Glass Message Board

Can any members ID this vase please. It is seven inches tall and signed to the base. Trouble is, the signature is hard to read. I thin the last part of it is glass or could it be renowned glass man Harris? Quite dark in colour; grey/silver and blue with gold patches...typically Azurene. The lines are cut in to the glass. I have uploaded a pic of the signature. Any help appreciated, as always, thank you.

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...

  These plates are usually dated around 1828, give or take a couple years . Heavy thick lead glass. The edge thickness varies between 1/2 in. and 1 ln. unlike later [lacy] plates and bowls which use a cap ring in conjunction with the mold. The cap ring prescribes the thickness of the rim and sometimes the design as well. Last photo shows a later sauce dish molded using a cap ring and one of these plates and the difference in the edge.

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!

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!