Topic: Pressed Glass Goblet With Gold Rim

[MatW]

I tried to find out where & when this was made and have looked through pattern books that are available online, but without success. It is a pressed glass goblet, ca 16 cm high ( I will post the exact measures later). The foot is wider than it appears on the photo. It is ground. There was a signature in gold on the bottom but it has vanished and I cannot decipher it. It is two words, and the second begins with B, I think... Has anyone an idea how old this is and where it was made?
Thank you very much,
MatW

[Antwerp1954]

It has a very continental feel to it. Bohemian, German, French?

[MatW]

Yes, I also believe it is continental. It is lead glass, I think, and quite heavy (425g) Its height is exactly 15.8 cm. The foot has a diameter of 8.3 cm and the bowl 8.8 cm at the rim. The mould must have consisted of three parts, and the surface is (fire?) polished. Do these  characteristics or the style give some hint as to the age of the goblet?

[Paul S.]

this patterning of imitation cut oval shaped printies (which the pressed glass people in the U.K. called 'hollows' - were a common form of decoration (on pressed glass) in the period 1860 to 1890  -  can be seen commonly in Silber & Fleming.
Obviously it was copying the cut circles and ovals which had been around for a long time prior to that.

So, my suggestion for a date would be for somewhere in that period - but always possible it's a later copy - what is the extent of wear?
The combination of a ground/polished flat foot, plus the gilded rim, do point toward a Continental origin.

Notice your thoughts that this might have been fire polished, but could be that if you can see the mould seams then possibly not.
If this were lead glass, might it not ring very well??   what happens when you flick the glass?

None of this is very helpful, but might encourage one of the Continental collectors to comment

[MatW]

Thank you for your comment! The mould seams are slightly visible, but they have been smoothed in some way. The whole surface is very even and shiny, thats why I thought it may be fire polished. When I flick it it rings indeed very well! The foot is in fact concave, the border was ground so it stands even. In the areas where it was in contact with the surface it stood on it has considerable scratching.

[Paul S.]

it may well have been fire polished subsequent to removal from the mould  -  I know that some pressed pieces were treated like this to the point that seams disappear entirely.

Wear, as an indicator of age, is a somewhat contentious issue on the Board, at times  - and it's true that drinking glasses might show substantial amounts of wear, yet not necessarily be that old.         Also worth being cautious, re age, when the gilding remains very good.

I was also wondering about the apparent anomaly of pressed glass being gilded  -  I can't recall seeing this on British pressed glass - perhaps it was something peculiar to the Continent.

anyway, no further forward, unfortunately

[MatW]

I have now found a molded crystal goblet with exactly the same decoration and form of the bowl that was sold at Drouot and was labeled as St. Louis. Only the foot is different, and there is no gilding. They date their piece 1840-1850. Could that be a hint? Maybe my goblet was made there? The first word of the signature written in gold on the bottom begins with an "S", I think, and there is also an "i" towards the end of the word. Did they ever sign their crystal in this way?