Topic: Zwischengold salt 1700's/1800's early pressed glass?

[Ekimp]

Not optical.  My design is quite complex and gilded and appears exactly the same size back and front.

Thanks for checking.

I’m still not convinced by the egg cup idea although the pressglas author certainly seems to state the fact. I suppose as long as you’ve got a plate for your soldiers, you’re good to go

There is this continental one in silver https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4836344 although the bowl in that looks more egg shaped to me. There must be lots of oval egg cups in silver and pot if it was a thing.

[flying free]

Lovely find of the silver one!
There may be in silver but pot ones less likely as they would have been thrown (out of fashion etc) or discarded as useless as only one left etc. or broken.  Look how many single pot plate are found and difficult to match. 
Also, in pressed glass of that period which was very early, right at the beginning, it might (I stress the word might) have been easier to simply make a round or oval mold?

[flying free]

There's another silver one here with what seems to be a round top and oval base perhaps?
https://www.bukowskis.com/en/auctions/637/251-a-silver-gilt-egg-cup-probably-18th-century-unmarked

Also a pewter one  - one round cup, one definitely ovoid not oval
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/189118

And a Meissen one again with one round cup and one that I think is definitely supposed to be ovoid not oval?
https://www.bukowskis.com/en/auctions/580/1789-a-meissen-eggcup-18th-century


And here we have some interesting information on what constitutes breakfast in various countries and how that differed and changed over the centuries:
https://chezjim.com/18c/breakfast-18th.htm


And then for balance, some information on the desirability/availability of salt:

https://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2022/04/salt-in-17th-and-18th-century-salt.html



So, the very oval shape of these doesn't seem to be a good match for the few silver, pewter and pot egg holders found which seem to have been deliberately  made ovoid rather than oval. 

I can't see that pressing an oval glass would be easier than using a mold that was ovoid shaped, however ...  could it be that in the case of glass an oval shape mold could be used for a variety of pressed items as a whole piece or to form a part of a whole piece, not just egg holders  (if that's what they were)?


Interestingly, this listing (no idea whether the sellers description is correct) goes into detail about the double egg cup and says that in Austria and Germany it was customary to break open the egg from the side.  Does anyone know if this is true?
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/porcelain-famille-rose-double-egg-cup-qianlong

[Ekimp]

Nice finds. “Ovoid” was the word I was looking for

So, the very oval shape of these doesn't seem to be a good match for the few silver, pewter and pot egg holders found which seem to have been deliberately  made ovoid rather than oval. 

And they are all double ended including a spherical bowl.

This site describes the development of the shape of silver salts, mainly English but at the end are a pair of German salts from the period with similar oval bowls….unless they are egg holders!
https://www.ascasonline.org/windowAGOST75.html

[flying free]

The salts left hand side third row down on this link are interesting because in the Pressglas document there is a glass in a very similar shape:
https://www.ascasonline.org/windowAGOST75.html

Pressglas link here - see top right hand Seite 5

https://docplayer.cz/11891199-Form-geblasenes-gedrucktes-und-gepresstes-glas-gefunden-bei-ausgrabungen-der-nova-hut-bei-svor-luzicke-hory-rohrsdorf-lausitzer-gebirge.html

[flying free]

Thanks!  Romisch it was indeed - I couldn't remember his name last night. 

So, back to eggs.  I'm wondering if the eggs were laid by the family hens and then one for each family member was collected and popped onto their own egg bowl to await morning breakfast perhaps? Hence the portrait pictures.  If yours was visible then no egg for you this morning 

I'm surrounded by hens living rurally so I do know they don't just lay you the three or four you require btw however perhaps they just kept a couple of hens for laying small quantities for the family if you see what I mean?

The Romisch catalogue seems to show what I understand to be double salts  on the top row?  So is it an assumption that the entire page is all salts or was there some written narrative to go with those designs where he indicated what each depicted item was used for?  Or... are they double egg cups? 

The information on page 5 of the above link (re-linked below) is very specific that they are bowls for the serving and eating of eggs:
https://docplayer.cz/11891199-Form-geblasenes-gedrucktes-und-gepresstes-glas-gefunden-bei-ausgrabungen-der-nova-hut-bei-svor-luzicke-hory-rohrsdorf-lausitzer-gebirge.html

Quote from Pressglas Korrespondenz
'Presses - bowls for eggs, etc. [Lisování - misky na vajíčka apod] Small objects are pressed, the shape of which is based on simple geometric shapes, but also in more complex shapes. We first describe small bowls used for serving and eating eggs [34]. They are often made of solid colorless glass of various shapes. The oval shape with concave perimeter is dated to the late 18th century (fig. 8a), oval with arcuate perimeter to around 1800 (fig. 8d) (fig. 23); others with an octagonal plan (Fig. 9b) and a tapered base as an octahedron are dated to the same period (Fig. 9c); ...'

On further reading online, I read that because the silver knives changed the taste of eggs when cut, in Germany the history is to peel your egg to eat it. It would need to have rested on a portrait bowl to cool before peeling surely? 


In more contemporary times this could be used:  an Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher  - is that really a word?!  The longest word ever?
edited to add - no ... that still belongs to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher