Topic: Possible Stiegel glass? Old flip glass

[amykgomez]

Hi, I'm new here and hoping to find some help with this glass I found. Bought it at a kind of dumpy antique/junk shop in Crown Point, NY about ten years ago. Didn't pay more than five or six dollars, I just fell in love with the quality etching!
Anyway, I have not been able to find anything like it in all of these years since buying it.
A little bit of research in Stiegel glass led me to think MY glass could be Stiegel. The shape is similar to listed "flip glasses" I've seen. (flip was a hot beverage) also, the apparently hand cut fluting around the bottom of the glass. There is an indent in the base and the bottom does show slight wear along the indent edge. No markings.
Please! anything you want to tell me about this piece I would so happy to hear...thank you!

[Paul S.]

hello Amy - welcome to the GMB
An interesting glass, although regret I'm not able to give you anything really useful  -  fingers crossed hopefully someone here will be able to help you.         Must admit I hadn't realized that the flip drink had such a long history - sounds a little like a hot toddy.

However, can say that the decoration of the rustic scene with egret/heron has been produced by wheel engraving (not acid etching) - and wheel engraving does go back a long way.
Unable to see the pillar fluting clearly in your pic  -  sometimes this effect is produced by a moulding process, as opposed to cutting  -  hope you won't mind if I ask you to re-confirm that the flutes are definitely cut on this glass?
Is it possible for you to take a close up pic of the base - very interested to know if the indent you mention is a ground/polished pontil depression, as opposed to some similar effect but created in a mould.
The scalloping around the rim can be a sign of age  -  seen sometimes on the feet of custard and jelly glasses that have some age.
How would you describe the colour of this piece, and are there any tiny grains of dirt within the glass - also does it ring if you flick sharply with a finger nail.

As you can imagine, dimensions of items are important in helping towards providing information  -  will you please let us know how tall this is.    

[amykgomez]

Thank you so much for your response to my post!
Ok, to answer your questions; the glass is 4.5in tall, 3.5in wide at the mouth and roughly 2.25in wide at the base
I'm guessing that the fluting is cut because the edges are somewhat sharp especially near the bottom portion of the glass. Also there is inconsistant and varying heights (although marginal) to the tops of the fluting. See how it's rounded at the top?
I would consider the glass itself to be very clear and colorless although I do find a 'fleck' or two which almost look like a grain of sand? Each fleck is mostly white...tried to get a good pic.
Here too, is a better pic of the bottom. If there was a pontil it has been ground smooth to the touch. Yes, there is a high pitch resonance to the glass when struck which makes me think crystal but it doesn't really 'ring' if you know what I mean.
This is very exciting for me to be talking about my glass, I'm glad to have found this site! Thank you for taking the time to lend your assistance!

[Paul S.]

the ridges between the flutes do look sharpish, which might indicate cutting.        As a guide to determine if the flutes were cut or pressed, look at them with a low power lens  -  and if cut you should see feint remains of the grinding marks  -  the scratches will run at 90 degrees to the long axis of the tumbler.             Again, you may be lucky and see feint scratches within the pontil depression  -  assuming it really was detached from a pontil rod.         
If the tumbler was shaped by pressing you might find mould seams somewhere on the body, but quality pieces were often fire polished to remove the seams.       Another trait of pressed moulding is that often the molten glass didn't always fill the extremities of the mould perfectly, and small imperfections remain on the outer surface of the glass  -  tiny hair-like defects which might be a centimetre long or less.

Small stones more often do appear white (rather than black) - and might indicate an early to mid C19 date.     However, a little caution, as small bubbles might be mistaken for genuine stones.
The 'ring' will depend to some extent on the thickness of the glass - less ring for a thicker glass.
Regret I still can't see the base clearly  -  does the tumbler sit on a flat base - from the depression to the outer edge?

Flip glasses/tumblers seem to be a States thing - there is little in the books that I can see here, although the indication is that 'flip beakers' as they are sometimes known are usually considered to fall within a height range of 14 - 17 cms. (c. 5.5" - 7"), which is taller than your example, and larger ones apparently had a cover of sorts.             Genuine flips seem to have been made during the C18 and C19.
It's quite possible that you have an attractive tumbler rather than a purpose made flip, and sufficient wear might still date this to the first half of the C19, which makes this an interesting piece.
I guess there are people your side who will know far more about these things than us limeys