Glass Message Board

A question from a friend at a shop, so not my glass, but I'm baffled too.

These are two identical small solid glass cylinders with rounded ends. They narrow towards the middle, and have a hexagonal profile so they can stand on their sides, and narrow. The ends are rounded, but have star-cuts so they can stand upright. There is severe wear to them, and they have no visible maker's mark. The sides of each cylinder alternate with toothed patterns and cross-hatching. They are each about 3-4inches long and just under an inch wide at the widest.

The maker would be great to have, but does anyone who what these are for? Our guesses have been everything from curtain weights and pot holders, to chopstick stands so far, and I'm stumped.

(I've asked for more photos, so they should follow shortly)

Hi all!

I recently bought a vase that I suspect to be designed by Charles Graffart for Val Saint Lambert.

I searched in some catalogues but I can’t find this vase. Do you recognise it or are you able to tell me when it was made?

I think the cut style and petrol blue colour are characteristic for VSL.

Let me know you thoughts! Isn’t it beautiful

Repeating this from the Queen Victoria thread just in case it is of interest:

The Chemistry of Pottery etc etc.
The chemistry of the several natural and artificial heterogenous compounds used in manufacturing porcelain, glass and pottery.
- Simeon Shaw, published 1837 , printed London W. Lewis & Sons Finch-Lane.
See pages 503 (Flint glass onwards) - 507



I'm not suggesting the glassmakers of the day turned to Simeon Shaw's book to work out how to produce their own glass, however, this was published in 1837 in London -  and there does not seem to me (unless I have misunderstood or misread) to be any mention of uranium in any of the 'recipes' for glass colours.

Remember Queen Victoria's banquet at Guildhall was November 1837.

Uranium did seem to be mentioned in conjunction with enamelling pottery if I've read it correctly.  But there didn't seem to be mention of using it to colour glass.

In the making of 'Topaz' glass it mentions including 'Gold-Colored'.  Referring back up the page to 'Gold-color there is no mention of using uranium to produce it.



Referring back to my post #61 ,
'...Some authors of specialised contemporary literature mention the use of uranium in glass-making on in passing or not at all. To draw the conclusion from this, that uranium was not used before 1840 to colour glass, would be incorrect.  It can be proved that the 'composition glass factories' of Bohemia knew about uranium's power to color glass - already before 1835 - at Blaschka, as can be gathered from surviving accounts ...'
She then lists in detail numerous surviving accounts which include uranium.

I wonder if it was known how to produce uranium glass  in Bohemia prior to 1840  .... but not in England.

I could not make Valetta out from the marks. I did try!
Good one, Suzy.

My Boffo one must have been the inspiration. 

oooh thank you.  So - possibly -   something that might have been used by chemists/alchemists in days of yore for reducing large size quantities of edible somethings to saleable/useable quantities? (or mercury, mentioned in that link you gave, which is a scary thought).

They seem to only have been found in England and Scotland so far as I can see (iirc!)  plus those that were found in the well in Jamestowne.

Thanks so much.  Something else to investigate in down-time