Topic: Mystery

[Antwerp1954]

I have these two pieces of glass. The metal has a definite grey hue and the bases have been moulded. Each is 5cm tall and a rim diameter of 5cm. Under UV light they show yellow luminescence.

What are they? Shot glasses? Salts?
Where and when were they made?

Any help or ideas greatfully received.

[Paul S.]

Is it possible this might be from a Chubsee type mould - very early C19  -  blown-moulded glass??              Is there any evidence of seams, and is the bottom of the cavity entirely smooth, or can the base pattern be felt on the inside of the piece?              Blown-moulded leaves an impression of the shape of the moulding on the inside of the piece  -  press moulded doesn't, since it uses a plunger.         I would have thought salts -about the right size.
Assume the decoration (blazes) are moulded  -  a typical form of decoration from the latter part of C18, in both cut and moulded sorts.
These are typical shape, which allows easy removal from mould i.e. wider at the top.

Trouble is I don't know how they got rid of mould seams if they didn't re-attach to the the pontil iron - assume no scar or depression on these -so, explanation someone??

However, moulds were being used from c. 1750 onwards - with lot of decanter bases and lower bodies especially, between 1780 and 1820.

[Antwerp1954]

Many thanks

The bases are rough in places and could easily scratch a table surface. This would imply that they were not intended as drinking glasses. When put on a flat surface they both wobble a little and there is not an enormous amount of wear on their bases. Again this might imply that they have been salts in some sort of silver frame/structure (?) protected from wear. However the rims do show signs of wear.

There are no signs at all of seams. The bottom of the insides of the  bowls feel different with one of them having a small crescent shaped indentation. There are the usual striations one associates with hand blown glass. I can also detect with my fingers the slight bulge or imperfection in the circle of the rim where the glass has been cut off when blown.

So if they are salts - what date and where made?

[Antwerp1954]

Just to add - no pontil mark but the base looks quite like a lemon squeezer foot.

[Paul S.]

so  -  if hand blown, and you can see the shears mark where the rim was cut, then it would be logical to assume they were finished by attaching to a pontil rod and thus there would be a scar or depression - but there doesn't appears to be either.          A lot of later C19 glass (1850 onwards) - often drinking glasses - show signs of having been attached to the rod (usually ending up with a depression) - although those pieces were probably press moulded.

I had dismissed tumblers in view of the unusually small size of these , but having looked in the Delomosne Loan Exhibition brochure from March 2008, it appears there were such things as 'Small Sized and Miniatures' tumblers which ranged from 3.7 cms. (almost the smallest known), up to about 5.9 cms.                   Although small tumblers seem most often to have cut decoration.             There was a lot of part moulded pieces in the late C18 and very early C19,

Assuming the bases and sides are moulded, then these are blown-moulded construction, although how they're finished I really can't explain - perhaps Peter or Neil can help.
Probably best to stear clear of referring to lemon squeezer feet, as those were made separately and then attached, whereas these 'salts/tumblers' were made as single pieces.

My best effort at date would be 1780 to 1810 or perhaps a tad later, but still unsure as to purpose - and would have thought they would 'scratch' whatever container they were in.

Sorry, really no help.

[Paul S.]

had meant to ask what date and description the seller had given - since you do usually appear to have some details from the time of purchase - or did these not come with any information?

[Antwerp1954]

No description as they were part of a lot comprising Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian glass.