Topic: pressed glass shaker - of what??

[Paul S.]

nothing very exciting I know  -  but I'm can't quite decide what you wud have shaken from it  -  something perhaps from a womans dressing table  -  talc to mop up wet ink??     Just don't think it is part of a condiment set.       13 cms. tall  -  4.5cms wide.    Pressed glass with, I think, cut shoulders, and the top is epns with 1mm holes.
The Rd. No. is 216626, so I know it was Schindler & co. London  -  registered on 11/8/1893.      Any thoughts            thanks for looking           cheers        Paul S.

[Ivo]

Caster sugar is used in a sugar caster - or am I simplifying matters?

[Pip]

LOL Ivo is, in his brilliantly direct way, right of course!  It's a sugar shaker - the Victorians must have eaten an awful lot of strawberries and cream because I have 3 Victorian sugar shakers all bought because they're just such lovely and well-made objects I couldn't bear to leave behind at various charity shops and also because I like to think that they'll be useful one day (useful for collecting dust at the moment sadly!)

[Bernard C]

Paul, Ivo & Pip — See Mystery Arts & Crafts Condiment Set in Glass and EPNS, where the similar shaker is a pepper or, possibly, a salt.

Bernard C. 

[Pip]

gosh - it's quite large so they must have like their condiments then!  Actually on reflection Bernard 13cm doesn't seem that large for a salt or pepper shaker and is a little on the mean side for a sugar shaker - I've just measured one of my sugars and it's around 19cm tall.

[Paul S.]

thanks to eveyone, and in particular Bernard.   Tends to make me cringe with ignorance reading some these in depth erudite articles.       Of course I shud have added a pic. of the top showing the multiple holes  -  and because of which, a Pepper seems more likely to me.
I had also meant originally to comment that the complete lack of wear on the base seemed a bit of a mystery  -  although now I know that it was a condiment piece - spending its life trapped in the metal cage  -  I can see why there wud not be any wear.
Just goes to show that pre-conceived ideas are dangerous    -     because it wasn't fairly short and squat like a modern condiment, I automatically assumed it was something else.        sincere thanks for all the help.             Cheers                Paul S.           P.S.   Anyone got the rest of the set!!

[Lustrousstone]

I hate to say this but you are still making assumptions. It may still be a sugar shaker; it may also be a condiment shaker and if so it could be either salt or pepper, as a single salt hole is a fairly modern convention. It may never have been in stand; equally it might have. Not everything old shows a lot of wear; it may have only been used a few times, or even never.

The ideas given are only that and unless you find the exact same one in a catalogue or an advert, we may never know it exact function. It may even have been sold as either.

Is Schindler a manufacturer or a wholesaler/importer? Is the registration number on the glass or the metalwork?

This sounds a bit snippy, but it's not meant to be. Just trying to be constructive.

[Paul S.]

Christine - I am not going to apologise any more  -  You can have only so much contrition you know
From memory the book does give more about Schindler, but I have forgotten what is was   -   will look this evening.       the Rd. No. is acid etched (printed?) onto the base of the glass.           I suppose we are given to looking for the pragmatic reasoning behind some of these issues  -  its a naturall tendency which often helps us get to the bottom line a little quicker (altghough not always of course).    Are you sure about the spelling of 'snippy'   -   how about 'snipey'?         cheers
'I used to be indecisive  -  now I am not so sure'  -  having encountered Christine.

[Bernard C]

thanks to eveyone, and in particular Bernard.   ...

Paul — All sensible contributions are of equal value — often a newcomer can bring a fresh approach or a special interest that we all learn from.

...   Pressed glass   ...

Probably not, more likely mould-blown.   Pressed cruets are unusual;  the few examples I've seen have been from the Manchester glassworks, one of which is illustrated on the right of Thompson p.50.   It's easy to tell, and obvious when you think about it, as pressed bottles have a flat inside base and angles between the inside base and inside sides, impossible with mould-blown bottles.   When did you last see a bubble with corners? 

Bernard C. 

[Anne]

Paul, Schindler rang a bell so a search of the board brought up this topic: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,19558.0.html where there's a mention of Schindler & Co.  A Google for them in London brings up this page: http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilvermarksXD2.html where is states, "Schindler & Co (David Loebl), 9 Aldermanbury Avenue, London. Originally it was the London Branch of Schindler & Co, Gablonz (Germany), successively taken under control by David Loeble." [Note: Gablonz in Germany/Sudetenland is now Jablonec in Bohemia. Marcus also covers some of the history of this area in his book on Sklo Union glass.]

More searching brings up a lot of information in German about there having been Schindler glassmakers in the area since 1552 [one example here: http://www.riesengebirgler.de/gebirge/Glas/Glasmacherfamilien.htm] and Petr Novy in one of the issues  of pressglas-korrespondenz gives Schindler as Glasfabrik AntonĂ­nodol, Schindler & Co., Jablonec nad Nisou but I've not found any more yet.