Topic: Wine glasses

[Laird]

Expanding my collection of drinking glasses, I bought these at the weekend. This pair of wine glasses have sharp pontils.
I am confident they are at least Victorian, but could they possibly be Georgian?

[Paul S.]

hi  -  your chances of someone recognizing whatever the pattern may be, is often proportional to how clearly the design can be seen  -  busy backgrounds like this really don't help  -  a plain dark background will improve how the glass is seen, and some suitable lighting will improve the image no end.
There are some designs that seem to have been around for ever and a day and can be recognized by even people like me , but generally the odds are probably against you, at least in the short-term  -  there have been quite literally thousands of patterns/cut designs over the years, from many countries.             Obviously the absence of a backstamp does limit our chances  -  it they were marked then of course we can at least narrow down the factory.

If you don't have success, you might try the Replacements.com glass site - States based I believe and they don't necessarily carry the quantity of patterns you might imagine, but............    their picture archive is very comprehensive.     Have a look and see what you think. 

[Laird]

Point taken. A light table would certainly improve the clarity/detail of the pics. As a first step, I'll get a sheet of black card to use as a background.

Will look at the website. Thanks.

[Paul S.]

despite the busy background, details on these are not too difficult to see - this type of slice cutting is about as simple as it gets - not that I know the name of the pattern.
You'll need a few days to spare if you try the Replacements.com site  -  it does tick on a bit - but try the potentially obvious contenders to start with  -  T/Webb, Stuart, Webb Corbett etc.
A plain large sheet of charcoal coloured paper propped up with the glasses sitting centrally and some light should give a better result  -  then if adventurous try Dirk's set up with the acrylic sheet bent at right angles and under floor lighting.

[Paul S.]

apologies - I'd overlooked your comment re 'sharp pontils'  -  in which case my comments about looking at Replacements.com are almost certainly wrong  -  surprised no one picked me up on that.

Your bowls might possibly almost verge on being barrel shape, which C19 not C20.       Slice cutting also very common at varying times, and some distinctive features were copied and reproduced over long period of time, making life difficult for collectors.
Drinking glasses were produced in such vast quantities, not easy in many cases to be sure of period of manufacture - but these are attractive and usable.               The sharp scar under the foot is not a tell tale sign of being from the C18, unfortunately, it's a feature found at odd times throughout much of the C19 too.

You may not progress much further with these than saying 'middle third of C19' - but let's hope someone can prove me wrong.

[Pinkspoons]

These are called 'Seltser' glasses in Denmark, produced domestically from ~1850 - but will very likely have been copied from elsewhere.

They usually carried over the names of foreign patterns, but I can't find 'Seltser' outside of the context of Danish glass, and 'Seltzer' - the most obvious transliteration - beings up nothing similar.

[Paul S.]

would seem that I too have one, in this shape, and with very similar slice cutting but a quality polished depression under the foot, rather than a sharp scar - height is about 3.75 inches (c. 95 mm).           Could be wrong, but don't get the impression the shape is seen that commonly, but maybe I've just been missing them.
On mine the knop is annular in profile rather than what appears to be a bladed shape on Laird's  -  would be an interesting comparison to know the height of that glass, too.

thanks to Pinkspoons for the information.

[Pinkspoons]

I've a set of Danish ones, somewhere in a box. I'll have to see if I can dig them out at some point.

[Ivo]

Seltzer is any fizzy drink, not a pattern name.

[Pinkspoons]

Of course - but, specific to C.19 Holmegaard at least, it describes a distinct design of glass available in a number of sizes. It's functionally a pattern name - at least with regards Danish glass.