Topic: dram glass help (3)

[tonyatl]

this is my 3 dram glass for which i am seeking identification help such as age. it has a conical bowl with relatively thin line walls. stands about 4 1/8"....

[Paul S.]

hello tony  -  appears no one has taken the plunge re your questions - which not too surprising since most GMB members seem to fight shy of drinking glass questions  - they are all out there collecting colourful and larger pieces.   So, head on the block, and I will see if the following will encourage someone with more knowledge to reply  -  although of course you may already be aware of most of my comments.            Dram glasses originated in the late C17, and were intended obviously for gin and brandy, and were often made with round-funnel bowls and sporting round or baluster knopps - quite distinctive glasses, often with an arched folded foot and a snapped rough pontil (what we know as the 'ground' pontil became necessary because the feet of drinking glasses became flatter - and the glass would not stay upright unless the base was ground).       However, dram glasses in the mid C18 seemed to become even smaller and simpler, losing the knopps, and having large thick feet - almost like firing glasses.   I don't know even if the term dram glass really entered the C19 - maybe it didn't.      I would describe this particular glass as dating to something like 1820 - 1830 (just into the very late Georgian peiod) - without a folded foot - and it may well simply be a smallish wine glass.    It has a quite wide foot - this again makes it early in the C19 (feet became smaller as the century wore on) - and it appears to have a large ground/polished pontil area showing on the underside of the foot.    The bowl is best described as a straight sided funnel - but to some people might almost be a narrow bucket bowl.     The stem carries a single annulated knopp, and I suspect the entire thing was made in either two or three parts.
If you want to be accurate when describing these early glasses you must have access to good quality books, of which there are many  -  drinking glasses from 1700 to 1900 are an absolute minefield  -  not least because the Victorians copied and reproduced so much from earlier centures.    Hope this will get someone who really knows about these things to come and help out

[tonyatl]

thank you much for the response. i concur with your dating of this glass for the reason you gave about the size of the foot plus my suspicion that the thinner walls of the bucket represented advancement in handling and making glass - it didn't need to be quite so thick as in prior times. however, just when you think these rules are reliable, exceptions are always found making the detective work a bit more difficult....

it's hard for me to date these glasses precisely so i rely on the size of the foot....not sure how accurate that is....