on air trap decoration,no mention of there being an area to actually strike a match so I'm presuming as usual,also got some in green,blue and white,

[Paul S.]

thanks again  -  you seem to have done well in getting a good selection of colours  -  and from what I'm reading it appears they could date to anywhere in the 1860 - 1880 period - no wonder there's considerable wear on the base.           Perhaps they were an item that found their way into pubs possibly??                 Presumably the matches used would have been the old fashioned sort from which the Bryant & May girls ended up with 'phossy jaw' -  and would ignite on almost any rough surface.                     
Well done for finding such a brief reference in a large book.

[keith]

 Thanks Paul,pretty sure this is right,been looking for ages,too wide for candles,not salts,couldn't really be much else,soup bowls for hobbits ?  few more...

[Paul S.]

thanks - beautiful deep colours - I'm very envious.

[Paul S.]

P.S.   meant to add.............but you don't have a clear one

[keith]

Shall have to do something about that,I believe there's one in my 'local'