Author Topic: Identifying Blue glass..........Bristol, Cobalt, Irish? (Read 1651 times)

catshome · « **on:** August 17, 2006, 03:42:31 PM »

Hi - Just wondered if anyone had any tips for telling the difference between cobalt, bristol and irish blue glass................and any other types I may not have got confused by yet. I would post a photograph but it's so hard to tell the actual colour of "blue" glass from a picture. The bowl I have is a lovely purple/blue colour. I don't think it's anything special but it got me looking at blue glass...........hence the confusion!

Many thanks
Cat

David E · « **Reply #1 on:** August 17, 2006, 05:01:54 PM »

Hi Cat,

Not sure whether this is helpful, but whenever I photo Bristol Blue it always appears with a purplish tinge. This could just be my camera of course :roll:

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #2 on:** August 17, 2006, 05:08:04 PM »

Holmegaard's deep blue of the 50s-70s also has a purple tint to it. It might be common to a lot of dark blue glass, I don't know as I only have Holmegaard pieces to work from.

Edit: That should read 30s-70s. The deep blue of the 1820s-1920s was brighter and lighter, from the pieces I've owned and seen.

David E · « **Reply #3 on:** August 17, 2006, 05:12:16 PM »

The story goes that the glassworks owner would throw a gold sovereign into every fresh pot of glass to give it the distinctive Bristol Blue hue.

Here's a link that might help:

http://www.bristol-glass.co.uk/

catshome · « **Reply #4 on:** August 17, 2006, 06:00:38 PM »

Thank you all.

Nic - I was very interested to hear that Holmegaard had made blue glass with a purple tint..............I'm particularly drawn to Scandinavian glass that's why I bought this - it's very simple (quite heavy). I posted a couple of photos as you might have seen something like it yourself. Still amazed I can't get it to photograph the colour it actually is!

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/smallerDSCN1186.jpg

the bottom is :

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/smallerDSCN1190.jpg

I'm off to check out the bristol glass site.

Thanks again
Cat

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #5 on:** August 17, 2006, 06:12:50 PM »

Hi.

It's a very nice and simple piece, but unfortunately not one I recognise from anywhere. It's not Holmegaard, though. I can say that with relative certainty.

catshome · « **Reply #6 on:** August 17, 2006, 06:14:49 PM »

Thank you for taking a peek...........it is rather nice and so much better in the "flesh"! Cat

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #7 on:** August 17, 2006, 06:23:00 PM »

Just for colour reference, here's a Holmegaard jug dating from 1950. The purple tint doesn't show up too well, unfortunately...

(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b108/pinkspoons/holmegaard-jug1.jpg)

catshome · « **Reply #8 on:** August 17, 2006, 06:30:47 PM »

Hi again Nic,

At the risk of this turning into a mutual admiration society.............NICE JUG! I like the way the foot "lifts" the body of the jug - it looks more squat than I would have expected - is it distorted in the photograph?

I just realised that the halo on the white surface under the jug is the same colour as I had on the paper I put under my bowl - you can really see the purple there. Funny how it doesn't photograph though.

Cat

Lustrousstone · « **Reply #9 on:** August 17, 2006, 06:31:04 PM »

According to our friend Ivo (Glass fact file a-z), Bristol blue is so called because the colorant, zaffre (containing cobalt oxide), was produced in or imported through Bristol (1760-90 and 1820-40). It is a greenish blue to dark blue lead glass. So it is a cobalt blue, but you pays your money and choses your shade :lol: