Topic: Beautiful Victorian Carafe... I think?

[pegwellbayantiquities]

Hi all, from the research I've done on the dimpled body and crimped spout on this carafe I've placed it in the Victorian era. Would anyone be able to give me a manufacturer, more precise dateon the piece and also tell me about the significance of the '36' and the 'w' shape on the spout? All info would be greatly appreciated

[Lustrousstone]

The 36 indicates it's a decanter missing its stopper, which would also have been numbered 36. If you mean the marks in the necks by the W, i think they are just striations in the glass

[pegwellbayantiquities]

ahh i see thus deeming the stopper for carafes and decanters 'rocking horse poo' so to speak would you agree with me on its age? i've seen quite a few expensive examples of glass this age with this pattern.. so here's hoping! 

[Paul S.]

trefoil shaped pouring lips seem to be associated with the art nouveau period - somewhere near the end of C19 and on towards a little before the 14 - 18 war  - French possibly in origin of design.
Don't know whether the rest of the decanter might be the same design origin though - seeing the stopper might have helped perhaps.
Do people think this is a dip moulded pattern - then blown to expand, with the foot being added afterwards.        The Victorians were very keen on their machine etching, wheel engraving and cutting  -  but this moulded design looks almost as though it owes more to the likes of Webb in the first quarter of the C20.            Seems to have a very larg pontil depression.
In fact there was a Webb pattern from the early 1930's with an identical 'fir cone seed' pattern  -  when you say you've seen a few expensive examples of this pattern, might one of those have been Thomas Webb?

[pegwellbayantiquities]

Haven't looked at any thomas webb, any chance you could post a picture of what you're referring to my friend? Yes the pontil is very large, in fact almost as large as the base of the whole carafe! This does have a hint of the nouveau about it but the dimpled pattern does appear in alot of victorain examples, perhaps its late victorian early edwardian?

[Paul S.]

regret I don't possess such a decanter, unfortunately - it was a book image only of which I was speaking, and I can't copy that.    I'd suggest that the examples you've been looking at are, as you suggest, very late Victorian/Edwardian.               You may have difficulty in progressing any sort of attribution much further  -  I take it that there's no sign of a backstamp of any kind.         Do the digits look Continental, or very British  -  there is a difference in the style of script which sometimes is noticable. 

[pegwellbayantiquities]

Ahh fair enough, i was just asking on the off chance No sign of a backstamp but as shown in picture two the '36' is quite neat and swirly - what this indicates i'm not quite sure! 

[johnphilip]

I have the same and always thought it to be Webb , i also have a large one probably holds a couple of bottles , i will dig them out later . I do believe Paul has it about right tho .
Just remenbered i have a set of glasses same pattern marked Webb but they didnt come together and slightly brighter glass . I think .

[pegwellbayantiquities]

Ahh i see, we might have a development for this piece, i just examined it with a better magnifying glass and found this etched mark next to the '36' on the rim, it looks like a 'W' and looks intentional due to its harsh direction changes making me think that this is not just an age related scratch, does this help anyone out with an ID?

[Paul S.]

almost certainly nothing intentional  -  just part of the wear and tear of the history of this piece, unfortunately.