Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Scolada on June 02, 2016, 06:04:34 PM
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Hi All,
I hope someone can help me with my piece of Glassware. I really don't know if it's a goblet or something else and I have looked all over and I can't find anything. The glass is very thick and the top has a lip that comes over so I can't imagine being able to drink out of them. The stem is also hollow so the stem would actually fill up. Its frosted or etched and it has polished cut thumb prints cut out of it. It weighs almost a pound and it is only 5" tall x 5 1/4" at the top. Any info you could share that would help me determine what it is and where it came from would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all in advance.
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Has anyone even seen these before? Thanks.
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Hello, I'm sorry no-one has responded to you yet but that probably means we haven't anything to say about it that will help you pin it down.
I can say that it's not going to be a goblet (drinking vessel), it is more likely to be either a decorative item or a vase, as the rim will help support the blooms and the hollow stem means a bigger water capacity and would help with stability.
As you are in the USA I'm suspecting this may be an American piece - it's certainly not one one I've seen this side of the pond before.
I'll tweak to subject line to see if we can attract someone more knowledgeable to take a look for you.
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Not seen this shape before but the hollow stem and part frosting both look right for mid-Victorian. Barbara Morris associates this part-frosted style with Manchester glassworks in the 1860s so that gives an idea of date, though I agree with Anne that there's a good chance your piece is American rather than British.
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I noted that the frosting was done using quite coarse sand blasting. I don't recall seeing that often in the UK except on some 1950s table glass. Here it was either acid ecthing (you can tell be tiny missing bits) or blasting with very fine "sand". Here the quality of the sand blasting does not match the quality of the cutting and blowing.
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You guys are great, thank you! At least I'm learning something.... ;) I'm pretty sure it is American and not British and I really appreciate all of you taking the time to look and respond. Time to post something else now...
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could you take a clear photograph of the stem please?
it looks to be faceted?
Also what is the foot like? is it hollow inside or is it solid with a pontil mark?
m
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Sure. Thank you. The photo I hope will show it but there is definitely a pontil that has been mostly polished but it is definitely there. Because the stem is hollow, you can also see it when you look from right side up. Here are the pics. Best, Scott.
could you take a clear photograph of the stem please?
it looks to be faceted?
Also what is the foot like? is it hollow inside or is it solid with a pontil mark?
m
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Honestly, I have no idea. However my thoughts if it were mine, would be that it might date mid 19th based on the type of foot and the faceted 'bulbous' stem. The hole in the base of the bowl leads directly into a hollow stem and that makes me wonder if there should have been some form of trumpet or epergne flute placed into it.
Have you checked out makers like Bakewell Pears? ( I think that is what I remember from searching one of mine. However I really have no idea at all about American glass I'm afraid)
And also wondering if it might
be French ... but that really is just a cursory 'wondering' based on the stem and foot.
One more request? could you take a photo close up ish (but not too close that it's out of focus or unrepresentative) of the textured surface please?
Not sure it will help but I'm very curious to know what it looks like close up.
Thanks :)
m
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I really appreciate the help, thanks. Here are the pics.
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Hello Again,
I just wanted to follow up and ask another questions or two. I've been through every glass book I have now page by page and I've drawn a relative blank. That said, one book I found had a small glass compote that had a rolled over lip much the same as this and a similar makeup (no where near the same but general shape) and that was believed to be Irish in origin dating to the late 18th century to 1825. Does anyone think that this type of thing could have been produced in Ireland around that time? I'm literally grasping at straws at the moment. Thanks again for the help.
Scott.
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the rolled lip design is REALLY hard to research on. I have a piece with that and spent months looking at various pieces trying to get a handle on it. And it's really hard to do so, therefore I gave up trying to use the rolled edge as a 'marker'.
I think the stem and foot is more of a marker than that to be honest, and then you have to look at the whole 'picture', the design, the way it is made, any pontil mark, the heft/weight of the glass, the way the 'frosting' has been done, the cut and polished lenses etc.
All those design elements together will need to point to a final identification - also to used for eliminating who, or where it may not be from - it's not easy. I would discount looking for the rolled edge as that will put you very off beam except as a 'final' consideration. Sorry.
m
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I think the sand blasting probably puts it much later. Sand blasting was patented in the USA in 1870. I think it's likely American
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Going on Christine's dating and it possibly being American then, it might help to search for goblets. If you can find a matching stem that might lead to other investigations as the name of the maker should come up.
The Corning has a large selection of goblets (but terri ble site to use as it is very slow to load the pictures and find a whole picture, it tends to only give you parts of pictures once you click on them). It would be worth searching through those as they have many. If instead of clicking on the picture you hover your mouse over the item it should show the maker which makes it much faster to search although the picture is quite small at that point.
Sorry can't help on possible makers for that later period but they might come up as a list if you search 'American Glass 19th century'? which would give you something to start looking at.
m