Antique Wine And Drinking Glasses

Glassware — By admin on June 6, 2010 at 2:44 am

Ever wondered how to recognized the syles and parts of antique wine and drinking glasses? Welcome to the beautiful world of antique drinking glassware.

Now, glass has been used for drinking vessels since antiquity. The modern wine glass – with bowl, stem, and foot – evolved from both German vessels embellished with blobs of hot glass (known as prunts) and 16th- and 17th century sophisticated Venetian goblets. On the whole, European countries produced nationally distinctive styles, sometimes decorated with enameling or engraving.

A wide variety of English wine glasses were made from lead glass from the early 18th century and these influenced glass-makers across Europe. The demands of a more sophisticated and affluent clientele saw the creation of high-quality goblets with distinctive decoration. Largely in response to the 1745 Excise Tax on glass, English glass-makers replaced the heavy baluster (thick-stemmed) glass popular in the early part of the century with a smaller, lighter form with complex twist or faceted stems or finely engraved bowls.

Styles

Opaque twist (right) : White threads were enclosed inside clear glass
• Most opaque-twist stems are double series (one spiral within another); single series twists are very rare.
• Made in three pieces; joins are visible where the stem meets the foot and bowl.
• Knops are unusual.

Beilby glass
From the early 1760s, William and Mary Beilby. used the technique of painting opaque white
enameled decoration on clear glass.
• Delicate designs of flowers and fruiting vines landscapes, and hunting and sporting scenes
• A double series opaque twist stem with a conical foot is most common.
• Armorial and commemorative ornament in colored enamels is rare and highly prized.

Color twist stem glass (right)
From the 1760s, glass-makers started decorating stems with colored spiral threads. Enamels cool
at varying rates so the color rods are fragile so color twists tend to be rarer than opaque ones.

• Red and green are the most common colors used for twists while yellow and blue are very rare.
• Continental copies of English color twists are made of soda glass and have no gray tint.

Facet-stem wine glass, UK (right)
In response to taxes imposed on glass from 1745, English glass-cutters reduced the weight
of glasses by cutting the stems with complex
diamond, hexagonal, or plain flat patterns.
• A relatively long stem is typical.
• Towards the end of the 18th century the flat foot superseded the conical folded foot.
• Often engraved with flowers, birds, insects, and chinoiserie patterns.

French wine glass
Until the 17th century, most pieces were made in the Venetian style from a local glass called verre de fougere (forest glass). From the early 18th century, Normandy glasshouses made small, light wine glasses from quality soda glass.
• Later, the Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat and the Louis Glassworks began to make lead crystal and went on to create distinctive French styles.

Bohemian glass (right)
Having pioneered the formula for a colorless, easy-to-cut glass by adding lime to the recipe, the highly accomplished glass-makers of Bohemia perfected the wheel-engraving.
• Typically engraved with portraits, armorial crests, hunting scenes, and landscapes.
• Cutting methods included sculptural high relief or deep engraved intaglio or a rich combination of both.

Parts of a Wine/Drinking Glass

Bowl Shape
Check the shape of the bowl of a drinking glass as that can help to date it. (Although
remember that every shape has been reproduced later – treat it as only one indicator.)

Most early 18th-century bowl shapes were either conical or funnel. By the mid-18th century, there were also bell, thistle, and trumpet shapes. Most plain stem glasses have drawn trumpet bowls.
Other bowl shapes include bucket, wasted bucket and ogee.

The Color
Much can be deduced from slight variations in the color of the glass. Even if it is clear, does it have a tinge of grey, green, or amber? Is the glass slightly smoky in tone and does it show “crizzling” (in which the surface of the glass has a network of small cracks)? This could indicate 17th-century Anglo-Dutch glass.

A slight greenish tinge could indicate early lead glass. Later lead glass has a bluish tinge under ultraviolet light. Glass that has an amber
to brown tinge may well be 20th century.

The Stem
Look at the stem to see if it is plain or decorated. If decorated, is it moulded or faceted? Can you see thin lines of other glass inside the stem? Are they coloured? Does the stem have a decorative knop – a swelling – and is it solid or hollow? See box opposite for how stem shapes help you to date the glass.

Flaws and marks
Look and feel for any imperfections in the glass. Imperfections could be one clue to an early glass. Are there bubbles visible in the metal? This could indicate an early glass but be aware that most glasses with numerous bubbles in them date from the 20th century. Most glass that is marked is from the late 19th or 20th century.

The Feel

Feel and look for any joins to see if the glass has been made in more than one piece. Does the piece
have a flat or folded foot – can you feel a ridge at the edge of the foot? Is the base thick or thin?

Check the edge of the rim for unevenness, as this may mean a chip has been ground down.

Feel in the center of the foot – is there a rough area that has been broken off? Or is it smooth? Is
the piece light or heavy? If the drinking glass has not been made in sections and then joined, it dates from the 20th century.

Signs of age include:

a conical or funnel bowl
a foot that is wider than the rim
flaws in the glass
a slightly irregular body indicating that the piece was handmade
a bumpy pontil.

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History Of Drinking Glasses

During the 18th century, large numbers of drinking glasses were made in many different styles. Bowls of 18th century drinking glasses are small, owing to the potency of alcoholic drinks of the time. Value depends on the rarity of the decoration, as well as the shape of the bowl, stem, and foot. The decoration, such as air and opaque twists and faceting, focused on the stem, which often had a knop or a series of knops, made by compressing the hot glass rod of the stem during manufacture.

Some glasses have domed feet, a feature that is characteristic of many early glasses, while others have conical feet. In the 19th century, demand for complete table services resulted in the development of different shapes of drinking glass for red and white wine, champagne, dessert wines, and liqueurs, often made in matching sets.

Now it’s time to head down to your favorite antique fairs, dealers or auctions and start expanding your antique glassware collection, with all the knowledge you’ve gained about antique wine and drinking glasses.

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