Topic: Pair of mystery green glasses, can anyone shed any light?

[Bluebell17]

Hi All,

I Found these rather lovely green glasses in the loft. My Father said his Mother had them, but thinks they were from his grandmothers house.
They weigh 179g  and 177g, they diameter of each top rim is just over 2.5inches and the rim on the base has a diameter of 2 3/4 inches. They are 5inches high and when flicked gently they have a really clear crystal like sound. The colour is green, but that doesn't do them justice. Can anyone tell me anything about it?

https://s10.postimg.org/t4qulsa61/image.jpg
https://s10.postimg.org/nhuhob7nd/image.jpg
https://s10.postimg.org/rs95jwcqh/image.jpg

Regards

Dee

[brucebanner]

Hello Dee, google Georgian Bristol green wine glass and you will see a few the same shape, as to age 1820-60 maybe?, throw in years of copying and you would have to hold them to know an age.

I love the varying shades of green you can get with these, here are a few for show.

Regards Chris.

[Paul S.]

Dee's glasses look to be the classic tulip bowl shape, which was popular around 1830 - give or take a few years, but as mentioned like everything else they have been copied, and it's true that you'd need to have them in your hands to assess age accurately.          They do have the ground/polished depression under the foot, and by the sound of things they are lead glass, and the fact that the foot is wider than the rim helps to suggest they are the real thing.
As with similar pieces in blue, these things are called Bristol green, but in fact would more likely have been made in places like Stourbridge or Newcastle.                   
Nice glasses though.

Welcome to the GMB by the way.

[Ivo]

"Bristol" blue and green refer to the colourant used, which was supplied by dealers in Bristol. It does not say anything about the place of manufacture.

[Bluebell17]

Hi All,

Thank you for the welcome and for taking the time to respond to my question.
I now at least know a little bit more about them, they are very much tulip shaped, they feel quality and the sound reflects this. I shall enjoy researching more about them, now you have given me a starting point. My Father's maternal side of the family were from Stonehouse on Gloucestershire, as I have researched the family tree I need to look if they are mentioned in any wills. Of the wills I have, they don't feature at all.

Once again thank you all

Dee 

[Paul S.]

I have a few early C19 wills on vellum - they make for amusing C21 reading, provided you can read the slightly faded copperplate.     There's one dated 1827 where the male deceased leaves to his wife 'a chest and wearing apparel and ONE COW' - he also states that he gives his main land to his wife 'provided she shall remain unmarried for the rest of her life'.       This may have been a perceived safeguard to make sure his property and money were guaranteed to pass to his children - had she remarried there's always the chance an unscrupulous suitor might have hived it off at some point.

Hope Ivo won't object if I add a little to his last words .............     the colourant is the chemical used to create the colour - probably iron/ferrous oxide for green, although chromium later on ...........   and smalt for blue .........  and as far as I know the descriptions 'Bristol green' or 'Bristol blue' gained common usage because some of these colourants - smalt in particular - were imported from the Continent into the port of Bristol - hence the use of the word Bristol.
The colour variation in these glasses, the green ones in particular (some tend towards blue), was due to the obvious inexact control when adding colourant to the batch.

[Bluebell17]

Hi PaulS and all,

Sorry for the delay in responding to your message,
I know what you mean about the wills, they make quite interesting reading....if you can decipher the tiny copperplate handwriting. I have a few that I just need to reread them to see I haven't missed the glasses being mentioned.
Thank you for adding the extra info to compliment Ivo's. My Father is delighted with the information you have all been kind enough to share, and sends his thanks.

Regards
Dee