Topic: Possible Richardsons jug.

[Ekimp]

There seem to be a few pieces online with a very similar pattern that claim to be Richardson but I haven’t found any that give a reference. In the small book, Miller’s glass Antiques Checklist (Consultant:Mark West), there is a small jug and drinking glass shown on page 157 in the section on F&C Osler at The Great Exhibition 1851. The pictures are quite small but look to have the same pattern of leaves on the lower half. The jug isn’t decorated on the top half but is of very similar form although more squat. The book says “The bulrush engraving in the Neo-classical style was often used to decorate Osler wares”. Here is an example on a pair of ‘Piggins’ that are being sold by the book’s consultant, Mark West:
https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/623397/a-pair-of-crystal-glass-piggins-osler-birmingham-c1855/

If the decoration dates to around 1851 from The Great Exhibition, then it pre-date the invention of sandblasting by almost 20 years (and also pre-dates acid frosting I think). It might be worth having a very close look at your jug’s frosting using a loupe, to see if there are any linear scratches in differently orientations, especially in the areas between leaves where the frosting has gone slightly outside the line.

[keith]

Those are very similar, the crossing of the leaves and the bullrushes, I'll get the lens out and have a look 

[flying free]

That's lovely

Richardson's did some enamelled pieces around the time of the Great Exhibition iirc that had this leaf type design and it does remind me of that type of thing.

The star cut on the foot is a bit 'sparse' but otherwise I wonder if it is c.1850s?  Harrach used this type of stylised 'plain but effective' leaf decoration on a tumbler which is cameo cut blue to clear (it has heads of reed mace on it as well as the leaves but is a similar type of effect in cameo overlay ) - source From Neuwelt to the Whole World Jan Mergl pp 177.  That dates to c. 1854 so it seems to have been a design that was in vogue around that time.
In fact having read the description of that Harrach piece, it mentions it seems to have been designed in response to the painted motifs of water plants on glass vessels design by Richard Redgrave for Henry Cole and his 'Felix Summerly's Art Manufactures of 1847 and I think those were made by Richardson's and are the ones to which I refered above from the Great Exhibition.

[keith]

Thanks M, have been trying to find more about Osler work but this is another avenue to travel down 

[flying free]

apologies to Ekimp - I responded to page 1 and did not see your post  about Osler 

[Ekimp]

That’s ok, no need to apologise Interesting that this type of grasses decoration was quite widely popular around 1850.

[flying free]

mmm, there's a very interesting piece in Das Bohmische Glass Band ll page 203.  It's a vase, with a splayed trumpet ish shape foot, a tall slender glass with that gets slightly wider as it goes up and has an everted rim. 

It has a band of upright leaves around the centre that look the same as yours however they are upright rather than bendy.  I have tried looking under a magnifying glass as I think it's possible the matt engraved section could have some straight 'engraved veins' on it rather than being all flat matt as yours is.  But it's very very hard to tell because it's not a big picture and obviously a photograph.

It also has lots of engraving in bands around the rim and some slanted cut lozenges.  The engraving on the lower band around the rim is the mysotis and leaves as yours although this one is created in a wavy up and down pattern around the vase

The Passau has it as start of 19th century  and says South Bohemian.  I can't type up all the description but there is some reference to Buquoyschen Glashutten.

Interesting.

[flying free]

Keith Page 48 of British Glass 1800-1914, Charles Hajdamach. , shows two jugs. The left hand one has a very large matted flower and leaf design on it. Looks remarkably similar to the way your leaves are done, but maybe a variant in design pattern?  The handle is different to yours.  CH says the twisted handle on that jug was a registered Richardson design from the early 1850s.
The difference I can see is that that one has a twisted handle (much more difficult to apply?) and also the star cut base is more intricate, many more radials.

[Ekimp]

I’m not sure the jug in British Glass is particularly similar except the decoration would be mechanically frosted, dating to early 1850s. Maybe it’s ‘inspired by’.

The differences I see (in addition to the ones mentioned by flying free), are that the foot doesn’t look applied and is possible made in one piece with the body? The rims are different shapes. The main difference I see is the one in the book has been cut rather than engraved. I’m not sure where the line lies between cutting and wheel engraving, but Kieth’s has a relatively fine outline to the frosting, whereas the one in the book looks to have quite broad cuts that have also been polished.

You can see an example of the type of decoration shown in the book on this wine glass, said to be Richardson:
https://scottishantiques.com/victorian-drinking-glasses/wine-glasses?product_id=4981

[flying free]

yes, all those differences are there.  It just looked to be in a similar spirit so thought it was worth checking out.
The glass is a match for the type of decorating technique.  Good find.

m