Topic: Stuart Crystal identification/markings

[blondiegirl]

Hi
I have a sherry glass which looks very much like a Stuart Crystal 'Cascade'
There are no markings on the glass and I don’t know if all genuine Stuart pieces should be marked/signed?
Could you possibly advise on this?
Many thanks
Regards

[KevinH]

Hi blondiegirl, welcome to the Board.

For some reason there were two identical posts in your message, so I have removed one of them. Hopefully somebody will be able to give advice about the signing (or not) of Stuart Crystal items.

If the answer turns out to be, "not always signed", then if you can add some photos, it can be discussed further (and the whole thread may then be moved by a moderator to the general Glass forum as a basic ID request).

[Paul S.]

hi - welcome from me as well.

Stuart's 'Cascade' design looks to be a fairly accurate representation of a fuchsia bloom - so you'd think it would have been better had they called it that  -  but maybe that name had been taken by another factory.
You don't say how or why you're suggesting 'Cascade'  -  have you seen this on one of the  Discontinued Sites?
The Board has a good selection of images of some of the better known/more common cut designs from factories such as Stuart, Edinburgh, Webb etc., and you can see an example of Cascade here .....
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?album=734&pos=127
This location (05 Crystal patterns) also shows examples of most backstamps.

My opinion would be that, probably, there would be a backstamp on all drinking glasses - although possibly not on some items such as bowls or vases for example.
But always possible that very recent pieces outsourced to Continental production, may not have the backstamp.

Sorry this is not a conclusive answer  -  hopefully someone else will know better.

[nigel benson]

Hello, and welcome to the board.

Stuart used a bye line in their promotional literature that all pieces were marked, however this is not strictly true, since it is possible to find a marked decanter with matching glasses that aren't marked.

The likelihood is that unmarked pieces would either have been seconds, or been sold through a retailer who wanted them with no backstamp.

I think the theory about the use of the name 'Cascade' falls down, since T Webb's had already used it for a mould finished pattern in the 1930's.

Nigel