Topic: Small shot glass with thread decor

[Kailikesglas]

Hello together,

my name is Kai and i just started to collect glas. I focus on glas of daily use and while shopping in netherlands i stumpled upon this shot glas. I have very limited knowledge about glas in general but the fact that the decor is applied with a very thin glas thread and not etched or engraved, made me curious. 

It glows slightly green under 365NM UV Light. I have zero idea how old it could be. So far all my pieces are typicial Art Nouveau glasses around 19th century, but i have the feeling this one could be older?

It would be great, if someone could help me identify this glas.

Here is the Imgur Link: https://imgur.com/a/t5OUvMS

Greetings from germany
Kai

[Mosquito]

Hi Kai and welcome to the board,

The glass itself is press-moulded, as can be seen from the rim and the vertical mould seam visible on the undecorated band towards the rim (right hand side on the picture). To me, it looks like the pattern is simply moulded in as well, though it is hard to tell from the photo. If not moulded, then I'd suspect it was plate-etched, though this should be easy to determine as if it is etched the lines will be in intaglio rather than relief. Given the chunky construction, bubbles and visible shear mark (about half way up), I believe it has some age. It's not a pattern I immediately recognise, but I'd think second half of the nineteenth century give or take.

Some more photos, including a close-up of the decoration and one of the underside of the foot might be helpful.

[Kailikesglas]

Hi,

thank you very much for the response. I`m sorry, i just failed to add the other pictures. I have attached them on imgur now including a picture with a small blemish where i think that a thread was accidentally applied.


Greetings Kai!

[Mosquito]

Thanks for the extra pics. having seen more detail, the glass certainly looks to me to have been needle-etched. This technique is most commonly seen from the late Victorian period (1880s) through the first quarter of the twentieth century, though apparently the first experiments with needle etching date back a little further with, according to this article, the first primitive machine being used at Richardson's in 1855 for decorating lighting globes: https://cambridgeglass.org/crystal-ball-article/96crystalball275b/ This article also talks about the techniques used.

[Kailikesglas]

Thank you very much, even if it is not as old as I had hoped, it remains a rather rare vacation souvenir for me.
I think i can confirm the needle etching. If i trace the decor with a fine needle, it really sticks to the groove so it is not a relief.

Have a nice sunday!

[Lustrousstone]

Looks like early needle etching to me and done at least semi-manually as the pattern is quite uneven (not something normally seen in plate etching). The form of the glass is also quite crude.

[Mosquito]

Agreed: certainly seems to be an early and unusual example. I've been through several catalogues but haven't found anything similar. I didn't find much in my various glass books either, though Ivo's 'Miller's Glass Fact File a-z' gives 'acid engraving' as an alternate term for needle etching. He gives a date of 1857 for the first mass commercialisation of the technique by Richardson's. Interestingly, he also states that needle etching was first developed in Germany, but gives no specific details.

Morris's 'Victorian Table Glass and Ornaments' has a whole chapter on etched glass in which she states the earliest used of acid etching is usually attributed to Thomas Hawkes of Dudley who was producing glass plates with gold enamelled decoration combined with acid etching in the mid 1830s. Benjamin Richardson previously worked for Thos. Hawkes before improving the process and overseeing the mass production at Richardson's noted above.

The quality of these older acid engraves/needle etched pieces vary considerably: Morris shows some very fine pieces, possibly hand scribed or made using a more precise plate etching method (such as that developed by J. Northwood), and dating from the third quarter of the 19th century.

Looking at your glass, the seemingly fixed height (amplitude) and consistent 'wavelength' of the wavy lines looks mechanical (maybe similar to what the modified lathe used in Richardson's early production could achieve, or perhaps possible by using a simple transfer, but far below the level of intricacy possible using later transfer- and plate-etching processes). You can also see the alignment (or phase) drifts as the glass widens, as well as where the straight horizontal bands start and finish, so again, I agree with Christine in that there was likely some degree of hand scribing at play.

From what I've read so far, I'd be thinking mid 19th century as the likely date, both based on the chunky design of the glass itself and the seemingly early style of needle etching, especially when contrasted with the finer and more consistent styles of etching that are seen from the last quarter of the 19th century onward. I'm by no means an expert in this area, however...

[Mosquito]

Here's another interesting example of needle etched glass, albeit in a different style: https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,73899.0.html