Topic: Georgian air-twist wine glass - possibly Norwegian?

[markhig62]

Hi

I recently acquired this glass. It has clear striations on foot and bowl, strong pucella marks and a snapped pontil. It is virtually identical to an 18th century Nostetangen glass which I have seen on the website of the Norwegian National museum and has the characteristic dark grey hue, however, it doesn't ring well and appears to be quite light so probably soda glass (did the Nostetangen factory make glasses in soda glass as well as lead glass?) I have also seen other very similar glasses sold through the Danish Bruun Rasmussen auction house but there is no information as to whether they are soda or lead metal. The glass had an old, hand-written collection sticker marked Norway in old-fashioned writing but I have removed this.
Alternatively, if this is not Norwegian, could it be an English soda glass version of an air-twist glass?
Any ideas welcome.
Cheers
Mark

[markhig62]

Here are the Norwegian National Museum example and the Danish auction house one for comparison.

[flying free]

There are some here from Hurdal Glassverk - how do they compare?

https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/samlingen/objekt/OK-08725

This one is also quite bubbly in the glass like yours:
https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/samlingen/objekt/OK-08725A

[markhig62]

Hi

Thanks for the links. They do look very similar. I know Nostetangen glasses have the dark grey hue that this glass has but if Hurdal is the same, it could well be from there.

[flying free]

to be honest I can't remember what I read about Hurdal and Nostetangen now. It's been a long time since I was reading up on them.  I just wondered because of the tiny bubbles in the glass.  Were Nostetangen like that?

I only have this decanter and I think my research seemed to indicate Hurdal but this decanter is definitely smoke grey glass as opposed to clear with a greyish tinge if you see what I mean?

https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,54642.msg309600.html#msg309600

[flying free]

Actually this one is full of tiny bubbles  - from Nøstetangen (you can zoom on it and enlarge the pic to see)
https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/object/OK-04932

And this one is very similar to yours (although engraved) - also Nøstetangen

https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/object/OK-03155

[flying free]

I really know nothing about this kind of glass but cutting and pasting both yours and this one and comparing yours side by side with this one, it looks more like a Hurdal Glassverk piece to me    Well at least the most recent cataloguing has this one as 'Hurdal - probable'
https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/object/OK-09845

The knops and the stem formation look much closer to those catalogued as Hurdal - the stem doesn't look as refined as those catalogued as Nøstetangen if you see what I mean?

As far as I recall Nostetangen was an earlier glassverk which then either became Hurdal or was taken over by Hurdal.  I can't quite remember.  I don't think Nostetangen was that long lived, not into the 1800s.

[markhig62]

I think the Nostetangen patterns, etc were moved to Hurdal in the late 1770s and I agree that the quality may well be less good than Nostetangen. The colour that I have described as a grey hue is darker than any of my English 18th century glasses, however, I believe that that would be as typical of Nostetangen as Hurdal. The thing that I'm most confused about is the type of metal. The Norwegian works were started by English and German glassworkers so perhaps they also made cheaper soda glass versions of their glasses? Intriguing and any other ideas/opinions would be very welcome.

[flying free]

Or perhaps Hurdal didn't make lead glass but Nøstetangen did?  If that were true that might place your glass with Hurdal?
That said, in the research 'Chandeliers from the Nøstetangen Glassworks: Style, Craftsmanship, and Chemical Characteristics
Anne Bjørke and Isabelle Biron' in 'Journal of Glass Studies
Vol. 50 (2008), pp. 143-157 (15 pages)
Published by: Corning Museum of Glass' it mentions that production of lead glass probably continued at Hurdal.

Perhaps both glassworks produced lead and non lead glass?  The way I read that research (page 156 of above) seems to indicate Nøstetangen made both lead and non lead glass.

My flaske is very big, like a gin bottle, but doesn't feel heavy so I assumed not lead glass.  However I've no idea how to measure the specifics to identify lead glass.


Just to add dates for future searches on the board:
According to the information in 'Chandeliers from the Nøstetangen Glassworks: Style, Craftsmanship, and Chemical Characteristics
Anne Bjørke and Isabelle Biron' the Nøstetangen glassworks was established in 1741 and closed in 1777.
m

[markhig62]

Thanks for taking an interest. I think I'll have to try to research further and maybe show the glass to someone with a bit more knowledge than me!
Cheers