Topic: Help to date this glass with engraved Pteridomania decoration please

[RoyJ99]

Looking for opinions on this little glass that I found in a local charity shop yesterday. It measures 11.5cm x 5cm, bright clear glass with quite a few little white specks or inclusions as can be seen in the photos. Inverted baluster stem with teardrop air bubble, folded domed foot and unpolished, small pontil scar. Early Victorian or slightly earlier and engraved at a later date?

[Anne]

We could really do with larger photos please, as it's hard to make out the detail on these. The best option is to make the longest edge around the 800 pixel mark (preferably not larger than 1000 pixels though) and then save for web (sometimes shown as optimise or compress, depending on your software) and this should give you a filesize of less than the single image limit of 125kb.

If you have a problem with getting the size down and need help, please feel free to email me copies of the full-size images and I'll adjust them and add them to the topic for you. Send to glassmessages.tsm AT outlook.com (close up the spaces and change AT to @ to make the address work.) 

[RoyJ99]

This is the largest I can get using imageoptimizer

[RoyJ99]

All 4 resized

[Paul S.]

Hi Roy  -  attractive glass - these ferny pieces can make for a good group to collect - the Victorian seem to have adorned almost every type of glass object with this sort of decoration.        I doubt very much that this one would be much earlier than c. 1850, and may even be a little later.        Unfortunately, pontil scars can appear on glasses even to the end of the C19 sometimes  -  especially on lesser quality glasses - those for the pub trade especially.
No reason in particular to think yours was decorated later than its date of manufacture.      Of course if wear was absent entirely then that might be different.

Could be that I need Specsavers, but regret to say I'm unable to see the folded foot you mention.

[RoyJ99]

Hi Paul, thanks for the reply. I have a few of the fern decorated glasses, this is the first one I have seen with this type of stem which is why I was curious as to the age, thought that may indicate a slightly earlier date. Don't think you need to go to specsavers it is difficult to see particularly on the photo.

The shop has obviously received a large donation from a collector recently, lot's of Victorian drinking glasses, picked up a rummer as well as this one here, slag glass, opaline glass, vsart/ysart type stuff, all sorts really. Will be returning over the next few weeks to see what else they have.

[Paul S.]

with that sort of collection available, I'd go every day

I should have added that the S. & F. catalogues (published c. early 1880's) include a lot of similarly decorated pieces, so the total period for ferny glass probably runs to four or five decades.

As for the foot, believe there was a revival of the folded rim some time around 1820 - 30, but as far as I'm aware did not extend to the period of this glass, and regret I still can't see any fold to the outer rim of this foot.
I'ts unmistakable when present, and should extend for 5 - 10 mm as a fold UNDER the foot, thus doubling the thickness in that area  -  this foot appears to be a single thickness for its whole diameter.

Does the glass ring when flicked?

[Paul S.]

If you go to the central square picture (with green background) - you will see a folded foot.

http://www.antiques.com/classified/Antique-Glass-/Antique-Stemware/Antique-2-Franz-Tieze-Engraved-Wine-Glasses--Equestrian-Portrait-King-William---G678

[oldglassman]

 Hi ,
         Folded feet shown below,

  cheers ,
                Peter.

[RoyJ99]

Ok I'm seeing something completely different then lol, sorry folks.