Topic: Stoppers... or something... from an archaeological dig

[neilh]

Does anyone know what these stoppers(?) were once used in?
Or are they something else?
They come from a dig at the Percival Vickers glassworks, which closed down in 1914. They were not necessarily made there.

I have false coloured the photo a bit to show more detail

[ian the sculptor]

I suppose they could be stoppers in their raw state, prior to being cut and ground to fit their bottles. How big are they?

Ian

[neilh]

About 2 to 2.5 inches for the larger ones

[chopin-liszt]

Before I saw the size, I was wondering if they might be used as marker pegs. eg. in a cribbage board. They're a bit big for that, but they still might have been used that way.

At Mdina (I know it's a completely different time frame and location) they made stoppers for bottles that were not designed to fit the necks of bottles properly in the first place and they were sold seperately to the bottles. They just sat on top, purely decorative, with no seal being created whatsoever.

[essi]

Could they possibly be pegs for counting piece work by the glassblower working at his chair.
The shape of the pegs reminded of a book i bought in Finland a few years ago .
I cant at the moment send you a picture as the image is on the front cover of the book and there may be copyright issues.
On the side arm of the chair there is a piece of wood that looks like a cribbage board (thanks Sue)
It is 4 holes wide and 10 holes long . The first four holes are occupied by 4 glass pegs very similar to the ones shown.
Four different colours, red,clear, black(deep purple) and yellow.
Hope this is of some use.
Tim 

[chopin-liszt]

It's reassuring to see somebody else suspect marker pegs of some sort, Tim.
They look like practical working things, rather than decorative. 

[neilh]

That is a very interesting idea. I'm going through the dig rubble as part of a book or books I hope to write on Manchester glass, that suggestion may get a mention :-)

[essi]

I emailed the Finnish glass museum yesterday about reproducing there image but am not sure when i will hear back.
Neilh if you want to email me to see the image thats fine.
Tim

[essi]

Thanks to Matilda Gronberg at the Finnish glass museum for permmision to use this image.
Tim

[chopin-liszt]

    
This little mystery seeming to be solved so quickly is making me quite ridiculously happy.