Topic: Claret Jug Decanter? Crystal? Maker? Age?

[Steedy999]

I think this is cut glass. It has no seam marks.Its heavy at 2kg. Its hand blown as I can see a bubble or two in base.No maker marks.

I've been learning about cut glass and pressed and moulded glass and I see lots of conflicting information on videos and articles I've read including words used interchangeably.
I'd appreciate some input from anybody here who can help

Why I think it's cut glass from what I've learnt from articles and video online.

I see no seams - I know they could be polished out but I don't see any.

I see couple tiny bubbles so that means Hand blown not pressed or moulded.

Why it could be cut lead cut glass?

It's heavy ( I know pressed glass.can be also)
The stopper I can see rainbow when light shone on it not, but so easy with decanter.
The decanter feels a little sharp when finger moves (heard that pressed glass can be also)

I don't have UV light but I read that this would show a purple tinge If lead crystal.


The base has quite a lot of scratches which makes me think there is some age to this.

Any ideas of age? Possible maker? And if it's lead crystal.


Can hand blown glass be cut and just called cut glass but not crystal (min 24% lead)?

I also read that crystal.glass nowadays doesn't have to have lead content can still be referred to as crystal glass.

I realise that technically crystal glass is not actually crystal as well as it's not a crystal structure.

Thanks for help and advice

[Ekimp]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Your decanter is certainly going to have been cut as it looks like it…but hard to explain why If you handle some pressed glass it should be relatively easy to see and feel the difference. If you use a strong magnifying glass you might be able to see the fine grinding marks going along the cuts (if it hasn’t been very heavily polished) and sharper edges.

It looks like a reasonably good quality example as the handle is quite fine and nicely cut too, the faceting around the edge of the foot isn’t very common either. You can see that the handle isn’t moulded as it has been applied at the bottom (where it is fatter) and drawn out and then stuck on at the top (where it is thinner).

The decanter looks relatively modern to me (vintage rather than antique), you could try searching replacements.com for a match if no one recognises it. Sometimes an acid stamp manufacturers mark on the bottom can be very hard to see, so it’s worth having a very good look.

On a bit of a negative, I’m not sure the stopper matches the decanter. In the photos the spherical top looks quite large compared to the body of the decanter. Possibly the plug part is sitting a bit high in the neck too, but it’s hard to see. It’s possible that the stopper is a replacement.

[Lustrousstone]

I see couple tiny bubbles so that means Hand blown not pressed or moulded.

This is fallacy; tiny bubbles can occur regardless of how an item was made. And something can be both hand blown and moulded. In addition, something like this can never be pressed, as pressing require a plunger and you cannot pull a plunger out of something that is narrower at the top than it is elsewhere.

[Steedy999]

Thanks a lot for the input. Very helpful to know that for the future. Appreciate it.

[NevB]

It might be Waterford, there are similar claret jugs/decanters online in their Heritage Collection Master Cutter range.