Topic: Tall elegant early? tazza / comport

[Bernard C]

Click image for gallery with seven additional views.

Height 8¼–8½" 210–215mm, diameter 10½" 266mm, foot diameter 5¾" 144mm, weight 2lb 9½oz 1180g.   Domed and folded foot, 16-rib blown hollow stem with four added rings, rim apparently folded twice to protrude above and below the flat working surface.   Neatly broken off pontil scar.   Light wear to foot rim.

This lovely tall tazza could be early C19, possibly even pre-Victorian, with the domed and folded foot.   The glass is clear crystal, apart from the stem which is faintly bluish-white opal in some lights — you can see this in some of my photographs.   I am not at all sure how the rim was folded to protrude both above and below, but would like to express my thanks to Ian Bamforth, studio artist, who gave me an impromptu introduction to folded rims at the last Dulwich fair, there in connection with the rim of an eclectic Philip Pargeter basket made at the Red House before Frederick Stuart took over.

Enlightenment sought please on where and when it was made, together with anything else known.

Bernard C. 

[18thCGlass]

Hi Bernard

There's no reason for me to think that this is anything but a late 18th C Georgian tazza. Georgian tazza and sweetmeats tended to conform with the drinking glass stem in fashion at the time of production generally. Silesian or pedestal stems came into fashion C1715. Said to be to honour our first Hanovarian king; King George I, crowned in 1714. The stem type was used on Silesian glasses; which he would be familiar with. The stem type continued to be used on 'stemware' until C1760. Early items have four sides to the stem and as the style developed the number of sides increased; to generally eight sides and later stems became debased (less distinct and crisp). The stem type generally gained the addition of collaring to the base of the stem C1750-60. The pedestal stem fashion generally ended for drinking glasses and sweetmeats C1760; however pedestal stem tazza production continued, probably to the end of the 18th C. It was by far the most popular and therefore now the most commonly found stem type on a tazza. Generally then your tazza must date C1750-C1800. Other clues: The metal on Georgian glassware improved dramatically C1770 due to the materials used and if your tazza shows a distinct lack of tints, then it must be post C1770. Hollow pedestal stems on tazza tended to become lighter as the century progressed and the 2nd glass excise act of 1777 perhaps influenced the continued use of the stem type and the need to produce items of lighter weight. A lot of these hollow stem tazza have cloudy stems from production, so if yours is clear, then you have struck lucky. I wouldn't be swayed by an apparent lack of age indicating wear on a tazza; as this type of item is not going to be subjected to the same degree of use that a drinking glass might. A glass buddy recently bought a tazza dating C1660/5 and other than the features that indicate it is period; it looked like it was produced yesterday as far as wear is concerned. I'm not aware of tazza of this type having been later or reproduced and therefore I would think you have bought yourself a late 18th C - turn of the century English Georgian tazza. Well done 

Trev.

[Bernard C]

Trev — Grateful thanks.   Your introduction to me of the word Silesian gave me the key to finding several more on the Internet — and I find I've got at least five books referring to them!   I hadn't appreciated that they were serving platforms for sweetmeats, both stackable and mobile.

All the examples I've found so far are much shorter than mine.   Are these taller examples unusual?

Note that this is by far the oldest glass I've ever acquired;  the previous oldest was a mahogany and glass witches or lightning stool, which I use occasionally as a display stand, particularly at glass fairs.

Thanks again,

Bernard C. 

[18thCGlass]

Hi Bernard

The average height of tazza seems to be around 6" with variable sized galleries or platforms. As you have identified; these were used in graduated sets, largest at the bottom and then stacked on top of eachother, the gallery size decreasing towards the top of the stack. Jelly glasses or low sweetmeat glasses would be placed on each gallery and the stack crowned with an impressive sweetmeat glass on the smallest tazza at the top. I assume a 'standard' height was adopted so that the appearance of a graduated set would look resolved and also so that replacements of an appropriate height could be found to replace broken tazza in a set. Perhaps it is the case that the taller tazza were intended to be used as a stand alone table item; a sweetmeat to the centre and jellies all around. It appears that tazza were used as stand alone items in hostelries. See this scan of a print uploaded to my website: http://www.trocadero.com/cotswoldantiques/items/886630/en1.html Various Georgian tazza can be seen on page 248 of Millers Glass and you can see a larger example like yours to the bottom right of the page at the base of a set of three. Larger examples are not particularly unusual or desirable to collectors; they take up too much space! But they are great to display a collection of rare jelly glasses on. Value is determined by age and the rarity of the stem form.

Trev.

[Paul S.]

Bernard  -  appreciate that I am not in the same league as you guys, but am I not correct in thinking that this cud never be a 'tazza' per se - as correctly that name is for a drinking cup only  -  shallow and certainly without a raised rim.       A comport/cake stand/sweetmeat dish - but if you tried drinking from yours you wud end up having a bath perhaps!            However, sorry that I can't tell you anything really useful about it!          cheers           Paul S.

[Lustrousstone]

And the answer from your new book is?

[johnphilip]

I think its a patch stand for a one eyed Goliath or Tony Bliar , so there .   short but sweet . i hope i havnt upset anyone .
joking aside i think it is so elegant .

[Paul S.]

if the lady was firing at me, then the answer was that a year ago I was a little more keen to show that I knew something  -  now however, I think I know a lot less.
But why has it taken a year to reply??     Nonetheless, I still stand by the definition I gave then.

[Andy]

Millers 'Glass' Jeanette Hayhurst, first published 2001, my first book,
has 3 pages of Tazzas, all round flat platforms on a foot, Ive always thought of them as tazzas,
although i do remember a discussion about tazza meaning drinking glass  :huh:
Ive just looked and in Italian its a wine cup, but also most places mention a footed dish or similar.

Bernard, there is an almost identical one in the book, 9 inches tall ,folded foot, the same moulded silesian
stem, upturned rim, c 1750 , it does put a value of £325-375, but i wouldnt take much notice of that  

Cheers
Andy
ps the book is a great reference guide, 320 pages , all pictures, ISBN 1-84000-361-8
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Millers-Glass-Buyers-Guide-Indispensable/dp/1840003618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1269981741&sr=8-1

[Lustrousstone]

I meant Bernard's new book in which his tazza apparently appears http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,32561.0.html

The Oxford dictionary defines a tazza as a saucer-shaped cup mounted on a foot.