Topic: Glass decanter - any ideas?

[adam20]

A glass decanter - it feels old but I may be wrong - nearly 12" high with stopper - clear glass with frosted middle, has enamel painted leaves and flowers in green with with beaded enamel bordering - unusual handle flatened with crimping to flattened form, gold to shouldrs and main body - marked 18 to base with snapped pontil.

Any ideas welcomed

Thanks Adam

[flying free]

I may not have noticed these pieces before but suddenly I'm seeing rather many of them on ebay with this flattened shell crimped handle.  Is it just me?
Tigerchips posted one a few months ago I think but perhaps a different colour.
m

[Bernard C]

Adam — 18 was probably the stopper number.   I've seen stopper numbers in various places, such as on the top of the rim, on the inside curve of the rim, various positions on the neck, and, as with yours, on the base.    Here's a set with engraved base stopper numbers:

Mystery Arts & Crafts Condiment Set in Glass and EPNS

Engraving the stopper number on the base seems to be rather odd, as you would tend to turn the item upside down to see it, emptying the contents all over the place.   However it was there primarily for stock control and despatch at the glassworks, and for the wholesaler and retailer.   In this case I don't believe much thought was given to the customer who had bought more than one.

Bernard C. 

[Paul S.]

quote from Bernard..................."Engraving the stopper number on the base seems to be rather odd, as you would tend to turn the item upside down to see it, emptying the contents all over the place.   However it was there primarily for stock control and despatch at the glassworks,"
 
that latter comment Bernard is the essence of the matter regarding matching Nos. .........nothing to do with the customer, purely a means employed by the factory to make sure a true 'pair' left the factory as one unit.      Outside of glass collectors, it's unlikely that the general public are remotely aware of this method of matching stopper to body                      

[chriscooper]

So Adam is the stopper not numbered on the end of the 'shaft' to match it with the body?
Bernard apologies for making light of your reply just got a picture in my mind of someone turning over a decanter of best malt to make sure the stopper and body numbers were matching  sorry!!!

Chris

[Bernard C]

Paul — You might be surprised by how many members of the public notice things like stopper numbers.    I can't think of any reason to distinguish glass collectors and dealers from the public in this respect, save for the fact that collectors and dealers are likely to examine an object rather more closely.

Chris — I didn't say it was a stopper number, just that it probably was.   It could also have been a glassmaker's number for allocating piecework remuneration after annealing, stoppering, and decorating;  or an inspector number showing that it had been passed for sale.

Had it contained a smooth island malt, I would have regarded it as a good excuse to finish off the contents before checking the base. 

Further observation:

Notice that the "1" in "18" is not a Continental "1".

Bernard C. 

ps — hope you like my punctuation! 

[adam20]

Thanks everyone - The stopper does have an engraved 18 on the bottom so it appears that you were all right - Any idea on date? I have never collected decanters or bottles so I can only take a guess.

Adam

[Andy]

I'd guess circa Edwardian. 

[Paul S.]

Bernard does indeed have sharp eyes, and of course he's correct in saying that the '1' is not continental - so we assume British do we?
As a style, this trail of pincered decoration up the handle is very 1880 - 1900 ish  -  there's a lot in Gulliver - although whether it went on into the C20 as Andy suggests, I'm not sure.     It is often found together with enamel painting and the beading as Adam has described.   This is one of those instances when it may be necessary to rely on wear to provide indication of C19 date.

[adam20]

The gold banding to shoulder is worn a bit as is the gold to rim - what I thought was a frosted barrel of body is in fact a pale yellow/white enamel, on close inspection I can see the brush marks. The base is polished but is in fact a little rocky - there are rice shaped indentations in a regular grid formation as if it was placed on some sort of trellis while hot.

Thanks everyone for taking a look and commenting.

Adam P