Glass Message Board

Harcourt ? early

Always interesting to see. I don’t normally do pressed glass but recently got a nice Molineaux Webb Reg. 249600 (17 January 1871 reg. lozenge) frosted pressed dish. That is frosted by abrasion.

I’m going to try and get some clear surface photos of my abraded Richardson vermicular goblet and the white acid frosting on a Northwood piece for comparison.

I'm sitting on half a dozen early Molineaux Webb frosted pieces (not pressed) including something from their first frosted suite from c1850-55.
I'll have to do a few close up pics for you, they are unlikely to have used a technique different to Richardsons. Their frosted goblets are not that different to those shown on Love Decanters.

Yes, I saw the jugs one earlier, I see he’s added two videos for drinking glasses. He also shows the glass on his website, the frosted goblets on their own page: http://www.lovedecanters.co.uk/LDGlassesFrosted.html

On his website he says frosted items became popular in the 1850s after Richardsons perfected the technique for creating a frosted surface on glass using acid. He says something similar at the start of the jug video. I’m sure this is wrong and that the Richardson developments in the 1850s he talks about were for acid etching to create lines/patterns, cameo glass or acid polishing. As I mentioned, Hajdamach says it was Northwood who developed acid frosting in the U.K. c.1867 (not that all frosted glass after that date was frosted by acid).

I personally doubt that any of those frosted goblets and jugs he shows are frosted by acid (but I don’t have them in my hands so could be wrong). With the jugs, you can see that acid frosting is unlikely by the way some of the areas around the handle attachments have been treated.

Hi, Victorian frosted featured on Kevin's "love decanters " channel on youtube at the mo.
Interesting an informative,
Keith