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ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

NEWNES' LIBRARY OF

THE APPLIED ARTS

Frontispiece

PLATE I

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY GLASSES.
Typical Examples of the Five Main Groups

- 3- Air Twist Stem.

2"lnhes> l' Baluster Stem. Height, 6| inches,

iein< Hei^ht' 6^ inches' 5' Cut Stem.

J inches. Height, 6 inches.

ENGLISH

TAB LE

GLASS

XO N £> O

GEORGE NE,WNES LIMITED

JbuftoEBMbra Jgreefr iJ*fycmd; W?G.

3STB^T YOR.K.
CHARLES SCBLlBNEBlS SOKS

I \

574.3

MARY BATE

You planted the seed

So the blossom's your own :
Be it flower, be it weed
You planted the seed,
If it please you to read

You will see how i?s grown —
You planted the seed.

So the blossom's your own !

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix

I. INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY i

II. GLASSES OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH

CENTURIES 20

III. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GLASSES : THEIR NUMBER

AND CLASSIFICATION 24

IV. WINE GLASSES : BALUSTER STEMS AND PLAIN STEMS 33
V. WINE GLASSES: AIR-TWIST STEMS .... 39

VI. WINE GLASSES: OPAQUE WHITE AND COLOURED

TWISTS— COLOURED GLASSES— CUT STEMS . . 48

VII. ALE GLASSES AND OTHER TALL PIECES ... 58
VIII. GOBLETS, RUMMERS, CIDER, DRAM, AND SPIRIT

GLASSES 65

IX. CANDLESTICKS, DECANTERS, SWEETMEAT GLASSES,

TRAILED PIECES, ETC 74

X. METHODS OF DECORATION 81

XI. FRAUDS, FAKES, AND FORGERIES : FOREIGN GLASS . 88

XII. INSCRIBED AND HISTORIC GLASSES .... 96

INDEX 123

b vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

With the exception of the four glasses figured on Plate LI, which
are forgeries, all the illustrations without initials after their
number in this list are from the collection of the author. The
initials indicating ownership are to be read as follows : —

F.W.A. = Major F. W. Allan.

B.M. = British Museum.

J.T.C. = Mr. J. T. Cater,

p. = Dr. Perry.

R.P. = Mrs. Rees Price.

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

I. Eighteenth Century Glasses ; Typical Examples of the
five main groups: No. i, Baluster Stem; No. 2,
Plain Stem; No. 3, Air Twist Stem; No. 4,
White Twist Stem ; No. 5, Cut Stem Frontispiece

ii. English Drinking Glass, A.D. 1586. Made in London

by Jacob Verzelini B.M. 22

in. Wine Glasses, Group I, Baluster Stems, Nos. 6, 7, 8,

9» 10 -32

iv. Wine Glasses, Group I, Baluster Stems, Nos. u,

I2R.P., ISR.P 33

v. Wine Glasses, Group I, Baluster Stems, Nos. I4R.P.,

15, 16 . ... .34

vi. Wine Glasses, Group I, Baluster Stems with Domed

Feet, Nos. 17, i8R.P., 19, 20R.P., 2iR.p. . . 35
vn. Wine Glasses, Group II, Plain Stems, Nos. 22, 23 R.P.,

24, 25, 26 ... . .36

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

viii. Wine Glasses, Group II, Plain Stems, Nos. 27, 28,

29, 3o> 3i R-p- • • -37

ix. Wine Glasses, Group II, Plain Stems with Domed

Feet, Nos. 32 R.P., 33, 34*.?-, 35 • • 3&

x. Wine Glasses, Group II A, Incised Twist Stems, Nos.

36, 37i38R.P-, 39R-P- • • 39

xi. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 40, 41 R.P., 42 R.P., 43 R.P., 44R.P. . . 40
xii. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 45 R.P., 46 R.P., 47, 48 R.P 41

xin. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 49R.P., 50, SIR.P., 52R.P 42

xiv. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 . . .43

xv. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,
and with Domed Feet, Nos. 58R.P., 59, 60,

61 R.P., 62 R.P. . 44

xvi. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 63R.P., 64R.P., 65R.P., 66 . . 44
xvn. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 67 R.P., 68 R.P., 69 R.P., 70 R.P., 7 1 R.P. 45
xvni. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 72, 73, 74R.P., 75 R.P., 76 . .46
xix. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not
Drawn, Nos. 77 R.P., 78 R.P. ; Group III B, Mixed
Twist Stems, not Drawn, 79, 80, 8 1 . . . 47
xx. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

82R.P., 83, 84R.P., 85R.P. . . . .48
xxi. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

86, 87R.P., 88R.P., 89, 90 50

xxn. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

91, 92 R.P., 93, 94, 95 51

xxiii. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

96, 97 R.P., 98, 99, 100 ... .52

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

xxiv. Wine Glasses, Group IVA, Coloured Twist Stems,

Nos. 101 R.P., 102, 103, 104, 105 . . . 54
xxv. Wine Glasses, Group V, Cut Stems, Nos. 106,

107, 108, 109, no 55

xxvi. Wine Glasses, Group V, Cut Stems, Nos. in,

H2R.P., HSR.?., H4R.P., 115 . . .56
xxvii. Ale Glasses, etc., Baluster Stems, Nos. 116,

H7R.P., 118 58

xxvin. Ale Glasses, etc., Plain and Air Twist Stems,

Nos. 119, 120, 121 60

xxix. Ale Glasses, etc., Air Twist and White Twist

Stems, Nos. 122 R.P., 123, 124 R.P. . . .61
xxx. Ale Glasses, etc., Air Twist and Cut Stems, Nos.

I25R.P., I26R.P., 127 62

xxxi. Goblet, Baluster Stem, No. 128 . . . . 64
xxxn. Goblet, Baluster Stem, No. 129 . „ . .65
XXXIIL Goblet, Drawn Stem, No. 130; Liqueur Glass,

Drawn Stem, No. 131 66

xxxiv. Rummers, Four Types of Stems— Plain Stem, No.
132; Air Twist Stem, No. 133; White Twist
Stem, No. 134; Cut Stem, No. I35R.P. . . 67
xxxv. Two Handled Cup, No. 136; Rummers, Nos.

I37R.P., 138 68

xxxvi. Rummers, etc., Nos. 139, I4OR.P., I4IR.P. . . 69
xxxvn. Mugs or Tankards, Nos. 142 R.P., I43R.P., 144 . 70
xxxvui. Yard of Ale Glass, No. 145, and Dram Glasses,

Nos. I46R.P., 147, 148, 149 . . . .71
xxxix. Dram and Spirit Glasses, Nos. 150, 151, 152,

i53» !54, 155 R-P-. 156 ..... 72
XL. Dram and Spirit Glasses, Nos. 157, 158, 159, 160,

161, 162, 163, 164 73

XLI. Candlesticks, Nos. 165 R.P., i66R.P., 167 R.P. . 74

XLII. Toddy Fillers, Nos. 168, 169; Decanter, No. 170 . 75

XLIII. Decanters, etc., Nos. 171, 172 J.T.C., 173 . . 76

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

XLIV. Sweetmeat Glasses, Nos. 174, 175, 176 . . 77
XLV. Sweetmeat Glasses, Nos. 177 R.P., 178 R.P.,

179 R-p 78

XLVI. Sweetmeat Glass, No. i8oR.p.; Bell with trailed

decoration, No. 181 79

XLVII. Covered Bowl with trailed decoration, No.

182 R.P 80

XLVIII. Porringer with trailed decoration, No. 183 . . 81
XLIX. Methods of Decoration, Nos. i84R.p., i85R.p.,

i86R.P., 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192 . . 82
L. Glasses decorated by means of fluoric acid, Nos.

I93B.M., 194 B.M 86

LI. Forgeries, Nos. 195, 196, 197, 198 ... 89
LII. ^Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 200 p., 201, 202 ... 98
LIII. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 203R.P., 204R.P., 205 R.P. . . 100
LIV. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 206 B.M., 207, 208 . . . 101

LV. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 209B.M., 210, 211 R.P. . . 102
LVI. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite and loyal mottoes

and emblems, Nos. 2I2R.P., 2I3B.M., 214 . 104
LVII. Inscribed Glasses bearing loyal and patriotic

emblems, Nos. 215, 216, 217, 218 . . . 106
LVIII. Inscribed Glasses commemorating national heroes,

etc., Nos. 219 R.P., 220, 221 .... io8
LIX. Inscribed Glasses commemorating national heroes,

etc., Nos. 222, 223 R.P., 224 .... 109
LX. Inscribed Glasses bearing political and social
mottoes, etc., Nos. 225, 226R.P., 227J.T.C., 228,

229B.M., 230F.W.A IIO

LXI. Inscribed Glasses bearing social mottoes and

toasts, Nos. 231, 232, 233, 234, 235 F.W.A. . 112

xii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

LXII. Inscribed Glasses bearing the arms and motto of

The Turners' Company of London, No. 236 . 113

LXIII. Inscribed Glasses bearing social mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 237 R.P., 238, 239, 240 R.P. . 114

LXIV. Inscribed Glasses bearing social and naval mottoes

and emblems, Nos. 241, 24211.?., 24311.?. . . 116

LXV. Inscribed Glasses bearing naval toasts and designs,

Nos. 244, 245, 246, 247 .R.P . . . .117

LXVI. Inscribed Glasses bearing owners' names and al-
lusive designs, Nos. 248, 249B.M., 250, 251 . 118

LXVII. Inscribed Glasses bearing pictorial emblems and

mottoes, Nos. 252, 253, 254 . . . .120

ERRATA

The Drinking Glass on Plate II is not numbered.
No. 199 does not appear, but no illustration has been actually
omitted.

Xlll

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

THE FIRST CHAPTER

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

LD English glass — which to all
intents and purposes is the glass
of the eighteenth century — has
many interesting features and
individual beauties. It lacks,
as a whole, the fragile delicacy and the in-
finite variety of manipulation that characterize
the products of the Venetian glass-houses ;
it is not marked by the florid decoration of
enamels and gilding that is so typical of
German work, nor do we find the English
makers producing those lofty pieces, elaborately
designed and somewhat redundantly engraved,
that one associates with the Low Countries ;
but, as a whole, the glass vessels of the
eighteenth century in England (and more
particularly the drinking vessels) possess in
their variety and their simplicity an interest
which, though less clamant than that of their

B I

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

foreign congeners, is very real and very
lasting.

And, apart from their intrinsic beauty and
merit, they have for collectors of moderate
means the advantage of being obtainable at
a comparatively small cost. It is true that
the last fifteen or twenty years have seen the
prices asked by dealers increase by a hundred
per cent, in response to the revived interest
displayed in them by connoisseurs ; and it
is to be feared that these prices are not yet
at their highest. But English glasses are
still within the means of the buyer who
cannot afford the porcelain of Chelsea or
Worcester, of the lover of the art of a dead
century to whom the silver of Paul Lamerie,
or the miniatures of Richard Cosway, are
things enviously to be foregone because of the
unholy cost of them in the markets of the
opulent.

It is for such friends of the arts of
their own country as these that this book
increasing has been undertaken, in the
interest of expectation that some of those
who feel the individuality of
our English drinking glasses, respond to
their charm, and care to possess them, may
be interested in the experience and the

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

conclusions of a fellow-collector. That there
is an increasing number of these there is no
doubt ; the artistic magazines (as well as the
more " shoppy " periodicals) have recognized
this fact, and have done much to foster the
growth of this appreciation ; and this renewed
interest in the artistic products of the dead
craftsmen of our own country is very pleasant
to observe, and very welcome. For it can
scarcely be denied that we have recently been
rather apt, in the increasing recognition
accorded to the art of others — the enamels
of Japan and the terra-cottas of Tanagra,
the lace of Flanders and the porcelain of
Meissen — to overlook or dismiss slightingly
the claims of our own simpler relics of the
past.

Thomas Carlyle, that old philistine,
defamed the dead years when he said of the
eighteenth century that it was TheWonder.
" massed up in our minds as a fui Eighteenth
disastrous, wrecked inanity, not Century-
useful to dwell upon ; " and it was reserved
for a later historian to sound a truer note of
characterization in speaking of that " century,
so admirable and yet so ridiculous, so amus-
ing, so instructive, so irritating, and so con-
temptible, so paradoxical and contradictory,

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

so provokingly clever, and so engagingly
wicked." To-day that fascinating period,
that cycle of mingled sincerity and artificiality,
is receiving its true meed of appreciation, and
is recognized as a time of golden fruition in
the arts. English pictures of the period, and
the contemporary miniatures and mezzotints,
are rightly acknowledged as unsurpassed in
their own way; the furniture, the porcelain,
and the silver of that date are esteemed at
their real value; and it is surely not too
much to expect that the work of the crafts-
men, who wrought in a more fragile, but not
less beautiful material, and who produced the
glass of the same period, should receive a
little attention.

It is true that it is not possible, as it is in
the case of silver and porcelain, to attribute
any particular piece to an individual artist,
or even to a recognized place of manufacture.
The fragility of these little objects is mocked
by the enduring strength of silver, their
simplicity by the elaborate decoration possible
to porcelain ; but they have a charm all their
own, nevertheless. The native quaintness
and solid dignity of the forms of these
English glasses, as well as the beautiful
pellucidity of the material itself, would alone
4

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

constitute reasons for admiration, were there
not the additional fact to be borne in mind
that the untutored good taste of the unknown
craftsmen who made these modest vessels,
for use and not for ornament, saved them
from the meretricious extravagances and
decorative falsities that characterize a good
deal of the work of the designers of furniture,
silver, and china ; just as the inherent ten-
dency of molten glass to fall into simple and
perfect forms assisted very largely to prevent
any attempt at the production of types either
fussy, bizarre, or grotesque.

For my own part, my attention was
first drawn to the English glasses of the
eighteenth century when I was Beginningof
shown some while on a visit to the Author's
a beautiful old Georgian house Collection-
in Mid-Sussex. Here the fine old ale glasses,
the interesting glass spoons with coloured
twists in the handles, the quaint " wrythen "
glasses for cordial waters, the simple wine
glasses of brilliant metal, were family relics,
most of them having been brought from the
old haunted house at Pevensey, that was
built by Andrew Borde (Merry Andrew), the
physician to King Henry VIII, and inhabited
by the forebears of my hostess almost ever

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

since. These charmed me at the time, and
on subsequent visits my interest in them
did not diminish, indeed, it rather increased ;
and it always seemed to me that one of the
quaintest of all was the old " drawn" glass,
dating back to the middle of the eighteenth
century, which was traditionally used, year
in and year out, by the old folk on Good
Friday. On this day, as the time between
the morning and afternoon services was but
brief, exhausted nature was sustained by each
member of the family partaking of a mouth-
ful of gingerbread and this glass full of gin.
Later, when the elder daughter of the house
was persuaded to assume control of my
collection as well as of myself, she brought
this glass with her to add to my cabinet, and
to be treasured as the fons et origo of my
hobby.

But before this happened, I had settled
in Bath, and there, in the country that
"TheAccre- owned Bristol as its commercial
tion Fever." capital, I found these quaint and
beautiful glasses fairly plentiful. Gradually
I bought examples, and though for a long
time I could frame no sequence for them,
they were very charming objects to possess.
And then the beauty of the material, the
6

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

delight that glass has for its lovers, began to
take possession of me ; and a piece or two of
Venetian, some Dutch examples, a specimen
of the Spanish, began to appear on my
shelves, until I was brought up with a round
turn by my good friend Mr. Drane, of Cardiff.
He said, " I observe in you the symptoms
of the ' the accretion fever/ the desire of
acquiring, vaguely and without plan, for the
mere sake of possession. You have neither
money nor opportunity to form a collection of
European glass ; if you work on these lines
you will never even get a representative group
of English wine glasses. Drop the foreign
gentry, and confine your energies to those of
our own land. It is better far to have the
best collection of English glass, or, at any
rate, a collection in which every piece means
something and fits into its place, than a mere
meaningless aggregation, lacking coherence
or antiquarian value."

This was very sound advice, and luckily
I followed it. I am not, nor shall I ever be,
the owner of the finest cabinet of English
glasses ; but I do possess a collection in which
every piece fits into its place, and bears a
relation to its neighbour, while illustrating
some point of development or fashion.

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

All growth is interesting, and all change,
whether in the direction of development or

hion °f reacti°n) and few things are

change,' and more attractive to the student of

Development. past days than the prOgress> the

fluctuations, and the vagaries of fashion
as illustrated in the changing forms and
materials of household utensils. In trac-
ing, for instance, the development of that
simple object, the spoon, from the days of the
fourth Edward to those of the fourth William,
it is possible to see the influence of politics
and religion, as well as the natural growth
and evolution of the spoon itself. Here is
the early " diamond point " that tops the
shaft, changed later into the national acorn ;
here is the " slip-end " or so-called " Puritan "
spoon, lacking the patron saint or apostle
beloved in earlier days. Close by can be seen
the fashion that came in with Charles II,
supplemented by the one that followed with
the Hanoverians; here a provincial maker,
ignorant or conservative, continues to work
by the old patterns long after they are out of
fashion in London ; there some innovator,
greatly daring, shows the first step towards a
new style.

All this, and much more, can be clearly
8

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

seen in such a collection of spoons as Mr.
Drane himself possesses. Something similar,
though of course less chronologically exact,
and extending through a shorter period of
time, may be observed in a series of the drink-
ing glasses of the eighteenth century. It was
not evident to me, as I said before, in the
early days of my collecting, and for a long
time I was working more or less in the dark,
for there was not a single published volume,
or even a magazine article, on the subject of
my hobby. But slowly I evolved rules for
my own guidance, learning a little from each
piece that I acquired, and experiencing the
great pleasure of seeing a sequence gradually
arise, a series develop in which it became
possible to see the gaps, to learn what to
search for, and to fit the missing link when
found.

And then came a chance notice of the
comprehensive volume which was in prepara-
tion by Mr. Albert Hartshorne,

T^ o A i , Mr. Albert

F.S.A., and consequent corre- Hartshorne
spondence, and later personal and Ms

•^ J.L iA Monograph.

acquaintance with the gentleman
who has made himself the admitted authority
on the subject of English glasses. It is
pleasant to me to think that I was able to

c 9

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

assist Mr. Hartshorne with a few original
observations and discoveries ; it is still more
pleasant to look back and recollect the in-
variable and unfailing courtesy and kindness
with which he freely communicated to a be-
ginner facts and deductions, information and
advice, from his store of abounding knowledge
and experience. His monumental volume,
11 Old English Glasses " (Arnold, 1897), must
long remain, by reason of its elaborate com-
pleteness, the great authority on the subject ;
any such handbook as the present can but be
an introduction to his encyclopaedic treatment
of the matter in all its ramifications ; and those
collectors who desire to learn the history of
the craft of glass-making, and who wish for
fuller information about our own English
examples than I have space to convey, should
consult Mr. Hartshorne's pages.

I have already spoken of the pleasure I
derived from the growth of my small collec-

Artisticand ^on J ^e enjoyment obtained
Human from the simple beauty of some,

iterest. of

others ; and the interest inseparable from the
evolution of a series, the elucidation of little
problems, and the development of a coherent
story. This interest was, of course, both
10

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

artistic and antiquarian, but as yet the charm
of the personal and individual was absent,
though soon to appear. There is always to a
thoughtful mind a curious fascination about
those relics of the past that seem to touch,
however faintly, the chord of human feeling,
that seem to bear with them some suggestion,
however slight, of the personality of the long
dead men and women who possessed and
cherished them in the bygone years. And
gradually glasses came to my hand, frail relics
of creed, or character, or emotion, which were
eloquent of the ardent humanity of our pre-
decessors, each with a tale to tell, each de-
manding hospitality and harbourage, and each
affording either a vivid flash of insight or a
half-veiled glimpse into the minds, the habits,
and the identities of our ancestors.

What is more touching than constancy
to a long-lost cause ? What more rancorous
than political hatred ? From this glass, with
its pathetic motto " Redeat" some Jacobite
drank, in secret and silence, to " the King
over the water ; " on this goblet we read
the toast of " WILKES AND LIBERTY " daily
pledged by some friend of freedom. And how
human is our good old English sportsman
TOM SHORTER, who has his name inscribed on

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

vin. Wine Glasses, Group II, Plain Stems, Nos. 27, 28,

29, 3°» 3i R-p- • • -37

ix. Wine Glasses, Group II, Plain Stems with Domed

Feet, Nos. 32 R.P., 33, 34*.?-, 35 • • 3&

x. Wine Glasses, Group II A, Incised Twist Stems, Nos.

36»37, 38R.P-, 39R-P- • • 39

xi. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

NOS. 40, 41 R.P., 42 R.P., 43 R.P., 44R.P. . . 40

xn. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 45R.P., 46R.P., 47, 48R.P 41

xin. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 49R.P., 50, SIR.P., 52R.P 42

xiv. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

Nos. 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 . . .43

xv. Wine Glasses, Group III, Air Twist Stems, Drawn,

and with Domed Feet, Nos. 58 R. p., 59, 60,

61 R.P., 62 R.P. . . . . . . . 44

xvi. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 63R.P., 64R.P., 65 R.P., 66 . . 44
xvii. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 67 R.P.,68R.p.,69R.p.,7oR.p.,7i R.P. 45
xvin. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 72, 73, 74R.P., 75 R.P., 76 . .46
xix. Wine Glasses, Group III A, Air Twist Stems, not

Drawn, Nos. 77 R.P., 78 R.P. ; Group III B, Mixed

Twist Stems, not Drawn, 79, 80, 81 . . -47
xx. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

82R.P., 83, 84R.P., 85R.P 48

xxi. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

86, 87R.P., 88R.P., 89, 90 50

xxn. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

91, 92 R.P., 93, 94, 95 . . 51

xxiii. Wine Glasses, Group IV, White Twist Stems, Nos.

96, 97 R.P., 98, 99, 100 52

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

xxiv. Wine Glasses, Group IVA, Coloured Twist Stems,

Nos. 101 R.P., 102, 103, 104, 105 . . .54
xxv. Wine Glasses, Group V, Cut Stems, Nos. 106,

107, 108, 109, no 55

xxvi. Wine Glasses, Group V, Cut Stems, Nos. in,

H2R.P., H3R.P., H4R.P., 115 . . .56
xxvii. Ale Glasses, etc., Baluster Stems, Nos. 116,

H7R.P., 118 58

xxviii. Ale Glasses, etc., Plain and Air Twist Stems,

NOS. 119, I2O, 121 ...... 60

xxix. Ale Glasses, etc., Air Twist and White Twist

Stems, Nos. 122 R. P., 123, 124 R. P. . . .61
xxx. Ale Glasses, etc., Air Twist and Cut Stems, Nos.

I25R.P., I26R.P., 127 62

xxxi. Goblet, Baluster Stem, No. 128 . .. . .64
xxxn. Goblet, Baluster Stem, No. 129 . . . .65
xxxiii. Goblet, Drawn Stem, No. 130; Liqueur Glass,

Drawn Stem, No. 131 66

xxxiv. Rummers, Four Types of Stems — Plain Stem, No.
132; Air Twist Stem, No. 133; White Twist
Stem, No. 134; Cut Stem, No. 135 R.P. . . 67
xxxv. Two Handled Cup, No. 136; Rummers, Nos.

I37R.P., 138 68

Rummers, etc., Nos. 139, I4OR.P., I4IR.P. . . 69
Mugs or Tankards, Nos. 142 R.P., 143 R.P., 144 . 70
Yard of Ale Glass, No. 145, and Dram Glasses,

Nos. I46R.P., 147, 148, 149 . . . «7i
xxxix. Dram and Spirit Glasses, Nos. 150, 151, 152,

153*154, 155 R-P-, 156 • • 72

XL. Dram and Spirit Glasses, Nos. 157, 158, 159, 160,

161, 162, 163, 164 73

XLI. Candlesticks, Nos. 165 R.P., i66R.P., 167 R.P. . 74

XLII. Toddy Fillers, Nos. 168, 169 ; Decanter, No. 170 . 75

XLIII. Decanters, etc., Nos. 171, 172 J.T.C., 173 . . 76

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

XLIV. Sweetmeat Glasses, Nos. 174, 175, 176 . . 77
XLV. Sweetmeat Glasses, Nos. 177 R. p., 178 R.P.,

179 R-p 78

XLVI. Sweetmeat Glass, No. i8oR.p.; Bell with trailed

decoration, No. 181 79

XLVII. Covered Bowl with trailed decoration, No.

182 R.P 80

XLVIII. Porringer with trailed decoration, No. 183 . . 81
XLIX. Methods of Decoration, Nos. i84R.p., i85R.p.,

i86R.P., 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192 . . 82
L. Glasses decorated by means of fluoric acid, Nos.

I93B.M., 194 B.M 86

LI. Forgeries, Nos. 195, 196, 197, 198 . . . 89
LII. ^Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 200 p., 201, 202 ... 98
LIU. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 203R.P., 204R.P., 205 R.P. . . 100
LIV. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 206 B.M., 207, 208 . . . 101

LV. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 209 B.M., 210, 211 R.P. . . 102
LVI. Inscribed Glasses bearing Jacobite and loyal mottoes

and emblems, Nos. 2I2R.P., 2I3B.M., 214 . 104
LVII. Inscribed Glasses bearing loyal and patriotic

emblems, Nos. 215, 216, 217, 218 . . .106
LVIII. Inscribed Glasses commemorating national heroes,

etc., Nos. 219 R.P., 220, 221 .... 108
LIX. Inscribed Glasses commemorating national heroes,

etc., Nos. 222, 223 R.P., 224 .... 109
LX. Inscribed Glasses bearing political and social
mottoes, etc., Nos. 225, 226R.P., 227J.T.C., 228,

229B.M., 230F.W.A IIO

LXI. Inscribed Glasses bearing social mottoes and

toasts, Nos. 231, 232, 233, 234, 235 F.W.A. . 112

xii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE TO FACE PAGE

LXII. Inscribed Glasses bearing the arms and motto of

The Turners' Company of London, No. 236 . 113

LXIII. Inscribed Glasses bearing social mottoes and

emblems, Nos. 237 R.P., 238, 239, 240 R.P. . 114

LXIV. Inscribed Glasses bearing social and naval mottoes

and emblems, Nos. 241, 24211.?., 243 R.P. . .116
LXV. Inscribed Glasses bearing naval toasts and designs,

Nos. 244, 245, 246, 247 .R.P . . . -117

LXVI. Inscribed Glasses bearing owners' names and al-
lusive designs, Nos. 248, 2496.*!., 250, 251 . 118

LXVII. Inscribed Glasses bearing pictorial emblems and

mottoes, Nos. 252, 253, 254 . . . .120

ERRATA

The Drinking Glass on Plate II is not numbered.
No. 199 does not appear, but no illustration has been actually
omitted.

Xlll

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

THE FIRST CHAPTER

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

LD English glass — which to all
intents and purposes is the glass
of the eighteenth century — has
many interesting features and
individual beauties. It lacks,
as a whole, the fragile delicacy and the in-
finite variety of manipulation that characterize
the products of the Venetian glass-houses;
it is not marked by the florid decoration of
enamels and gilding that is so typical of
German work, nor do we find the English
makers producing those lofty pieces, elaborately
designed and somewhat redundantly engraved,
that one associates with the Low Countries ;
but, as a whole, the glass vessels of the
eighteenth century in England (and more
particularly the drinking vessels) possess in
their variety and their simplicity an interest
which, though less clamant than that of their

B I

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

foreign congeners, is very real and very
lasting.

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

Thomas Carlyle, that old philistine,
defamed the dead years when he said of the
eighteenth century that it was The Wonder-
" massed up in our minds as a fui Eighteenth
disastrous, wrecked inanity, not Century*
useful to dwell upon ; " and it was reserved
for a later historian to sound a truer note of
characterization in speaking of that " century,
so admirable and yet so ridiculous, so amus-
ing, so instructive, so irritating, and so con-
temptible, so paradoxical and contradictory,

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

For my own part, my attention was
first drawn to the English glasses of the
eighteenth century when I was Beginningol
shown some while on a visit to the Author's
a beautiful old Georgian house Collection-
in Mid-Sussex. Here the fine old ale glasses,
the interesting glass spoons with coloured
twists in the handles, the quaint " wrythen "
glasses for cordial waters, the simple wine
glasses of brilliant metal, were family relics,
most of them having been brought from the
old haunted house at Pevensey, that was
built by Andrew Borde (Merry Andrew), the
physician to King Henry VIII, and inhabited
by the forebears of my hostess almost ever

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

All growth is interesting, and all change,
whether in the direction of development or

Fashion °^ reacti°n) and few things are

change,' and more attractive to the student of

Development. past days than the progress> the

fluctuations, and the vagaries of fashion
as illustrated in the changing forms and
materials of household utensils. In trac-
ing, for instance, the development of that
simple object, the spoon, from the days of the
fourth Edward to those of the fourth William,
it is possible to see the influence of politics
and religion, as well as the natural growth
and evolution of the spoon itself. Here is
the early " diamond point " that tops the
shaft, changed later into the national acorn ;
here is the " slip-end " or so-called " Puritan "
spoon, lacking the patron saint or apostle
beloved in earlier days. Close by can be seen
the fashion that came in with Charles II,
supplemented by the one that followed with
the Hanoverians ; here a provincial maker,
ignorant or conservative, continues to work
by the old patterns long after they are out of
fashion in London ; there some innovator,
greatly daring, shows the first step towards a
new style.

All this, and much more, can be clearly
8

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

And then came a chance notice of the
comprehensive volume which was in prepara-
tion by Mr. Albert Hartshorne,

r* o A j Mr- Albert

F.S.A., and consequent corre- Hartshorne
spondence, and later personal and his

•j.1 a.i_ A.I Monograph.

acquaintance with the gentleman
who has made himself the admitted authority
on the subject of English glasses. It is
pleasant to me to think that I was able to

c 9

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

assist Mr. Hartshorne with a few original
observations and discoveries ; it is still more
pleasant to look back and recollect the in-
variable and unfailing courtesy and kindness
with which he freely communicated to a be-
ginner facts and deductions, information and
advice, from his store of abounding knowledge
and experience. His monumental volume,
" Old English Glasses " (Arnold, 1897), must
long remain, by reason of its elaborate com-
pleteness, the great authority on the subject ;
any such handbook as the present can but be
an introduction to his encyclopaedic treatment
of the matter in all its ramifications ; and those
collectors who desire to learn the history of
the craft of glass-making, and who wish for
fuller information about our own English
examples than I have space to convey, should
consult Mr. Hartshorne's pages.

I have already spoken of the pleasure I
derived from the growth of my small collec-

Artisticand ^on ! ^e enjoyment obtained

Human from the simple beauty of some,

and the quaint originality of

others ; and the interest inseparable from the

evolution of a series, the elucidation of little

problems, and the development of a coherent

story. This interest was, of course, both

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

his favourite glass, together with the pictured
representation of himself " a-chasing the red
deer " with horse and hound across the hills
and combes of Exmoor; while what a tale,
maybe of lifelong devotion, maybe of fleeting
love, lies hidden in the name of some " dear,
dead lady," some reigning toast, scratched
with a diamond on the bowl of this other gob-
let. Here " TRAFALGAR " is commemorated ;
here the square and compasses tell of mysteries
Masonic ; here Admiral Byng, hanging from
a gibbet, is falsely stated to have deserved
"THE COWARD'S REWARD;" and so the tale
might be continued. But sufficient has been
said to show that, beyond the antiquarian
value and the decorative charm of these old
glasses, one finds in many the added interest
always attaching to mementoes of deep feeling,
to those slight and fragile objects, apparently
foredoomed to early destruction, that have out-
lasted the often mighty and moving emotions
of which they were but the passing outcome.

And over and above the pleasure that my

Collectors glasses themselves have given

and Friends: me, there is the memory of the

singer W' friendships they have brought

and the delightful recollections

associated with the acquisition of many of

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

them. It would be out of place to speak of
i all these here, even in a volume which is
frankly of a personal (or rather a " first-
personal") character, but allusion to one or
two will, I am sure, be pardoned.

Early in the days of my collecting I came
to know the late Mr. J. W. Singer, of Frome,
the doyen of glass collectors and the kindest
of friends. He had at that time, I fancy,
ceased to collect very actively; but my
enthusiasm revivified his own, and he once
more began to seek for additions to his
already large collection (it ultimately ex-
ceeded seven hundred), some few being
acquired from myself, others direct from the
dealers — a method very different from that
of his early days. He has often told me
how, as young men, he and a friend would
take a pony-trap and drive round the country,
inquiring at likely cottages if any old glasses
"like that" (and they showed a specimen)
| were to be had. Often, of course, there was
I nothing ; but often, too, excellent examples
\ were acquired for a trifle ; while sometimes
j the cottagers' glasses were but a memory,
as in the case of the old lady who answered
their inquiry with the provoking statement,
" Law bless thee, zur I us had one o' they wi*

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

a blue stem so long's my arm, but I broke en
up wi' a hammer and put en down rats'-hole ! "
To my hobby I am also indebted for many
other pleasant acquaintances and friends.
I confess that some of these owed to me
their inoculation with the virus of the same
collecting mania that I myself was a victim
to (but they never seem to bear malice !) ;
others, while immune from this particular
form of the fever, viewed my own state with
sympathy, and even fostered the progress of
the malady by the gift of specimens. Many
of the finest pieces I have I owe to the
kindness of friends who have discovered, in
travelling, examples not known to me; and
these I mark in a certain way. It is a good
habit to note on a small adhesive label on
every piece the catalogue number, the date
and place of acquisition, and the cost (the
latter can be expressed by a private mark) ;
and this I always do — unless I forget ! But
my price-cypher had no letter that stood for
a gift, so I was driven to invent a symbol,
with the consequence that all these presents
from my very good friends (I do not forget to
mark them) bear this emblem, C?, in acknow-
ledgment of the kind and generous hearts
that have thus sought to give me pleasure.

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

When, some years ago, my work called me
from Bath to Glasgow, I received in my new
home no welcome more pleasant than that of
Mrs. Rees Price, in whose cabinet of English
glasses I found a collection much
more numerous and varied than

my own. From Mr. and Mrs. tion— and
Rees Price I have received many
tokens of friendship, but none that I value
more than the very kind permission accorded
me to draw with entire freedom on their
examples for any photographs I needed for
the illustration of this book ; and I have not
included more specimens from that source
simply because the limits set by my pub-
lishers forbade the preparation of any more
illustrations.

The mutual enthusiasm and the friendly
and sympathetic rivalry between Mrs. Rees
Price and myself still continue, and I hope
will last for many years to come. My cabinet
is the richer by her kindness ; hers has a
few additional specimens which might not
be in her possession but for the good fortune
which threw them in my way ; and, though
each has gaps not yet filled, the two collec-
tions taken together comprise a very adequate
j representation of the English glasses of the

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

eighteenth century. It is for this reason (and
the consequent simplification of the trouble-
some business of photographing the examples
chosen for reproduction) that I have practi-
cally confined my illustrations to specimens
chosen from Mrs. Rees Price's series and
my own.

All glass collectors are good fellows, as
a matter of course ; and I am sure that
The iiiustra- other collections would have been
tions. placed at my service had I asked

the favour. And I almost wish I had done
so, if only to afford one more evidence of
the kindly feeling and true courtesy induced
by the cult of the same hobby. As it is,
the owner of every glass illustrated is credited
with the possession of the example in ques-
tion, and I would beg all who have thus
helped me to accept my sincere thanks.

In a volume such as this, in which an
attempt is made to afford some slight guide
to other collectors by the setting forth of
one's individual experiences and conclusions,
the illustrations must be of paramount im-
portance. There is, of course, no method
of learning the characteristics of any class
of art objects at all comparable to that of
personal inspection and handling ; free access
16

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

to a fairly complete collection is the one
desirable thing — whether the collection be
pewter or porcelain, enamels or ivories —
free access and the friendly talk of the
collector. No book can take the place of
this ; but good photographic illustrations
give a very fair idea of the appearance of
the originals, and the author can endeavour
to talk to his readers just as he would to
a crony to whom he was displaying his
treasures. And so I have assumed the post
of guide, and, having taken the collections
of Mrs. R;ees Price and myself as being
together fairly complete and representative,
have selected with extreme care a thoroughly
full and representative set of examples to
be photographed for this volume, and have
supplemented those when necessary from a
few other sources.

The specimens thus illustrated in the first
half of the volume will be found to make
a series that lacks very few links,

. - , . . ., , , I Typical and

and with their aid, and that of individual
the appended observations, it ExamPles-
should be possible for the beginner to place
any piece he may find. Should he come
across any examples professedly of the
eighteenth century, the prototypes of which

D 17

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

are not figured in these pages, he will do
well to regard them with extreme caution;
to treat them with suspicion even if he does
not reject them ; though at the same time
it must be remembered that entire complete-
ness and finality in cataloguing the glasses
of this period has not yet been attained.

The examples illustrated in the second
portion of the book have been selected on
other grounds than the presentation of a
historic sequence ; they have been chosen
because of their personal interest and their
individual appeal. They are very interesting
in themselves, and they will afford some guide
as to the type of piece the industrious col-
lector may hope, with good luck, to discover.
It is, of course, in this group that the most
elaborate and successful forgeries are pro-
duced ; but of frauds, fakes, and spurious
pieces there will be something to be said at
a later stage.

All the illustrations (except some two or
three as noted) are rather less than half the

Method of heiSht of the originals; for pur-
Photograph- poses of comparison the size of
mg Glasses. eveiy pjece has been given below

its presentment.

As to the method of photographing, I
have made many experiments, and have come
18

INTRODUCTORY AND PREFATORY

to the conclusion that none is so satisfactory
as that employed to produce most of the figures
in this book. I block up completely the
middle light of a bay window, leaving the
side lights clear, and about three feet in front
of the centre light I place on a paper-covered
surface the pieces to be taken, so that the light
proceeds from behind the glasses on each
side, and the illumination is even on both
sides. By these means the best definition of
any engraving on the bowl is secured, and
each piece is clearly outlined against the dark
background. Sometimes it pays, as in the
case of the Jacobite glass (No. 200), to fill the
bowl with a dark fluid to obtain the necessary
definition of an inscription, but this is not, as
a rule, desirable. There may be better ways
of photographing glass, but I have seen no
results produced by top, side, or front lights
equal to those obtained by the illumination of

the specimen from behind.

»/** + •

And now, after what has been, I fear, a
sadly unconventional introductory chapter,
I will take up my role of guide, and will
embark upon an endeavour to present to my
readers a coherent account of the glasses of
the eighteenth century. Ladies and gentlemen,
I crave your indulgence and your attention.

THE SECOND CHAPTER

GLASSES OF THE SIXTEENTH
AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES

N a volume such as this it is
impossible to devote space, how-
ever much one would like to do
so, to any history of the craft of
glass-making in England. Our
concern is rather with the actual glasses
themselves ; and of actual pieces which can be
definitely assigned to English glass-houses
prior to the closing years of the seventeenth
century there are so few that it is almost
hopeless to search for them, though they may
as well be recorded here.

Mr. Hartshorne mentions three examples
which may fairly be claimed as having been
En Hsh made in London in the reign of

Elizabethan Good Queen Bess by one Jacob
Glasses. Verzelini, a Venetian, who worked
in Crutched Friars under a patent for twenty-
one years from December 15, 1575. One of
these is known as Queen Elizabeth's glass,
and is preserved in its leather case in the
Royal collections at Windsor Castle ; and
another is the cylindrical glass tankard with
silver and enamel mounts, preserved in the
20

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

British Museum, the heraldry of which clearly
shows that it belonged to William Cecil, Lord
Burleigh. The third is the most interesting
of the group, and is now also in the British
Museum, by the courtesy of whose officials
I am able to give two photographs of it
(Plate II). It is a goblet covered with an
elaborate decoration of scrolls and conven-
tional ornamentation, which, with the inscrip-
tion, has been executed with the diamond-
point. The motto " IN : GOD : is : AL : MI :
TRVST " runs round the middle of the bowl,
while in panels above are the date, 1586, and
the initials G and S linked with a knot, the
latter appearing twice. It is 5£ inches high,
and Mr. Hartshorne's attribution of it to
Verzelini is, I think, incontrovertible.

It is always unsafe to express a decided
opinion that any object of antiquity is unique,
and it is not impossible that other Another
glasses by Verzelini may be dis- Piece by
covered. One, at any rate, has
been found since Mr. Hartshorne's book was
published, and was sent to a well-known
London auction room for sale. It was a more
important piece than the British Museum
specimen, being 8 inches high, but was un-
doubtedly decorated by the same craftsman.

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

It bore the date 1584 (two years earlier than
the other), and while the motto — running
round the upper part of the bowl this time-
was the same, letter for letter, the linked
initials were M and W. But this splendid
example was discovered only to be destroyed.
It met with an accident at the auctioneers'
rooms, being literally shattered to fragments,
and I believe that the eminent firm who
were entrusted with it paid the owner the
rather extravagant reserve placed upon it, so
terminating the history of one of the very
few English Elizabeth examples extant.

Perhaps some collector who is searching
for glasses of the eighteenth century may find
yet another of the sixteenth, or, at any rate,
one that purports to be of that date; but
any such trouvaille must be regarded with
extreme caution, for it has been suggested
to me that the forger may be turning his
unwelcome attention in this direction.

Of the work of the " gentlemen glass-
makers," immigrants from Normandy and
Lorraine, who also set up glass-
Glass of the houses in Elizabethan times, no

Centuteenth re^c can ^e traced ; nor is there

any extant example which can be

noted as the product of the various factories

wffi

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

established in the earlier years of the seven-
teenth century under patents granted to Sir
Jerome Bowes, Sir Edward Zouche, Sir
Robert Mansel, and others. From the Duke
of Buckingham's furnaces at Greenwich, where
Venetian workmen were doubtless employed,
the well-known " Royal Oak " glass probably
came, and this may therefore be described
as one of the few seventeenth-century pieces
known. It is a square-shaped goblet, the
bowl of which is elaborately decorated with
a diamond-point, the decorations consisting
of portraits of Charles II and his Queen, an
oak tree bearing a medallion of the King,
and a scroll inscribed " THE ROYAL OAK,"
and the date 1663. The metal is pale greenish
brown, thin, very light, and devoid of bril-
liancy, lacking altogether the clear pellucid
quality and the greater weight which half a
dozen years later were to distinguish the
native products from others made to English
designs and requirements, and sent from
Venice to the order of John Greene, citizen
and glass-seller of London.

It is with these English rivals of the
Venetian glasses, pieces dating from some-
where between 1680 and 1700, that we prac-
tically begin our native series.

THE THIRD CHAPTER

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GLASSES

THEIR NUMBER AND CLASSIFICATION

HERE is one of Charles
Dickens' inimitable characters
— was not his immortal name
Wemmick ? — to whose lumi-
nously deductive mind the sight
of a church immediately suggested the
necessity for a wedding; and similarly it
would seem that the mere existence of a
glass was, to our ancestors of the eighteenth
century, at once a provocation and an induce-
ment to use it — an attitude of mind admirably
crystallized by the inscription on a glass
belonging to Mrs. Rees Price, which pro-
claims itself (full or empty) as " BIBENDI

RATIO."

This habitual over-indulgence and in-
sobriety has passed into history as one of

Eighteenth- the features of the eP°ch- It

Century was a vice confined to no par-
ticular class ; our Royal Princes
were topers, and ministers of the Crown were
not unaccustomed to the sight of two majestic
24

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

figures in the Speaker's chair, where in sober
moments they saw but one ; and it is little
wonder that men of a lower class continually
" drank of the ale of Southwarke, and drank
of the ale of Chepe," bemusing themselves
without stint or stay. This undue liking
for good liquor, so unhappily prevalent at
that time in our country, was possibly one
reason why so many glasses were made ;
the other, of course, was the increasing refine-
ment and desire for luxury, which gradually
pervaded those classes of society which
previously had been content with a much
coarser and ruder mode of life.

It is certain that in the eighteenth century
drinking-glasses must have existed in their
thousands, or there could not be, after the
lapse of so many decades, such a number still
extant. Prior to A.D. 1700, we know that
comparatively little glass was made in our
country, but about that date its manufacture
seems to have greatly increased, for in A.D.
1696, Hough ton (in his " Letters for the
Improvement of Trade and Husbandry")
records that there were eighty-eight glass-
houses in England, at no fewer than twenty-
seven of which the clear flint glass, so
characteristically English, was made. From

E 25

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

this time on glass of the finest quality was
freely produced here, and the series of
examples we have to consider may be taken
to extend from A.D. 1690 to A.D. 1810, after
which date our English glasses ceased to
have decorative merit or individual value.

As a method of classification of the
glasses of this period, it seems to me that
Method of far the best plan is to make
Classification. use of the five main groups into
which the specimens themselves naturally
fall when arranged according to the character-
istics of their stems, especially as these
groups coincide with the chronological
sequence. Mr. Hartshorne supplements this
with a more elaborate classification by the
shapes of the bowls, while dividing the
glasses as a whole into two main groups —
the finer and the coarser (or tavern) examples.
But though I am reluctant to discard the
system of so eminent an authority, I fancy
that the student will find that the stem
classification alone is simpler and quite
adequate. Indeed, the persistence of certain
bowl-forms, right through the periods of
development of at least three (and sometimes
four) types of stems, seems to me to vitiate
completely the utility of a classification by
26

METHOD OF CLASSIFICATION

bowls, which of necessity cannot be either
chronological or evolutionary.

This arrangement by stems applies equally
to goblets, tall ale glasses, small spirit
glasses, and wine glasses, but as the latter
are the most numerous, and form the com-
pletest series, I naturally commence with
them.

The stems of these glasses, then, obviously
fall into five groups, and these are illustrated
in the frontispiece from good, The Fiye
simple, typical pieces. No. i Groups of
may be called the Baluster Stem* stems-
No. 2 the Plain Stem, No. 3 the Air-twist
Stem, No. 4 the White-twist Stem, No. 5
the Cut Stem. This is the chronological
order of their appearance, and though all five
groups had their side issues, so to speak,
their offshoots and varieties, each was a real
development from its predecessor, and every
glass of the period will fall into one of these
five classes. Of course it is not to be assumed
that these five divisions succeeded each other
without overlapping ; indeed, the reverse is

* Mr. Hartshorne sometimes calls these "moulded," a
term which seems likely to lead to confusion. They were
not made in a mould, though some few of them show
designs impressed from a stamp.

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

quite the case. Cut stems appeared probably
as early as A.D. 1760, while air-twists did
not die out till after that date; and plain
stems naturally showed great persistence, as
being more simply made and more moderate
in cost than the elaborate twist. Neverthe-
less, taking the glass of the century as a
whole, these are found to be the five great
successive groups.

Of the types of bowls and their varieties
something will be said presently ; in the
The Three niean time it may be well to
Classes of devote a little attention to the
Feeti feet, which are as characteristic

and as important as the stems, though there
are but three main divisions. In the first
and earliest group, the under edge of the foot
is turned or folded back on itself all round,
the fold being anything between a quarter
and a half an inch wide ; while in the centre,
the place where the workman's pontil was
snapped off when the glass was completed,
shows as a rough and sharp-edged ex-
crescence, which, once seen, cannot fail to be
recognized. This folded foot is to be found
almost invariably associated with baluster
stems (e.g. Nos. 6 to 12), generally with plain
stems (as in Nos. 22 to 30), sometimes with
28

STEMS AND FEET

air-twists (see No. 58), and I had almost
said never with white twists or cut stems.
But a few weeks before these lines were
written I acquired an example of a glass
with a white twist and a folded foot (No.
91) and Mrs. Rees Price another; and this
fact conveys one more warning — if one were
necessary-— as to the unwisdom of saying
that a certain thing " does not exist." The
folded foot, therefore, possibly continued in
occasional use to about A.D. 1670, but simply
as a relic of a bygone fashion of manufacture.
In feet of the second class the fold has
been abandoned, but the rough pontil mark is
retained ; while in the third this The Pontil
excrescence has been polished Mark.
away on the wheel, leaving a very smooth
saucer-shaped depression. The second group
perhaps dates from A.D. 1740 (an exact date
is impossible to fix), and lasted, at any rate,
up to 1830, if not later ; while the advent of
the last development, following the use of
the cutting-wheel on the stems (Group V),
practically coincides with the end of the
eighteenth century, and if found on any
other than the cut stem-glasses, is almost
sufficient to make the amateur reject the piece
as spurious.

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

These feet are either conical or domed,
the latter being much the more uncommon
form ; and while the shallow cone, or normal
foot (as will be seen from the illustrations),
lasted all through the century, the domed
variety is only found in association with
baluster (Plate VI), plain (Plate IX), and, very
rarely, air-twist (Plate XV) stems. The
stunted goblets, smaller at the lip than at the
base of the bowl, with poor white twists set
upon domed feet, belong to the Low Countries.

It is always unwise to endeavour to im-
prove on any system of nomenclature or
Bowl Types identification that has become
and Nomen- currently accepted, unless, of
ciature. course, it is crassly imperfect;

and Mr. Hartshorne has evolved so adequate
a series of names for the different bowl types
that it would be both unwise and ungracious
to make any attempt to supersede it. But
I have ventured to supplement his list with
a few names which I use myself to distinguish
varieties, so that the final catalogue of normal
forms runs as follows : —

Drawn, e.g. Nos. 23 and 40.

Bell, Nos. 50, 51, and 52.

Waisted Bell, Nos. 37, 38, and 49.

Straight-sided, Nos. 24 and 25.
30

BOWLS AND THEIR TYPES

Straight-sided rectangular, Nos. 26, 54,
and 71.

Ovoid, No. 57.

Ogee, Nos. 27, 28, 97, and 99.

Lipped Ogee, Nos. 81 and 100.

Double Ogee, Nos. 72 and 73.

Waisted, Nos. 77 and 78.

These different types of bowls are not
confined to wine glasses, for it will be seen
from the plates that the bowls of ale glasses,
rummers, and dram glasses fall into the same
groups, varying from their smaller congeners
in dimensions but not ih design. Vessels
without a stem, mugs, tankards, and tumblers,
describe themselves, and need no such classi-
fication as wine and ale glasses ; and flutes,
yards, and other more or less fantastic forms
do not seem to call for inclusion or descrip-
tion at this point.

There will be occasion for some further
remarks on most of these types as we come
upon examples of each in reviewing the series
as a whole ; but we may note here the ten-
dency in most of them to expansion of the
lip, so that when the glass is filled the wine
offers a comparatively large surface to the
air. The% capacity of such glasses as No. 72
(double ogee), No. 90 (waisted), and No. 59

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

(bell), is very small ; was the top made wide
so that the bouquet of each glassful should
be more diffused and more adequately pre-
sented to the palate of the connoisseur who
was to partake of it ?

PLATE

WINE GLASSES.

6. Height, 6| inches.
8. Height, 6f inches.

•:GROUP SI.
10. Height, 6 inches.

BALUSTER STEMS.

7. Height, 6f- inches.
9. Height, 6f inches

PLATE IV

WINE GLASSES. GROUP I. BALUSTER STEMS.

11. Height, 71 inches. 12. Height, ;| inches. 13. Height, 7£Tinches.

THE FOURTH CHAPTER

WINE GLASSES

BALUSTER STEMS AND PLAIN STEMS

HE earliest glasses of the series,
those which may approximately
be said to date from A.D. 1680
onwards, are very heavy and
lumpy, and far more odd than
beautiful ; and yet I confess that I have for
them a particular partiality. * These great
masses of clear and brilliant metal Qroup f .
at any rate possess character ; and Baluster
though the bowls are of such stems'
varied and out-of-the-way forms as to defy
inclusion in any system of classification,
they consort fitly with the quaintly designed
stems, the whole (to me, at any rate) pos-
sessing something of impressiveness and
something of sturdy dignity.

In the series illustrated on Plates III, IV,
V, and VI, the extreme thickness of the bases
of some of the bowls and the prevalence of
irregular bubbles of air (the so-called " tears ")
in the stems of the majority should be noted.
These latter are not accidents, but constitute
the earliest form of stem adornment. Later

F 33

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

they develop into the air-twists, and in some
cases they are large enough to enclose a coin.
The presence of this coin (by the way) does
not prove that the glass was made in the
year of its mintage (it may be much later) ;
it only proves that it cannot be earlier.

The only notable tendency to ornament
in these glasses is exemplified in No. 10, a
piece in which we may see on the shoulders
of the stem small stars impressed in relief.
Other like designs are similarly used, and
in the second half of this book a glass
bearing an inscription thus applied will be
figured.

Notice should also be taken of the group
in Plate VI of glasses of this period (some-
where between A.D. 1690 and A.D. 1740) with
the domed feet already alluded to, the effect
of which in these specimens is very pleasant ;
and a gradual refinement of outline and
detail as the series develops also deserves
attention.

There is no clear line of demarcation
between Groups I and II, for the heavy
Group ii : baluster stem glasses figured and
Plain stems. noted above merged gradually
into a simpler and lighter type. No. 63,
for instance (associated with a later group
34

PLATE V

WINE GLASSES. GROUP I.

BALUSTER STEMS

14. Height, 6| inches. 15. Height, ;f inches. 16. Height, 6? inches.

PLATE VI

WINE GLASSES.

BALUSTER

20. Height, 6 inches.
19. Height, 63 inches.

STEMS WITH DOMED

GROUP I.
FEET.

21. Height, 6| inches.

17. Height, 6 inches.

18. Height, 6$ inches.

WINE GLASSES

because of a comparison to be made when
that series is reached), might equally justly,
or even preferably, be classed as a baluster-
stem type ; but when we come to such pieces
as No. 25 and No. 28 there can be no doubt
as to what class they fall into. The folded
foot is the almost invariable accompaniment
of the plain stem, though sometimes, as in
the pieces figured in Plate 9, the domed foot
occurs, and the metal of many of these
examples is of a faintly darker tint than that
of the earlier and more massive pieces ; but
I do not know that any particular deduction
can be drawn from this little fact.

No. 23 has been selected for illustration
because its stem shows a very long and
slender form of the " tear," the development
from which of the simplest air twist is not
difficult to see; others, in their knops and
swellings on the stem, foreshadow the advent
of the more elaborately formed stems that
were to succeed them, No. 25, for instance,
with its " high-shouldered'' form — to me a
very pleasing type. Possibly the earliest of
this group is No. 27, with the curious hollow
in the stem, almost too large to be called
a " tear ; " while No. 30, showing a very
characteristic engraved border, comes late,

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

although it possesses the folded foot ; and
perhaps latest of all is No. 31, with its par-
ticularly beautiful decoration of the natural
rose in bloom (evidently cut by an artist and
a master of his craft), which affords a sharp
contrast to the simple convention for the same
flower to be seen on Nos. 26, 27, and 29, the
latter being a very frequent type to be found
over a long series of years.

In this group we find the erratic bowl
forms of earlier days replaced by certain of
the accepted and permanent types. No. 2,
the bell, is a type of bowl largely employed
in the Low Countries (especially at a slightly
later date in conjunction with white twists) ;
while No. 24, the straight-sided, exhibits, on
the other hand, a shape particularly English
and very persistent, which is found up to the
very end of the century ; No. 28, the single
ogee, is a form which it has been suggested
was largely made at Bristol ; and No. 23, the
simple drawn form, is the forerunner of a
very long series of glasses, many of great
beauty and merit.

On an earlier page I have spoken of
branches and offshoots from the main line
of development, some of which are puzzling
and difficult to place properly; and I now

PLATE VII

WINE GLASSES.

22. Height, 5! inches.
24. Height, 6| inches.

GROUP II.
Height, 6 inches.

PLAIN STEMS.

23. Height, 6J inches.
25. Height, 6| inches.

PLATE VIII

WINE GLASSES.

GROUP II.

PLAIN STEMS.

28. Height, 5| inches. 2_ H- ht fil :nrup. 29. Height, 5! inches.
30. Height, 5i inches. 27< >leight> *>* inches. 81> Height> 5 inches>

WINE GLASSES

come to one of these little problems, in the
shape of the early glasses which show on
the outside of the stem an incised Qroup n a .
twist. Three of these are figured stems with
on Plate X, and it would not Incised Twist'
have been difficult to include others ; indeed,
Nos. 39 and 205 present this characteristic
also, as does a comparatively short glass of
the drawn form which is in my possession.
But Nos. 39 and 205 must be clearly distin-
guished from the others, both as to date and
metal, the latter showing a dark tinge (dis-
tinctly blue as contrasted with the normal
white basic hue) and a certain streaky and
bubbly consistency quite different from the
usual clear colourless glass ; while on Nos.
36, 37, and 38, the incised grooves are much
further apart than on the others named.

No. 39 and its congeners are compara-
tively late, belonging to the middle of the
century ; but Nos. 36 and 38 are undoubtedly
old, showing the folded foot and other signs
of age (as does a similar piece in the cabinet
of Mr. J. W. Singer). No. 37 is perhaps
not so early, and has no fold ; but I have yet
another piece of this very form and metal,
with a drawn air-twist stem, which does
exhibit the folded foot. Does this imply

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

that these glasses, uncommon as they are
now, were made over a short period of years
during which the fold went out of fashion?
Did they all, with their characteristic twist,
the curious waisted form of the bell bowl,
and their dark metal, emanate from one early
glass-house? Inasmuch as all the pieces I
know were found in the west of England, I
am inclined to think this suggestion not an
impossible one.

Their method of manufacture was obvi-
ously as follows : a short stem would, while
soft, be impressed lengthwise with parallel
grooves ; this would then be attached to the
bowl, drawn out, and, during this process of
lengthening, would be twisted, producing not
only the outside spiral indentation, but also
the thinness of the centre of the stems, which
is quite noticeable in Nos. 36 and 38.

PLATE IX

WINE GLASSES. GROUP II.

PLAIN STEMS WITH DOMED FEET.

Height, 7| inches. » Height, 6| inches. 34. Height, 6f inches.

PLATE X

WINE GLASSES. GROUP HA. INCISED TWIST STEMS.
36. Heigh,, 6 inches. .-ches. 33 He;ght> 6 inches.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER

WINE GLASSES

AIR-TWIST STEMS

N some respects the glasses illus-
trated in Plates XI to XIX are
the most beautiful of our Eng-
lish pieces, as they are in many
ways the most characteristic.
They possess a brilliance of metal which is
enhanced by the silvery brightness of the
spirals in the stems ; their forms, Qroup m .
being those naturally evolved Air Twists:
from the simple and legitimate Drawn-
use of the material, are almost, without ex-
ception, graceful and refined ; and the design
and decoration of both bowls and stems
leave little to criticize.

The air-twist stems fall into two groups :
the first comprising those in which the stem
was made in one piece with the bowl, being
drawn from it in the process of manufacture,
as is the case with the plain stems ; the
second consisting of the glasses which were
made in three parts — bowl, stem, and foot.

In the second case the stems were first
made in rods of some length, which were cut
up into shorter pieces, each suitable for the

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

stem of a glass, and the bowls and feet were
welded to them ; in the first group the twist
Method of was formed by the workman in-
Manufacture. troducing into the base of a
partially made bowl small bubbles of air or
" tears " (cf. No. 85), which, when prolonged
and twisted, gave the charming effect exem-
plified in No. 42 — to take a simple case — in
which the effect is practically that of two
such elongated " tears " as the one in No. 23,
to which a spiral form has been communi-
cated by twisting. No. 60 in Plate XV is
another early and easily analyzed example.

These air twists are typically English ;
they were greatly in vogue, and their popu-
larity lasted for a long time, probably at least
as late as A.D. 1780; and they are generally
associated with feet of the normal type pos-
sessing rough pontil marks. But Nos. 60,
61, and 62 exhibit domed feet, being pro-
bably the latest examples of this type we
have ; and No. 57, a singularly graceful and
pure form, has the foot of the third type
(with the pontil mark polished off), from
which it may be concluded that it belongs
to quite the end of the century.

The simple drawn form exemplified in
Nos. 40 and 42, 43 and 44, with their varieties
40

PLATE XI

WINE GLASSES. GROUP III.

AIR TWIST STEMS-DRAWN.

40. Height, 6f- inches. 42 H . , ,, . h 41. Height, 6| inches.

43. Height, 61 inches. 42' Hei^ht' 6* lr es' 44. Height, 7 inches.

WINE GLASSES

of twist (each inviting close and careful
examination), were succeeded by others.
The bell bowl was a natural de- varieties and
velopment, and a very interesting Types of
variety — the intermediate stage
between the characteristic drawn form and
the typical bell — is figured in No. 41 ; while
of the bell form proper, Nos. 48 and 50, 51
and 52, are given as fine and representative
examples. It is interesting to note how in
No. 49, for instance, the twist starts in the
bowl, and is uninterruptedly continued all
down the stem ; and how in No. 51 a com-
pressed neck causes a thinning of the air
tubes, which becomes almost a complete
elimination of them in No. 61 ; while in
No. 52 and the following pieces, the spirals
start below this neck. Examples exist, more
marked in character even than No. 61, in
which the formation of this neck has com-
pressed the twist out of existence, leaving
only a series of bubbles in the base of the
bowl entirely separated from the threads in
the stem.

Drawn air twists are also found with
straight-sided and straight-sided rectangular
bowls (see Plate XIV) ; but I have never seen
them associated with ogee or waisted bowls,

G 41

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

so whether these latter were made or not I
cannot say. They appear, however, in the
next group.

I have already alluded to the varieties of
the air twist, each of which possesses an in-
varietiesof dividual charm, and so shall
Twist and not dwell on them further; but
stem' before leaving this group, I

must briefly call attention to the pleasing
variety of the knops or swellings on the
stems (see Plates XII, XIV, and XV), which
afford a welcome relief to the severer lines
of the plain ones ; and to the rare cable coil
(which sometimes takes the form of a simple
band or collar) placed round the shaft of
No. 50. It has been suggested that these
knops and collars were introduced to secure
a safer grip of the glass for the gouty and
otherwise unsteady fingers of habitual topers,
but in view of the eighteenth-century fashion
of holding and lifting the glass by the base,
this seems doubtful.

The difference between the method of
making the glasses of this group and those

Group in a: of the preceding class has

Air Twists, been already noted, and when-

awn' ever a cursory examination of

typical pieces from each is made, the points

H .

«, .
I-

bo
'S

PLATE XIV

WINE GLASSES. GROUP III. AIR STEMS— DRAWN.

54. Height, 6£ inches. -Q „ . , . A7 . , 57. Height, 5^ inches.

55. Height; ,6l inches. 53. Height, 6^ inches. 56. Hei|ht, 6| inches.

WINE GLASSES

of divergence cannot but be clear. But before
turning to the added variety of bowls and
twists to be found in this class, there are
two glasses figured on Plate XVI which call
for notice. The first is No. 65, which is
more or less of a puzzle, and perhaps might
just as correctly be included among the drawn
twists, for the upper part of the stem was
clearly made in that way ; but the half below
the knop would seem to be a portion of a
length of stem separately made, and fitted
into the lower side of the bulb just as the
drawn portion was welded into its upper side.
That these two halves are not parts of the
same shaft, but two separate pieces joined
at the knop, is obvious, if only from their
complete lack of accurate alignment.

The other glass which is noteworthy is
No. 64, and this piece must be alluded to
for two reasons. The first is the Persistency
curious perpetuation (possibly due of TyPe-
to the innate conservatism of your British
craftsman) of an earlier form — a form which
almost belongs to the group of baluster stems,
as will be seen on comparison with No. 63,
a glass clearly of the latter class. The second
point is that this stem, though joined to the
bowl by a "'collar," and not drawn from it, is

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

yet a drawn stem, being clearly made by that
method in one piece with the foot : a fact
quite evident if the figure be turned upside
down, and the stem compared with those of
No. 62 and its congeners. This " collar," by
the way, is rather a prevalent feature of this
group of glasses, and may be seen in Nos. 68,
69, 174, and 236.

It was obviously possible, when the stems
were made separately, to evolve a greater
Varieties of variety of twists and spirals than
stem and when they were produced as part
Bowl. Qf t^e kow] . an(j ti^ consequence

is that the stems of this class are more
elaborate than their forerunners, though it
must be admitted that what was gained in
richness in this way was often lost in beauty
and suavity of outline and form. And it
cannot fail to be noticed that, in addition to
this increased richness of the stems, the bowls
in this group are also more varied than in the
preceding one. Though the drawn form is
naturally absent, bells of two types are to be
found, simple, as in No. 67 ; waisted, as in
No. 68; while the straight-sided (No. 69),
waisted (No. 78), single ogee (No. 80), the
same, lipped (No. 81), and double ogee (the
quaint and pretty shape so well exemplified
44

PLATE XV

WINE GLASSES. GROUP III.

AIR TWIST STEMS-DRAWN, AND WITH DOMED FEET.

58. Height, 6| inches. ar. „ . , f ,, • , 59. Height, 6 inches.

61. Height! 6f inches, *>' Hei^ht' 7 inches- 62. Hei|ht, 6| inches.

H -«r

o °

pL| f>!«

VJ <u

CO *T

0 M

PLATELXVM

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IIlA.

AIR TWIST STEMS— NOT DRAWN.

67. Height, 6 inches. ftft u-crht A3 inrV.p, 6a Height, 53. inches.
70. Height, 6j- inches. 88. Height, 6| inches. 71. Height, 6 inches.

WINE GLASSES

in No. 72), are all to be found. This is the
first time this latter type appears among the
illustrations to this book, but it exists with a
plain stem of the character of No. 28, though
neither Mrs. Rees Price nor I possess an
example.

In glasses with air-twist stems occur also
the ornamentation of the bowl by shallow
perpendicular grooves (No. 80), and by a sort
of raised reticulation (No. 70), as well as by
the engraving which has been familiar in the
preceding sections. In this connection the
patterns of the engraving are worth attention
— No. 62, a survival from earlier types ;
No. 41, with its pretty conventional render-
ing of a basket of flowers ; No. 52, with its
rose and moth ; and Nos. 43 and 75 also, as
excellent examples of their respective styles.

With the next class of stems we come to
one of those little intermediate links that are
so interesting and so delightful Group HI b :
to the student who is concerned Mixed Twists-
with the evolution and fluctuation of design,
for in the stems of mixed twists — twists, that
is, which combine air threads and opaque
white threads — we find the intermediate stage
which fills the gap that would otherwise exist
between the air twists proper and the white

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

spirals. They are very uncommon, are found
only in glasses of a good type, and exhibit
a charming effect which is quite their own.
The three examples reproduced from my own
collection illustrate their details quite well,
and although it is impossible to secure in a
photograph a really fine rendering of the
variation of the threads, it will be noticed that
in No. 79 a single silvery air thread runs
like a streak of mercury down the inside of
the white coil ; that in No. 80 the cluster of
threads is composed of air twists, the alter-
nating spiral and the centre thread being
opaque white ; and that in No. 81 two white
flat tapes alternate with two flat air-twists.

Leaving now the great division of air-
twist stems for that which comprises the
Feet with opaque white spirals, there are
Pontu Marks. two features that call for a final
note : the pellucid white metal of which these
pieces are made, and the almost invariable
presence, in glasses with the air twist, of the
second type of foot — that with the pontil
mark. I have already commented on this
latter point (p. 40), and noted that No. 57
has the polished foot, and I find that Mrs.
Rees Price has two (not drawn) with the
same feature ; but these pieces are only the
46

PLATE XVIII

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IIlA.

AIR TWIST STEMS— NOT DRAWN.

72. Height, 6 inches. „. Hpi<rht 6' inches 73. Height, 6£ inches.
75. Height, 6| inches. 74< HeiSnt> ^ incnes- 76. Height, 6£ inches,

PLATE XIX

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IIlA.

AIR TWIST STEMS— NOT DRAWN.

77. Height, 6± inche^ 78. Height, 6| inches.

GROUP IIlR MIXED TWIST STEMS— NOT DRAWN.

80. Height, 6^ inches. 79. Height, ;•> inches. 81. Height, 6 inches.

WINE GLASSES

exceptions that prove the rule, for there is no
doubt in my own mind that they are belated
survivals (reproductions, though not for-
geries) belonging to quite the end of the
eighteenth century, if not to the early years
of the nineteenth.

THE SIXTH CHAPTER

WINE GLASSES

OPAQUE WHITE AND COLOURED TWISTS

COLOURED GLASSES

CUT STEMS

T has been suggested that the
glasses of the fourth group,
those with opaque white spirals
in the stems, may date from as
early as A.D. 1745, and though
no piece appears to exist which bears a date
approximating to that, glasses of this type,
Group IV: bearing dates from A.D. 1757 on-
White Twists, wards, are known and recorded.
It may perhaps be justifiably assumed that they
were the vogue at about A.D. 1760, and that
they lasted almost to the end of the century,
the coloured twists which mark their latest
stage of development appearing towards the
end of their career, probably circa A.D. 1780.
I cannot do better than quote Mr. Harts-
Method of home's description of the way in
Manufacture. which these stems were made.
He says —

" A cylindrical pottery mould of about 3 inches high and
2j inches wide was fitted around its interior circumference

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IV. WHITE TWIST STEMS.
32. Height, 7 inches. £ Height. 6| inches. ^ Height; ? h

WINE GLASSES

with a series of opaque white glass canes, alternating with
rods of the same size in plain glass to keep them an
accurate distance apart, all being further retained in place
by a little soft clay in the bottom of the mould. This
receptacle and its contents were then heated up to the
point when melted glass might be safely introduced into
the wide space in the middle. The hot canes adhering to
the molten metal, the whole was then withdrawn from the
mould, re-heated in the furnace, and the canes drawn
together at one end by the pincers ; the cylinder was now
revolved and prolonged to the proper distance, and a
twisted stem of the required thickness, of opaque white
filagree, was the result. It is obvious that by varying the
positions of the canes, opaque, coloured or plain, and
manipulating as described, twisted rods of endless variety
could be produced."

These rods were cut up into suitable
lengths, and on to each length the bowl and
foot were welded ; so that it is obvious that
in this group we find a method of construction
entirely analogous to that employed with the
air-twist stems of Group III A.

Knowing the method of making these
stems, it is clear that it would be exceedingly
difficult, if not impossible, to Do Drawn
employ in the production of a Opaque
glass with a white twist stem the Twis
method used to make the drawn glasses of
earlier date ; but Mr. Hartshorne illustrates
a very rare and interesting piece, analogous
in design to No. 49, in which the white

H 49

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

threads show the same change from perpen-
dicular in the base of the bowl to spiral in
the stem, as in the drawn bell glasses. It
simulates the effect of No. 49 exactly, whether
it was made in the same way or not; and
should the amateur discover one of these, it
is a piece to acquire, if only because it affords
an interesting problem.

But though the " drawn " method of
manufacture was not the method of the
English or white twists, the drawn type of
Dutch. glass was a popular one, and in

Plate XX are a couple of examples (Nos. 82
and 83), and in Plate XXI another (No. 86),
of white twist glasses which follow the drawn
form ; No. 83, by the way, being possibly
rather a cordial water or spirit glass than a
wine glass. Mr. Hartshorne is of opinion
that these are all, without exception, the
products of the Low Countries, and he places
No. 84 in the same category ; but it is diffi-
cult to see why every other type should be
made in England (where the drawn air-twist
glass was admittedly a favourite pattern, and
where No. 84 can be almost absolutely
matched in an air twist, cf. No. 48), and this
not. No. 96, for example, is admittedly Eng-
lish, and so is No. 95, and the difference
50

PLATE XXI

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IV. WHITE TWIST STEMS.

87. Height. 6i inches. 00 TT . , , , . , 88. Height, 6 inches.
89. Height! 6| inches. 86' He'Sht> 7l mches. 8a Hei|ht; 6iinches.

PLATE XXII

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IV. WHITE TWIST STEMS.

91. Height, 5! inches. rt_ „ • . ^ « • 92. Height, si inches.

93. Hei|ht, 6f inches. »5. Height, 7| inches. Q^ Height; 6| inches.

WINE GLASSES

between this last and Nos. 82 and 86, for in-
stance, is simply one of degree and not of kind.

Possibly we may conclude that this form,
like the bell bowls illustrated in Nos. 84 and
85, is common to both countries, and we may
admit, at the same time, that it is extremely
difficult to distinguish between the English
pieces and the foreign ones. The Dutch
glasses are often of good metal and true ring,
with twists of white as fine as our own ; but
others from Holland, less fine, are easily
recognized, and will be alluded to later.

With the smaller glasses figured on Plate
XXI we come to pieces that are indubitably
English, as are those illustrated Bowls: Ogee
on Plates XX and XXIII. Here and straight-
it will be better to turn to the sided<
forms of the bowls, leaving the multiplicity of
twists and spirals to speak for themselves.
Every one of these bowl shapes has been
already found associated with air-twists, though
in this group the plain ogee (of which Nos. 97
and 98 are such excellent examples) and the
straight-sided are the most frequent. The
ogee type is said to be largely the product
of Bristol glass-houses, and this is not un-
likely, for among the pieces coming from
the west of England I have noticed many

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

variants of this form, and many intermediate
shapes insensibly merging into each other.
Of the more strongly marked variants a few
carefully selected examples are figured — the
waisted form (No. 89) and the lipped piece
(No. 100, which shows a raised mesh-like
decoration at the base) being handsome in
their way ; while the piece with perpendicular
corrugations (No. 99) is interesting to me
personally, because it is the first glass I ever
purchased.

Some of the straight-sided glasses also
show these perpendicular ripplings (some-
times spirally twisted or " wry then "), which
give a lightness and brilliance of effect quite
pleasing (No. 93, for example) ; and these
develop into flutings, as in No. 92, which
flutings were repeated in the cut bowls of
the glasses of the early nineteenth century ;
while in rare cases we find two horizontal
grooves (see No. 91) running round the bowl.
This last type is not common, and it has
been suggested that it emanates from a glass-
house at Lynn or Norwich ; and as both
Mrs. Rees Price's example and my own (each,
by the way, showing the folded foot) came
from that district, the conjecture may reason-
ably be accepted.
52

PLATE XXIII

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IV. WHITE TWIST STEMS.

98. Height, 5 Jinche
100. Height, 6 inches.

97. Height, 51 inches. Qft „ . ,, ^5 • , 98. Height, scinches

80! Height, finches! W. Height, 7f inches. 1OO Heifrht 6 inches

WINE GLASSES

The waisted bowl (as No. 90) has already
been noted among the air-twists, but this
piece deserves a little attention, Bowls: other
being quite charming in form and Shapes.
decoration ; and the double ogee (No. 88)
also occurs in Group III A. This double
ogee form would at first sight seem to be a
lipped development of the straight-sided glass,
but No. 87 raises the interesting question as
to whether it was not rather an offshoot of
the drawn form. Whichever it may be, it
is a pretty shape, and one that was used over
a long period, occurring, as does the straight-
sided rectangular (No. 102), with plain and
air-twist stems, as well as with white spirals.

No genuine piece with the white spiral,
that I have ever seen, showed the pontil
mark under the foot polished off, Feet with
though some forgeries do ; and Pontil Marks.
with the exception of No. 91, and another
piece in Mrs. Rees Price's cabinet, none have
the folded foot. The rough pontil mark
under the foot may be taken as generic in
the case of white and coloured twists.

Coloured twists were the croup iv a:
natural outcome of a desire for Coloured
even more variety than could be
achieved by the multiplicity and increased

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

intricacy of white spirals, but are compara-
tively rare in English pieces. They were
perhaps more made at Bristol than elsewhere,
and those with a blue twist in the centre of the
white (No. 103), or circling round the white
centre (No. 104), almost certainly come from
that city ; while the yellow and white (No.
102) is also probably of the same fabrique.
No. 101 is red and white — something will
be said later as to English spirals of this
kind, as contrasted with those of the Low
Countries; Mr. Singer's cabinet contains a
specimen in which a twist very like No. 99
occurs in pale lavender ; and No. 105 is a
very handsome specimen showing twists of
green, red, and white. Apart from the beauty
of their spirals, which make delicious notes
of colour when placed among their simpler
congeners, they call for little comment.

A word may be said here as to the
coloured glasses of this epoch. They seem
Coloured to be very rare ; Mr. Hartshorne
Glasses. records half a dozen in sapphire

blue (drawn and double ogee), which vary
in no other detail from the types made in
clear white glass ; and Mrs. Rees Price has
one of later date with a gilt inscription.
They all probably partook of the nature of
54

PLATE XXIV

WINE GLASSES. GROUP IVA. COLOURED TWIST STEMS.

101. Height, 6jf inches. 1O_ H • ht M :nrllpc 102. Height,;6 inches.
103. Height 6f inches. 105' Height, 6¥ inches. 1Q4> Height, 6| inches.

PLATE XXV

WINE GLASSES.

GROUP V

CUT STEMS.

106
100

:. Height, si inches. inft H • ht fi, .- h_ 107. Height, 5! inches.
.. Height, 6 inches. 108' Height, 6ff inches. na Heig-ht>6i inches.

WINE GLASSES

freaks, and, while doubtless interesting, do
not form a link in the series.

Later than these, early in the nineteenth
century, we find the funnel-shaped examples
(with and without cut flutes), which were
made in apple green, and also in an atrocious
yellow green, and which were apparently the
precursors of the still more or less fashionable
coloured bowls stuck on clear stems.

About the fifth group of our eighteenth-
century glasses, I have not so much to say ;
and the illustrations speak for Group V:
themselves. I am a little inclined Cut stems,
to think that cutting was employed on other,
and generally larger, objects — bowls, jugs,
and standing pieces, as well as salt-cellars —
for a good while before it was used on wine
glasses ; and though we should expect to
find the stems of simplest pattern on the
earliest specimens of this class, I rather
fancy that this is not always the case. The
stem of No. 106, for instance, is much more
elaborately cut than that of No. 107, while
it is pretty clear, from the shape of the
bowl and the style of the engraving of the
pattern on it, that No. 106 is by a good
deal the earlier piece.

The earliest date occurring on a cut-stem

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

glass seems to be A.D. 1758, and assuming
this to be the actual date of the specimen,
it would appear to be among the very first
of the series. Possibly No. 106 is not much
later, but I expect that the majority of these
pieces date between A.D. 1775 and A.D. 1800 ;
the latest of all, those in which the foot
is cut, as well as bowl and stem, and is thus
given the form of a cinquefoil (Nos. 5 and
1 08), belonging to quite the last years of the
century.

By this time our English makers were
producing glass of the very finest quality,

The Metal hard, clear> Pure» and lustrous,

and the and the use of the wheel had

Engraving. CQme to great perfection. The

result is, as might be expected, that we find
on the bowls of this series some very good
examples of the cutter's and polisher's art
— almost like intaglios in their treatment —
ranging from the basket of flowers, the grape-
vine pattern (No. in), the hop and barley
(No. 127), and the queer landscape and figure
subjects of quasi-Chinese design (No. 115),
to such unusual pieces as No. 218, with the
medallion of Britannia. With this use of
the polishing wheel, as might be anticipated,
the removal of the pontil mark became not
56

PLATE XXVI

WINE GLASSES.

111. Height, scinches. ,,„
114. Height, 6 inches. 11O>

GROUP V.

CUT STEMS.

c inrh^ 112. Height, 5! inches.
, 5 inches. 115. Height, 6| inches.

WINE GLASSES

uncommon ; and while some of the pieces
figured still retain that odd excrescence, in
others it has been polished quite away.

With these wine glasses, in some ways
the climax of their makers' art and skill,
our long series closes, and we End of the
take leave of the eighteenth Series.
century. Whether the poor taste of the
Regent and the Regency, which acted so
injuriously on so many of the artistic crafts
of our land, was the cause of the subsequent
decadence, I know not ; it is sufficient to
observe that the pieces which succeeded to
those we have been considering in the last
three chapters lack the beauty and interest
of the earlier series, and both because of
the limits of the scope of this handbook,
and because of their own want of character,
they do not call for attention here.

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER

ALE GLASSES AND OTHER TALL
PIECES

N Plates XXVII to XXX we
find another set of glasses,
analogous, so far as stem types
are concerned, to the lengthy
series of wine glasses that have
just been considered, but lacking the great
variety of bowl forms to be found in the
smaller pieces. Some of these were ale
glasses, and others were doubtless used for
light wines ; and in the case of those which
were not clearly allocated to the less costly
brew by the engraving of the familiar hop
and barley on the bowls, some doubt as to
the actual class to which they belong is in-
evitable :' probably they were used for either
beverage indifferently.

However, there can be little hesitation
in setting down No. 116 as a wine glass,

ASeventeenth-th°Ugh» SO far aS design is COn-

Century cerned, it is fitly associated with
Example. the fonowing pieces. This is an

undoubted example of the English glass of
the seventeenth century, and at the time that
58

PLATE XXVII

ALE GLASSES, ETC. BALUSTER STEMS.

116. Height, ;| inches.
117. Height, ;f inches, 118. Height, ;f inches,

ALE GLASSES

it was made it is a little unlikely that ale
would be drunk from anything but the metal
tankard or the leather jack. But whether it
was intended for ale or wine matters little ; it
is the forerunner, so far as type and design,
of the series of tall pieces which now come
up for consideration.

Earliest of these, belonging to quite the
opening years of the eighteenth century,
where it takes its place with such Baluster
pieces of the baluster-stem type as stems and
No. 10, is the second piece figured plain stems-
on Plate XXVII (No. 117); and this piece,
too, is just as likely to have been intended
for wine as for ale; but the third example
(No. 118) tells its own tale, bearing on its
bowl the hop and barley to denote the honest
home-brewed tipple to the use of which it
was dedicated. Chronologically, this, too,
comes pretty early in the century, and its
companion piece is figured as No. 27. A
little later comes No. 119, also showing the
hop and barley, and exhibiting with its plain
stem a clear affinity to Nos. 2 and 24 ; and
with this we leave the specimens which
possess the folded foot.

A glass in the possession of a Brighton
collector, with a plain stem of the type of

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

No. 28, and a tall bowl of the double ogee
form, may have been used for wine, and No.
1 20, with its handsome bell bowl, may have
been designed for champagne ; while such tall
examples as Nos. 86 and 96 may have served
a similar purpose ; though I confess to being
a little disinclined to bring forward any
particular type of eighteenth-century glass
as having been exclusively devoted to any
individual wine. I am rather of opinion that
with our ancestors the wine was the thing,
and the glasses counted for little ; and if we
allow that the specimens with small bowls
would naturally be used for the sweeter and
heavier vintages, and those with large and
tall ones for the lighter wines, we are
probably as near as we shall get to the actual
facts.

With the tall glasses belonging to the
third and fourth stem groups we come to

Air Twists and a few vei7 fine pieces, such a
white Twists, specimen as No. 121, with its
richly decorated bowl and handsome knopped
stem, being of the very highest quality, both
as to metal and design. To this succeed
such air-twist pieces as No. 122, closely allied
to the single ogee wine glasses, and No. 123,
the affinity of which to the straight-sided
60

PLATE XXVIII

ALE GLASSES, ETC. PLAIN AND AIR TWIST STEMS.

120. Height, 8^ inches.
119. Height, ;| inches. 121. Height, ;£ inches.

PLATE XXIX

ALE GLASSES, ETC.
AIR TWIST AND WHITE TWIST STEMS.

123. Height, ;| inches.
122. Height, ;| inches. 124. Height, 7 inches.

ALE GLASSES

ones is clear ; and then we pass on to the
white twists, Nos. 124 and 125 and 126, of
which nothing need be said now, though the
distinctly unusual method of decoration of
No. 125, the hop and barley being painted
in a very thin enamel, will call for comment
in a later chapter.

Last of this series comes the splendid
piece figured as No. 127, a Bath find of my own,
the companion to which was pur-

«... _£ Cut Stems.

chased in Bristol by Mrs. Rees
Price. Their metal is of a clear pellucid bril-
liancy, without any trace of the faintly blue
tinge sometimes to be found in the glasses
with plain stems ; and they exhibit the cul-
mination of the powers of the glass cutter and
polisher. They are not common, for by this
time the tumbler was superseding the tall
ale glass, and they are interesting because in
them the long sequence draws to its close
with a legitimate climax, a tour de force of
metal and of workmanship.

In the first half of the nineteenth century
they were succeeded by glasses of the funnel-
shaped type, exemplified in the tiny dram
glass figured as No. 231, with long cut flutes
down the side ; and I have a specimen
which is inscribed "DISHER'S ALE," Disher

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

being, I believe, an Edinburgh brewer who
was responsible for a special "ten-guinea"
ale, which was said to be the strongest ever
brewed. But this takes me beyond the
definite bounds of my work.

Along with this series of tall-stemmed ale
glasses are to be found shorter pieces, in

Smaller Ale shaPe lik^ N°S' IO9 and 249>

Glasses and mostly plain stemmed, and almost
Goblets. always engraved with the hop

and barley. They lack distinction, and I
have not thought it worth while to illustrate
them, for every collector will drop across
them at the beginning of his enterprise, and
will readily recognize them for what they are.

Next to these come the rare short-
stemmed goblets, also bearing the familiar
hop and barley, and, still smaller and rarer,
the specimens which exactly resemble wine
glasses, except that they are engraved with
the same design as the last. These go
back to the white twist period, at any rate,
possibly earlier ; and were used for the
strong old ale which was drawn from the
cask and brought to table in special decanters
like wine, to be but sparingly partaken of.

Last of all the glasses employed in the
consumption of ale or beer come the half-yards
62

PLATE XXX

ALE GLASSES, ETC.

AIR TWIST AND CUT STEMS.

127. Height, ;| inches.
126. Height, 7^ inches. 126. Height, ;£ inches.

ALE GLASSES

and yards, vessels of varying size and capa-
city. The earliest mention of the Yards of Ale,
latter seems to be in " Evelyn's etc*
Diary," under the year 1685, where the diarist
recounts how King James II was proclaimed
at Bromley in Kent, His Majesty's health
" being drunk in a flint glasse of a yard long."
Half-yards, or glasses approximating to that
height, which resemble elongated variations
of No. 95, with a plain stem, may sometimes
be found ; and a few glasses which can claim
to be a yard long have survived the revelries
of a century. These latter are of two forms —
those with feet, and those without ; the illus-
trated imperfect specimen (No. 145) from my
own cabinet belonging to the former class.

Those without feet generally have a bulb
at the base, otherwise resembling the one
figured, and this bulb is supposed to render
the emptying of them at one draught very
difficult, the ale leaving the bulb with a rush
and drenching the drinker. But, so far as
I know, the difficulty is more imaginary than
real ; at any rate, I have not found it at all
impossible to empty with decorum the only
one I ever had in my possession ! Being
used as tests of skill at merry-makings and
convivial assemblies, in which horse-play was

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

not an unknown factor, most of the many
that must have existed have been destroyed,
and they are now distinctly rare.

Let me conclude with a warning. Should
the collector find a yard glass engraved "A
yard of ale is a dish for a king" let him
not purchase it as antique ; it will be one
of half a dozen made a few years ago to the
order of an old friend of mine, who, being
not unconnected with the brewing of good
beer, wished to make a few presents to friends,
and selected this distinctly unconventional
form.

PLATE XXXI

GOBLET. BALUSTER STEM.
128. Height, 9! inches.

PLATE XXXII

GOBLET. BALUSTER STEM.
129. Height, 9^ inches.

THE EIGHTH CHAPTER

GOBLETS, RUMMERS, CIDER,
DRAM, AND SPIRIT GLASSES

ARALLEL to the two series to
which attention has already been
given, the wine glasses and the
tall ale glasses, there runs a series,
or rather two, of goblets. The firs t
group consists of gigantic vessels containing
any quantity from a quart up to three, and
standing from ten to sixteen inches Glasses of
high — huge glasses which, if made Heroic size.
for use at all, one would suppose could only
have served for ceremonial purposes. The
earlier pieces in my own collection, such as
Nos. 128, 129, and 130, which approximate
to ten inches in height, if used by a single
person would certainly afford an abounding
draught ; on the other hand, they may pos-
sibly have served for loving-cups, though
one associates this name with tall cups of
silver rather than with vessels of glass : the
later ones, in which the stem is quite short,
and the capacity of the bowl even greater,
might possibly have been used as punch-
bowls.

K 65

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Whatever their purpose, the sequence com-
mences quite early in the century. No. 129
may even be earlier than A.D. 1700; No. 128
is not much later (the date of 1834 and the
initials "R.sl.O" which this piece bears were
added at least a century after it was made) ;
and No. 130, though it does not possess the
folded foot of the other two, is probably not
much later than A.D. 1750. I have associated
this piece with a tiny dram glass of the same
shape, as affording rather an amusing con-
trast and comparison. I also possess later
examples, with ogee bowls, one showing an
air-twist stem (Group III A), and the other
a white spiral ; but it was not necessary to
illustrate these; they correspond, except for
size, to the wine glasses of the same groups.

Another, of a still later date, holding about
a pint and a half, and somewhat like No. 139
in form, was given to me by a very kind old
friend, as having been made to the order of a
bibulous gentleman of old, who used it to
keep within the letter of his physician's in-
structions, when the medical man ordered
him to drink only one glass of port at dinner !

These huge glasses are not very common,
and the collector need not fear that his avail-
able space will be curtailed if he acquires
66

PLATE XXXIII

GOBLET.
DRAWN STEM

LIQUEUR GLASS.
DRAWN STEM.

130. Height, 9^ inches

131. Height, 3! inches.

GOBLETS AND RUMMERS

them when he can. The possession of a
few is desirable; their very size and bulk
is impressive, they form admirable centres
round which the smaller contemporary glasses
may cluster, and their Herculean capacity
leads the memory back with a smile to the
days when an Englishman's draught, like
that of the Dutchman famous in song, was
" as deep as the rolling Zuyder Zee " !

Plate XXXIV is devoted to the illustration
of specimens of the second group of goblets
or rummers, those of normal size, Rummers of
which show that the usual stem Four Types.
sequence is to be found in this series as well
as in the wine glasses and ale glasses. In
my own cabinet there is also a piece of similar
capacity of the baluster-stem period, but it
was not necessary to reproduce this; nor is
it necessary to say much more about these
rummers and those illustrated in the next
two plates, though one or two details call
for note.

It has been already pointed out that it is
quite probable that the tall glasses described
in the last chapter were used in-

,. . . , t \. . Cider Glasses.

discnminately for wine or strong

ale ; and it is quite likely that these rummers

were used for other liquors as well as for

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

grog or toddy — cider, for instance, or the less
common perry. But whether the straight-
sided rectangular pieces (No. 133, for example)
were wholly and solely cider glasses, as has
been suggested — made for the first time in
A.D. 1763 in support of the popular protest
against a duty on this home-made beverage —
is to me very doubtful. Any glass which
bears engraved on the bowl an apple-tree,
or a border of apples and leaves, or a motto
distinctly allusive to cider, may be fairly
assigned to that favourite west-country tipple,
which was so strong that it was taken in
small glasses like wine (e.g. Nos. 225 and
226) ; and it is a fact that one or two pieces
so inscribed and decorated do belong to this
straight-sided rectangular type. But I think
this is most likely due to the fact that circa
A.D. 1760 this was a fashionable shape (in
Mr. Singer's collection are two bearing that
date), so that it was really almost inevitable
that on some glasses of this form should be
recorded the farmer's protest against the
obnoxious excise duties on cider and other
liquors which roused him to revolt in A.D.
1763.

En passant the two-handled cup (No. 136),
apparently based as to form on contemporary
68

w •£

0 -8

Q -S

3 "

Q s"

Z •§,

« I

D '

MUGS AND TUMBLERS

silver pieces, calls for a little attention, as
being unusual ; and the quaint piece figured
as No. 140, which is of later LaterPieces:
date, was possibly made at Glas- Mugs and
gow, and if so, is one of the Tumblers-
comparatively few specimens definitely known
to proceed from some individual glass-house.
The square-footed type (No. 138), with bowls
of varying fashions, belongs to about A.D.
1775-80; and the mugs and tankards illus-
trated come quite at the end of the series
and the century, in some cases doubtless
passing beyond A.D. 1800.

With these I close the series of the larger
vessels, illustrating few tumblers (Nos. 220,
221, and 243), chiefly because, though they
are a long series and occur all through
the century, they naturally present no varia-
tions in form, except that sometimes they
assume the barrel shape. The date of any
specimen may be approximately determined
from the style of its decoration ; the two
illustrated in Plate LVIII belong to within
a year or two of A.D. 1780.

The rather insignificant little glasses
figured in Plates XXXVIII, Dram and
XXXIX, and XL are some of Spirit Glasses,
those which were devoted to aqua vitae, strong

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

waters, cordials, and liqueurs. As the saying
is to-day in Scotland, they hold a "dram."
If I had chosen to illustrate the whole series,
it would have been possible to make clear
in these short and dumpy little vessels the
same sequence of stems, if not of bowls, as
has already been established among the larger
glasses ; but I thought this unnecessary, and
have simply chosen for illustration a few
varying types of the plainer makes. Doubt-
less some of the taller pieces of small capacity
were used for liqueurs (Nos. 42 and 74 are
illustrations of this, and I possess another
example from Braintree which closely re-
sembles No. 3, but only holds a very small
quantity) ; but the height and general appear-
ance of these glasses naturally leads to their
inclusion, as they have been placed here,
among wine glasses, where, after all, they are
more fully displayed.

A curious little set of these glasses,
obviously holding the most trifling quan-
Friendsto tities of spirit, is reproduced in

Temperance. Plate XXXVIII. No. I46comes

quite early in the eighteenth century, No.
147 probably belongs to the early years of
the nineteenth, and the other two are inter-
mediate. No. 147 was given to me by my
70

S 5

o w

<3J

W
§

SPIRIT GLASSES

friend Mr. John Lane, who got it as a
"Joey" glass from the Queen's Head at
Box, near Bath, which was an old coaching-
house. " Joeys " were fourpenny pieces, so
called after Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., at
whose instance they were coined ; and these
glasses were provided for the refreshment of
the travellers on passing coaches, as holding
four pennyworth of brandy. When filled,
they present a normal appearance, the thick,
heavy sides vanishing ; when emptied, the
fraud is apparent both to eye and palate!
Nos. 148 and 149 came from Carlisle, another
great coaching focus ; and the good lady who
sold them to me knew all about their decep-
tive aspect when full, and as we talked of it
she chuckled her joy (with the broadest Cum-
berland burr) at " the waay we used to fool
the poor Scoatch fowk ! "

There is another uncommon type of glasses
associated with the old coaching days, and
though they quite possibly belong other
to the nineteenth century, they Travellers'
may be mentioned here. They
are funnel-shaped glasses from four to six
inches high, cut in flutes after the style of
No. 231, but in place of the usual foot they
have simply a small knob, so that they can

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

only stand upside down. On the coa<
arriving at an inn for a change of horses,
tray full of these would be brought out, tl
passengers would seize one each, whi<
would be filled from the various decante
by the servant, they were emptied withoi
delay, and the coach would roll on. The:
glasses are not of frequent occurrence, M
Hartshorne records some, and there ai
specimens in Mr. Singer's collection ; but
have never found one myself.

Nos. 151 and 152 are Scotch pieces, tl
former, like some other " firing " glasses hei
figured (cf. Nos. 158 and 162), having a thic
and massive base with which to knock o
the table when applause was to be given t
song, sentiment, or toast ; and the charmin
little "thistle" glass, figured as No. 164, i
also Scotch, and I have thought it well t
include it as a genuine example of a freel
imitated type, even though it possibly doe
not belong quite to the eighteenth centurj
The double glass, reproduced as No. 159, i
curious ; the ogee piece (No. 162) is interest
ing as being almost a facsimile of Benjami:
Franklin's glass, now belonging to the His
torical Society of Pennsylvania ; the littl
barrels, Nos. 160 and 161 (with their congenei
72

PLATE XXXIX

DRAM AND SPIRIT GLASSES.

150. Height, finches.

154 r Height, 3 £ inche

;hes- UBHd&'Hteta 152. Height, finches.
-'"-• 155: Hdf hi! Ilncnes! 156. Height>4i inches.

PLATE- XL

DRAM AND SPIRIT GLASSES.

157. Height, 4! inches.
16O. Height, ij inches.
162. Height, 4! inches.

158. Height, 3* inches
164. Height, 4! inches

159. Height, 4^ inche
161. Height, if inche
163. Height, 4! inche

SPIRIT GLASSES

No. 153), are quite quaint, though they come
late; and lastly, No. 154 has been illus-
trated, though with No. 156 it belongs circa
A.D. 1820, because it shows the amazing per-
sistency of a simple piece of decoration, that
rough and highly conventional " rose " which
may be observed (see Nos. 26 and 27) at
least a hundred years earlier.

THE NINTH CHAPTER

CANDLESTICKS, DECANTERS,
SWEETMEAT GLASSES,
TRAILED PIECES, ETC.

ARALLEL to the long sequence
of drinking glasses just described
there run two other series of
table utensils which were quite
as much decorative as utilitarian,
the sweetmeat glasses (of which more pre-
sently) and the candlesticks. Good taste,
Candlesticks : or perhaps I should say fastidious
also a Series, taste, demands that complete
harmony should pervade the furnishing and
appurtenances of a table ; and so we find that
of these latter quaint and graceful objects it
is quite possible to collect a sequence as
interesting as that of the concurrent wine
glasses, and showing, for the most part, the
same decorative characteristics and methods,
the same typical stems, feet, and pontil
marks. Early come big lumpy pieces (one
massive example in my own possession, with
the characteristic folded foot, and standing
8£ inches high, has a base no less than
6£ inches in diameter), and these are fol-
lowed by such pretty examples as No. 165
74

bjo

W •£

^ ^

Q -5

u ®

PLATE XLII

TODDY FILLER. DECANTER. TODDY FILLER.

168. Height, ;| inches. 170. Height, ii| inches. 169. Height, ;| inches.

BOTTLES AND DECANTERS

(consorting with plain stem glasses) ; No. 166,
with its air twist; and No. 167, showing a
well-cut stem and nozzle; while the inter-
mediate white screw, though not illustrated
here, is not uncommon.

For the most part, the decanters which
belong to the eighteenth century lack the
beauty and the interest attaching Bottles and
to the wine and other glasses ; Decanters.
they do not extend over so long a period,
nor do they exhibit the variety of form and
decoration which, as we have seen, mark
the drinking vessels. During the greater
part of the eighteenth century wine was
probably brought to the table in the well-
known big-bellied black bottle, with its im-
pressed seal ; and when, later, decanters of
clear glass came into fashion, they were quite
unassuming and simple in form. Plate XLII
shows a fine example, of fairly early date, in
my own cabinet, and Mrs. Rees Price has two
similar pieces, each holding more than half a
gallon. The date of these can be gauged
fairly accurately from the characteristic festoons
with which they are adorned. At a little
later date decanters became more globular,
sometimes having serrated ridges passing
from base to top; at others bearing initials

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

and emblems, as in the case of the one in
my collection which has the initials T. M. B.
on one side, and on the other the shuttle and
shears, which indicate that it once belonged
to a weaver who was proud of his trade.

Still later, about the end of the century,
the type exemplified by the two examples
figured in Plate XLIII came into vogue; the
one (No. 171) inscribed "THE LAND WE LIVE
IN," and showing perpendicular corrugations
akin to those on such glasses as No. 93,
being perhaps a little earlier than No. 172,
which (according to the inscription on it)
was " USED AT THE CORONATION OF GEORGE

THE IV. IN WESTMINSTER HALL 1 9 JULY,

1821." With this, and with the heavy and
cumbrous cut specimens so frequently met
with, we pass beyond the century.

The two curious objects, Nos. 168 and
169, figured on Plate XLII, are also (judging
from the character of the cutting)
1 probably of the early years of the
nineteenth century; but they are included
because they are not well known south of the
Tweed, and because it is not impossible that
earlier specimens may be found. They were
used in place of the familiar ladle of the eigh-
teenth century to fill glasses from the punch-
76

bjo
'£

fli t"*lf

SWEETMEAT GLASSES

or toddy-bowl — being inserted in the bowl
until the bulb (which holds a glassful) was
filled through the hole in its base, they could
then be lifted with the thumb held at the top
of the tube, and the toddy transferred to the
glass simply by removing the thumb.

With the handsome and finely designed
pieces figured as Nos. 173 to 180, in which
may be traced the same sequence sweetmeat
(and the same characteristics Glasses, etc.
as to feet and pontil marks) as have been
noted in the wine glasses and candlesticks,
I come to a group of vessels which per-
sonally I find a little perplexing. Such
specimens as Nos. 174, 175, 177, and 178
are classed by Mr. Hartshorne as early
champagne glasses ; while those which have
a purfled or frilled edge to the lip (I regret
that I cannot illustrate the excellent example
in Mr. Singer's cabinet), and those which
show a cut and van dyked edge (Nos. 176
and 179) he calls sweetmeat glasses. This
division may be quite correct; but if the
earlier specimens of the obviously long and
complete series were drinking glasses (e.g.
Nos. 174 and 175), why do we never find
examples of the cut-stem type which it would
be possible to use to drink from ?

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Let us, for example, consider those two
pieces, Nos. 177 and 179 (Plate XLV), clearly
one of the earliest and one of the latest of
the sequence. From No. 177 it is possible,
though not comfortable, to drink; in the
case of No. 179 it is obviously out of the
question. And my feeling is that neither
were intended for drinking vessels, for the
difference existing between these two speci-
mens are solely those of fashion ; the one has
descended from the other, mutatis mutandis
they are the same thing, the analogy between
them as to form and design is complete, and
to me the deduction that they were made for
one purpose seems to be not only justified
but inevitable — in short, that they were all
sweetmeat glasses.

But whether they were champagne glasses,
or whether they were used for sweetmeats,
they are handsome objects, with their almost
constant domed feet — sometimes ridged or
corrugated, sometimes plain, sometimes cut
— their handsome stems and graceful bowls ;
and one of the very finest I have ever seen is
that figured as No. 180. This piece has one
fault — its foot is rather too small ; otherwise
we cannot praise too highly the graceful dome
of the foot, the well-made " collars " at the
78

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W bo

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& -I

PLATE XLVI

SWEETMEAT
GLASS.

180. Height, ;{• inches.

BELL, WITH
TRAILED DECORATION,

181, Height, ;| inches.

BOWLS AND PORRINGERS

top and bottom of the stem, the twist con-
sisting of a double blue thread that runs
outside the white network in the stem, the
fine sweep of the double ogee bowl, and the
characteristically simple and effective network
engraving. If the blue-twist wine glasses
may be assigned to Bristol, this follows ; but
wherever it was made it was the work of a
master of his craft and its possibilities.

The last group of glass vessels to be
noticed in these pages comprises some mas-
sive and stately pieces, bowls,

J *j Pieces with

porringers, covered cups, etc., Trailed
which possess the common cha- Decoration.
racteristic of being decorated in zigzag
patterns with ridges or raised trails of glass.
Typical examples are figured on Plates XLVI,
XLVII, and XLVIII, and in these the
various patterns of trailing are pretty com-
pletely exemplified.

Vessels of glass, as a rule, do not simulate
the forms peculiar to those in other materials,
though occasionally one finds a candlestick
clearly copied from a metal one, or a
cup (see No. 136) the design of which is
based on an example in silver. But though
I doubt if my two-handled porringer (Plate
XLVIII) was made for use, or was intended

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

for any purpose beyond being displayed on
a sideboard, it is interesting as being ob-
viously based on the similar silver pieces of
the seventeenth and early eighteenth cen-
turies ; while to me it possesses the ad-
ditional interest of bearing the mark of the
original owner, some glass lover of a cen-
tury and a half ago, at least, whose initials
— whatever his name was — were the same
as my own : a little coincidence that seems
somehow to bridge the years, to link the
present to a bygone age.

Some of these pieces have deeply folded
feet ; others, like those figured, have feet
irregularly scolloped ; some have a very rough
pontil mark ; the metal of many is deep in
tone and heavy ; and all, I fancy, belong to
the earlier forty years of the eighteenth cen-
tury. The bell could have been used, and so
could the jugs ; the bowls might be punch-
bowls, and the covered cups might also serve
some useful purpose ; but all the same, my
conclusion is that they were "parade pieces,"
meant for display, were intended to gleam on
the sideboard rather than to serve any utili-
tarian purpose on the table.

PLATE XLVII

COVERED BOWL, WITH TRAILED DECORATION.
182. Height, ;£• inches.

PLATE XLVIII

PORRINGER. WITH TRAILED DECORATION.
183. Height, ii| inches.

THE TENTH CHAPTER

METHODS OF DECORATION

ROM the numerous examples of
decorated bowls to be found
among the examples reproduced
in the plates, it is obvious that
more methods than one were
employed to give added richness to the ap-
pearance of the glasses. Of the different
flutings, grooves, and ribbings, examples
have been illustrated, and need not be re-
peated ; but it has been thought well to bring
together in one illustration, for purposes of
comparison, specimens of the other fashions
of bowl decoration.

Naturally engraving on the wheel was
one of the earliest methods employed, and
No. 187 exemplifies the effect, at varieties of
once rich and simple, that could Engraving.
easily be obtained by it, and shows the fre-
quent conventional vine pattern in one of
its many forms. (No. 184 shows the same
method employed to render a rarer version of
the same motive, the growing vine.) Later,
as in No. 186, came the fashion of polishing
part of the engraving to add lightness to the

M 81

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

effect ; and this was succeeded, quite towards
the end of the century, by the entirely polished
engraving so well seen in No. 189.

The patterns themselves are not very
numerous, but they show many variations,
Some of the and some are curiously persistent.
Patterns. The vjne has many forms, so has
the rose, the latter ranging from the simple
convention seen in No. 26 to the elaborate
and naturalistic effects found in Nos. 31 and
202. On other wine-glasses of different dates
are to be found the sunflower, lily of the
valley, forget-me-not, tulip, honeysuckle, and
rose of Sharon ; while the hop and barley
are naturally and appropriately placed on ale
glasses. Then we also find butterflies, bees,
moths, swans, and the curious hovering bird
which may be traced from such early examples
as No. 22 to quite late pieces like No. 139.
Little landscapes, sometimes naturalistic,
sometimes pseudo-Chinese in their conven-
tion, are also to be found ; as are figure
subjects, and the sporting scenes, coats-of-
arms, ships, inscriptions, badges, and emblems
to be spoken of in Chapter XII. These
engravings, while usually placed on the bowls,
are also to be found in the foot, as in the case
of a Jacobite glass in the Singer collection,
82

PLATE XLIX

184.
187.
190.

METHODS OF DECORATION.

185. Height, 3! inches. 186.
188. 189.

191. 192.

METHODS OF DECORATION

and two which belonged to Admiral Robert-
son Macdonald, and even under the foot, as
in No. 202 in my own cabinet, which bears
beneath the base a beautifully engraved
heraldic rose and leaves. Whether this posi-
tion of these emblems has anything to do
with the old-time fashion of holding and
lifting glasses by the foot (and not by the
stem, as we do to-day), I cannot say.

Sometimes these engraved patterns were
oil gilt, and a very rich effect was thereby
produced; No. 210, for instance, Gilding and
shows a few traces of this, while Enamel.
No. 237, which is practically in its pristine
condition, exemplifies this somewhat unusual
method still better. Other gilt decorations
were burnished, the gold being applied to the
surface of the glass without any engraving,
and lightly fixed ; and of this method Mr.
Singer's cabinet contains a fine example, the
bowl of a rummer being almost covered with
trails of vine; while No. 192, though less
important as to size, also exemplifies quite
well this fashion of decoration.

The white enamelled decoration sometimes
found on these glasses is of two kinds. In
the first (see No. 190) the designs are painted
with considerable " body" and density ; in the

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

other (of which No. 188 is a fine example),
the enamel consists of the merest film, most
delicately applied, the necessary outlines and
veinings being attained by the employment
of a needle to remove the film in the
manner of an etcher. Both methods are rare,
and the latter is the less common — indeed,
it seems only to be employed on ale glasses
to render the hop and barley pattern ; while
in the coarser enamel we find the familiar
scrolls, festoons, and vine leaves, as well as
very quaint and interesting sporting scenes,
hunting, shooting, skating, etc. It is possible
that these enamelled glasses may have been
made in Bristol, where white opaque glass
bottles and other vessels were made and
decorated in colours.

In many cases where the design on an
inscribed glass has been executed on the

Diamond- whed> the accompanying inscrip-
point tion has been written with the

Engravings, diamond-point (see No. 245) ; in
other examples the whole design has been so
engraved. Mrs. Rees Price has a large glass
so treated, with a view of a vessel at sea, a
cliff, and a fort, freely and sketchily handled ;
and the elaborate lettering of No. 224, and
the coat-of-arms (Arundell ?) reproduced rather

METHODS OF DECORATION

more than half size for the sake of clearness,
as No. 191 (from a bowl), afford further
examples of this particular fashion of decora-
tion. It is a fashion that dates from the
earliest times, and is found in all countries;
the Elizabethan example figured in Plate II is
so decorated, and doubtless earlier examples
could be found ; while it is not yet, I believe,
extinct. Mrs. Rees Price has two late goblets
so engraved, covered with military and sport-
ing emblems, coats-of-arms, etc., and I possess
one obviously from the same hand, which
bears amid a multiplicity of designs a poem
by Burns and an inscription stating that it
was " presented to Mrs. Rogers by J. Crofts,
2nd Life Guards," as well as the engraver's
signature, "J. Wickenden 1853."

It is almost an unknown thing for the
craftsman to sign his work on decorated
English glasses. The names of the executants
of these quaint designs have perished, and
we can now identify none of the users
of the wheel and the diamond-point, except
Giles of York, who worked in both styles
about A.D. 1756, and Felix Foster, who
wielded the diamond-point at the same
date. Of these the lineal artistic descendant,
however debased his style, was J. Wickenden.

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

The English glass engravers of the eigh-
teenth century were not, as a rule, artists,
Fluoric Acid though many were highly trained
Etching;. craftsmen ; but there was one set
of workers who devoted themselves to the
decoration of glasses who were possessed of
true and remarkable artistic talent, as well
as of unrivalled deftness and skill in the
manipulation of their peculiar process. These
were the creators of the delicate designs,
etched by means of fluoric acid, upon the
bowls of such examples as Nos. 193 and 194.
Beautifully drawn, exquisitely faint and clear,
resembling nothing so much as a film of mist
blown upon the surface of the bowl, they are
the most beautiful decorations, I think, ever
used on any glasses.

This art, originating probably in Germany,
had many practitioners there and in the Low
Countries, whose names do not here concern
us. It is not at all improbable that it was
also employed in this country, though less
extensively than in its place of origin; and
No. 185, a quaint little glass thus decorated
with a landscape, bears every evidence of
being English, both in manufacture and
ornament. This specimen, by the way, is
said to have belonged to George III ; and
86

PLATE L

GLASSES DECORATED BY MEANS OF FLUORIC ACID.
. Height, log inches. 194. Height, 8| inches.

METHODS OF DECORATION

there seems to be no reason to doubt the
attribution. English names also occur among
these workers in fluoric acid. Greenwood,
sometimes included among the Dutch artists,
is responsible for the fine example figured
as No. 193, and Adams (another distinctly
English name) was the decorator of a glass
I have noted, which bears on its bowl Bacchus
and his vine, with the suggestive inscription,
" May we never want its fruit."

The custom of marking the black " big-
bellied bottles" of the eighteenth century with
the date, name, or arms of the impressed
owner, impressed on a glass seal Seals.
stuck on the side of the bottle, is known
to all collectors ; and Mr. Hartshorne records
one wine glass (with a white twist stem) thus
decorated on each side of the bowl with an
impressed coat-of-arms. It is a very rare
example ; and with this method of decoration,
known so far only by this solitary instance,
this chapter fitly closes.

THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER

FRAUDS, FAKES, AND FORGERIES :
FOREIGN GLASS

T is very difficult to convey, by any
written description, the difference
between a genuine product of
antiquity, in any genre, and its
modern imitation ; and in the
case of glass it is particularly far from easy.
But there are a few general characteristics
which may be mentioned for the guidance
of collectors, though there is no real equip-
ment for the discrimination of the spurious,
save experience and the instinct which
comes of the handling of many examples.

The foot of a glass is naturally the first
thing that a collector looks at, and a pretty
Feet and ^u^ description of the varieties
their charac- found in genuine pieces is given

teristics. jn Chapter IH A glass which

lacks the pontil mark, purporting to belong
to any other group than that with the cut
stems, should almost invariably be rejected ;
though here a certain amount of discrimina-
tion must be exercised, because of the ex-
istence of certain glasses which may be
88

FRAUDS AND FORGERIES

described as survivals or replacements. Mrs.
Rees Price has two specimens with air-twist
stems (not drawn), the bowls of which bear the
Hanoverian emblem of the white horse, with
the motto " LIBERTY" (cf. No. 215), and in
these pieces the pontil mark has been polished
off. But all the same, there is no reason
to doubt their authenticity, and they were
possibly made very late in the eighteenth
century to complete a set by replacing earlier
glasses unfortunately broken. Other ex-
amples have come under my notice, but this
will suffice to illustrate the point.

The form of the foot on genuine pieces
is also notable ; they are almost always
large (the diameter being at least of the bowl)
to ensure stability, and when not domed,
are generally markedly conical in form.
This has been well described as " having a
high instep" — the characteristic of a glass
of long descent, as well as of a lady of lofty
pedigree ! Look for a moment at No. 24,
and then turn to No. 197 ; the latter pseudo-
Jacobite specimen is the modern forger's
product, and exemplifies at once his lack of
skill in making an air twist, and his failure
to achieve the proper foot — it is flat and
thin, and lacks the pontil mark.

N 89

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

It need scarcely be added that when the
collector finds a piece, the foot of which never
had a pontil mark, he should at once reject
it. Those glasses in which the under side
of the foot is of waxy smoothness (not
polished) are rank impostures, and are not
infrequently found of the type of No. 195.
Sometimes the bowls of these particular
fabrications are gilt ; at other times they are
enamelled or engraved (this one is dated
1714!), but once seen and identified for
what they are, they will always be known.

Any glasses in which the spiral in the
stem runs the reverse way to the normal
stems and may be considered spurious, and
Spirals. so may pieces in which poor blue

or red threads are found with no white
interspersed, as well as examples in which
the red or green threads are supplemented
by white twists irregularly and imperfectly
formed. These at present seem to be chiefly
produced with bell bowls, but other types
may be found. In the air twists, as in the
white ones, the forger is often unequal to
the production of a satisfactory imitation ;
but in the cut stems he is quite capable of
rivalling the work of a century ago, and
such pieces as No. 198 are made in large
90

FRAUDS AND FORGERIES

quantities, and are often sold with intent to
deceive. Here the stem does not rise from
the base quite correctly, and while the cutting
and engraving are excellently imitated from
the old pieces, the sides of the bowl are
about double the thickness of those in
genuine examples.

In the course of the preceding chapters
little variations in the metal of different types
of glasses have been noted as far Metal and
as possible, and as far as could "Ring."
be conveyed in written words ; but only slight
allusion has been made to the "ring" of
all good English pieces. If a glass, on being
tapped or flicked with the finger-nail, fails
to give a clear, true ring, it must be regarded
with extreme suspicion — it is probably either
spurious or the inferior product of some Low
Country glass-house. And if the metal is too
clear and brilliant, that also gives cause for
grave suspicion ; but this latter is a matter
that can often only be settled by actual com-
parison with undoubted pieces of the style
and reputed date of the dubious example.

A wicked person, whose name I mercifully
withhold, once submitted No. 196 to my
inspection as a very fine " Williamite" glass,
recently sent him. Its form, as will be

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Any glasses in which the spiral in the
stem runs the reverse way to the normal
stems and may be considered spurious, and
Spirals. so may pieces in which poor blue

FRAUDS AND FORGERIES

A wicked person, whose name I mercifully
withhold, once submitted No. 196 to my
inspection as a very fine " Williamite" glass,
recently sent him. Its form, as will be

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

seen, is a little unusual, but scarcely ab-
normal ; it rings beautifully ; the engraving
is just what one would expect to find ; the
foot, while scarcely so "high in the instep"
as might be anticipated, yet bears the right
fold and pontil mark; — and yet for some
reason, when I handled it, I was not satis-
fied. I could not say why; it all seemed
correct, and, though my instinct made me
doubt it, I could not condemn it until I
placed it among others. Then the abso-
lute colourless clarity of the glass became
apparent, and I told my friend that if he
had not already bought it, he would be well
advised to return it. Then the unhappy
man confessed that it was an absolute copy
of a genuine piece, made to his order by a
well-known firm of glass-blowers, and further
treated by himself in one or two apparently
trivial but essential details (not necessary to
repeat here), so as to simulate the original
absolutely ! Luckily for my reputation as
a judge of glasses, the appearance of the old
metal could not be imitated ; but even to a
keen eye the copy was so accurate as to
deceive in every detail but that.

This is an unusual instance, but I tell the
tale to point once more the moral, that in the
92

PITFALLS AND PROBLEMS

last resort — in glass as in china and pictures
— the cultured eye and the connoisseur's in-
stinct are the only safe guides.

There are various other circumstances
which may induce doubt in the mind of a
collector, and one curious case Pitfaiisand
may be illustrated from No. 128, Problems.
and from a piece presenting similar features
in Mrs. Rees Price's collection. This latter
is an air-twist (drawn) glass, dating approxi-
mately from A.D. 1755, but bearing an in-
scription written with a diamond in later years
of the nineteenth century ; the former, though
a glass of about A.D. 1725, is similarly in-
scribed, "jR.sl.O. 1834." In each case, of
course, the inscription has been placed on an
early and genuine glass, and might lead to a
misapprehension of the true character of the
specimen if its characteristics were not well
marked ; and even more puzzling and
troublesome are the instances, of which I
know a few, in which eighteenth-century
glasses profess to commemorate seventeenth-
century historical events.

In these particular cases, the inscriptions
have been placed on the bowls without any
fraudulent idea. There was some reason
for them, apart from any desire to create a

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

spurious antique; but it is easy to see how
simple a matter it would be for the forger
or the faker to take a genuine glass and add
to it some emblem or design which (if genuine
and contemporary) would greatly increase the
interest and value of the specimen. This
form of deception is one to be most carefully
guarded against, and every inscribed glass
demands very complete examination before
it is accepted.

However, these instances of misleading
inscriptions are uncommon, and the more
Foreign frequent problems are presented

Glasses. by those glasses which might

equally justly be attributed either to England
or to Holland. Some of the Dutch glasses,
being produced in the same way as the Eng-
lish ones, and to similar designs, naturally
bear a great resemblance to our own, and are
really very hard to distinguish from them.
Particularly is this the case with some glasses
with bell bowls and white twist stems ; others
are easily differentiated by reason of their
weak twists, the poor colour of the threads (the
white being bluish, and not dense and true
— milk-and-water compared to the milk-white
of good pieces), and the lightness of the metal
and the almost straw-colour pervading it.
94

PITFALLS AND PROBLEMS

In brief, then, a would-be buyer of any
glass should study the type and details of the
foot, examine the craftsmanship
and structure of the stem, con-
sider the colour and density of the twist, test
the ring of the bowl and the colour of the
metal, and regard with care the niceties of
the decoration — engraving, enamelling, or
gilding. Should he find an example which
puzzles him, though he cannot pronounce it
spurious, it does no harm to purchase. A
"problem piece" is always interesting and
always valuable. If it turns out to be a fraud
or a fake, the collector has learnt the lesson
it conveys; if it should be a rare or un-
usual specimen of genuine character, his col-
lection is all the stronger, his judgment the
sounder, and his knowledge the wider.

Finally — Caveat Emptor.

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER

INSCRIBED AND HISTORIC
GLASSES

N an earlier chapter it has been
pointed out that, in addition to
the artistic value of the indi-
vidual specimens, and the anti-
quarian interest of the several
series into which these glasses fall, there
clings to many examples a sentiment more
intimate and personal, sometimes by reason
of the inscriptions or emblems engraved
upon them, sometimes on account of the
known history of the particular piece in
question. To treat at large on these inscribed
and historic pieces, which strike a note at
once curiously human and strangely familiar
— to attempt to formulate for them, as for
their less uncommon congeners, a succession
and a classification — would demand far more
space than is at my disposal, and could not,
after all, lead to very much profit. For
while, in some cases, the symbols and in-
scriptions which adorn these glasses have
reference to a cult or a creed, which permits
of their being grouped together, the charm
96

INSCRIBED GLASSES

of many lies in their individuality and their
entire lack of association with others. Pos-
sibly, under these circumstances, the simplest
and most useful chapter that can be com-
piled in this connection, will be one contain-
ing some slight account of the examples
actually illustrated in Plates LII to LXVII,
as they stand loosely associated according to
some central idea; and it may be just as
well not to wander overmuch into a con-
sideration of others that are known to exist,
but simply to use those reproduced as indi-
cations of what the diligent collector may
expect to find, once in a way, if his luck is
good. Such a chapter will necessarily be
somewhat disconnected and disjointed, but
this is, I fear, inevitable.

In the whole history of Britain the most
romantic family is that of the Stuarts, the
kingly race whose vicissitudes jacobitism
of fortune and vagaries of per- and its Relics-
sonality are as remarkable as the amazing
sentiment of loyalty that they seem to have
been always able to inspire ; and there
is perhaps no more pathetic chapter, even
in their records, than that devoted to their
ill-omened attempts to regain the crowns
they had lost. How far, at any rate after

o 97

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

A.D. 1715, the Jacobite faith was anything
more than a sentiment, cannot be discussec
here ; or what chances there might have beer
of the ultimate triumph of the cause, hac
its leaders been in any way worthy of the
devotion lavished on them. But it is wel
known that the cause of the white rose hac
very many staunch adherents, and that ever
among the ranks of the Hanoverians then
were those who looked, with a sympathy onl)
half veiled, on their neighbours who dranl
to "the king over the water." It was ir
the north and west of England, and in the
marches of Wales (not to speak of the high-
lands of Scotland), that the tradition was lon£
cherished ; and it is from the English coun-
ties, thus loyal to old memories, that mos:
of the glasses which bear Jacobite emblems
come : frail mementoes of a long-lost cause
which have outlasted by many scores o
years the devotion of its followers and the
fascination of its leaders. To them, as tc
all other relics of dead days and forgotten
hopes, there clings a feeling of gentle melan-
choly ; they bring us memories of gallanl
gentlemen to whom they crystallized a life's
ideal, and they are eloquent of that tenacious
and affectionate fidelity that even the mosl
98

PLATE LI I

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING JACOBITE MOTTOES

AND EMBLEMS.
201. Height, 6£ inches. 200. 202. Height, 6f inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

worthless of the fickle Stuarts could always
command.

Most of the Jacobite glasses are memorials
of the second attempt to regain the throne
of Britain, the famous " forty- The Two
five ; " but there are a few which Rebellions.
have reference to that of A.D. 1715, and No.
200 is an example of this group. As will be
seen, it bears (executed with the diamond)
the cypher of the " Old Pretender/1 I.R.
beneath a crown, and within a beautiful
border two verses of the Jacobite song,
" God save the King," which was afterwards
paraphrased into the Hanoverian National
Anthem. The second verse runs thus —

God Bliss the Prince of Wales,
The True born Prince of Wales,

Sent us by Thee.
Grant us one favour more,
The King for to Restore,
As Thou hast done before,

The Familie.

Mr. Albert Hartshorne, in his elaborate
and most interesting chapter on Jacobite
glasses, records six others of this type, and
as these are all in the possession of families
who treasure them, there is but little chance
of the amateur finding one ; still, there is
always the possibility of one turning up,

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

and the knowledge of the rarity of a desired
example is the collector's strongest incentive.
The fervour of the Jacobites was largely
kept alive by means of private associations
Jacobite of gentlemen, such as the famous

Clubs. « Cycle Club ; " and judging from

the number of emblem-bearing glasses that
survive, there must, undoubtedly, have been
many of these associations. Their glasses
bore various symbols and mottoes, but there
is a generic likeness running through them
all, from such simple and early pieces as
No. 20 1, with its rose, two buds, and stem, to
such elaborate examples as those which bore
portraits of " Bonnie Prince Charlie/' Virgilian
quotations allusive to the cause, or such
quaint and beautiful emblems as the stricken
tree putting forth branches with the motto
Revirescit. All these were frankly and com-
pletely incriminating had they come within
the official ken of the Government ; but there
are others in which the allusions were veiled,
and which we should not know for Jacobite
had we not examples indubitably pertaining to
that cult, to which their resemblance is clear.
Such is No. 202, with its natural roses on
the bowl and the heraldic rose and leaves
beautifully engraved under the foot, a rare
ioo

PLATE LI 1 1

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING JACOBITE MOTTOES

AND EMBLEMS.
I

204. Height, 6| inches. 203. Height, ;£ inches. 205. Height,^ inches.

PLATE LIV

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING JACOBITE MOTTOES
AND EMBLEMS.

207. Height, 7|,inches. 206. Height, 8| inches. 208. Height, 6||inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

and early piece, two of which I found in
Bristol. Glasses like this, and such pieces
as Nos. 210 and 211, which bear badges not
undeniably Jacobite, might have been used
by the more discreet adherents to the cause,
such as the cunning wit who was reproached
for not praying for the king, and answered,
" For the King I do pray, but I do not
think it necessary to tell God who is the
King."

We know that the creed of Jacobitism
(however much it may have degenerated from
a living force into a mere tradition) flourished
through a long series of years ; and this dura-
tion of its vitality is reflected in the extended
sequence of the glasses that bear the emblems.
Starting with the plain-stemmed pieces of
early date, allusive to the rising of 1715, we
find air twists, an occasional outside twist
(No. 205), white twists, and cut stems ; while
the list is closed by glasses of the types which
belong to the very end of the eighteenth
century. Very few of these glasses are im-
mediately contemporary with the moving
events of the struggle; nearly all of them
belong to the years after 1745, and stand
to-day as records of an unceasing adherence
to a gradually dying cause.

101

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

The most important are probably the
portrait glasses, which fall naturally into two
Portrait groups, those which bear the pre-

oiasses. sentment of the " Old Pretender,"

and those showing the likeness of his son,
11 Bonnie Prince Charlie." Of the former
class is No. 206, with the mottoes " COG-
NOSCUNT ME MET " and " PREMIUM VIRTUTIS,"
a glass which is purely commemorative: of
the latter Nos. 203 and 209 are types.
No. 203 bears, in addition to \hzpseudo like-
ness of the " Young Pretender," the rose and
thistle with the Jacobite star and the Cycle
motto, " Fiat" ; while 209 is decorated with
flags, military emblems, and the motto "AB
OBICE MAJOR," as well as with the portrait in
a panel. This, with its cut stem and elaborate
engraving, is not improbably as late as
A.D. 1788, and must accordingly be con-
sidered a personal memorial of Prince Charles
Edward, made at a time when Jacobitism
had ceased to be anything but a legend.

Much more frequent than the examples
which are adorned with portraits are those
other Mottoes which bear the simple emblems
and Emblems. ancj their accompanying " word."
Of these the star and the motto, "Fiat"
associated with the national badges of the
102

PLATE LV

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING JACOBITE MOTTOES
AND EMBLEMS.

210. Height, 5! incher. 209. Height, ;£ inches. 211. Height, 5! inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

rose and the thistle, have been mentioned as
being Jacobite badges ; but other "words" and
emblems also occur — " Redeat" for instance
(as on No. 208), bears an obvious reference
to the hoped-for return of the king ; and
" RADIAT " (as on No. 212), a pursuing variant
of this, being possibly allusive to the shining
star of the creed. Rarer are " AUDENTIOR
IBO," "TURNO TEMPUS ERIT," "GOD BLESS

THE PRINCE," and " REDDAS INCOLUMEM " ;

and all these mottoes are to be found asso-
ciated with differing selections and arrange-
ments of the emblems.

The badges on No. 204, for instance, are
the natural rose, the star, and the forget-me-
not (a simple and beautiful piece of sym-
bolism) ; on Nos. 205 and 207 are found
the rose and the oak-leaf; on No. 208 the
rose and the star; on Nos. 210 and 211
the rose and the thistle ; and on No. 212 the
royal arms of Great Britain. Whether the
oak-leaf is allusive to the adventure of King
Charles II in the Royal Oak, a part of the
Stuart cult, is not certain ; it may be so, or
it might equally justly be suggested that
English Jacobites used the oak-leaf and
Scottish ones the thistle ; the rose (as gene-
rally represented) with two buds being

103

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

supposed to symbolise King James II and
the Old and Young Pretenders.

It is not to be supposed that while the
Jacobites proclaimed their disaffection on
Hanoverian their glasses, their opponents in
Glasses. power would refrain from some

similar avowal of their political predilections ;
and glasses bearing Royalist sentiments still
remain as evidence of the feeling of the
Hanoverian's supporters. That they are less
numerous than the others may possibly be
due to the fact that the victors, possessing
the spoils, had less need of nursing their
rancour than the strong minority whose creed
was under a ban. But it is curious to note
that Hanoverian glasses exist of an earlier
date than any Jacobite examples; No. 214,
for instance, which bears in relief on the
upper part of the four-sided stem the words,
" God save King George." This piece dates
from the reign of King George I ; indeed,
Mr. Hartshorne records a specimen of some-
what similar type (though more elaborately
decorated) which bears the date 1716.

But the most fervid loyalty, or rather the

The Orange- most aggressive opposition to

men's Toast. the Stuart cause, was to be

found in the north of Ireland, where the

104

PLATE LVI

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING JACOBITE AND
LOYAL MOTTOES AND EMBLEMS.

212. Height, 6f inches. 213. Height, 8f inches. 214. Height, 6| inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

renown of King William III is enshrined
in the hearts of all Orangemen. No Orange
glasses appear to exist which are of an earlier
date than the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, so that they, like the Jacobite examples,
were tokens of an inherited creed rather than
the outcome of contemporary events; but
they are interesting as showing that along-
side the placid loyalty of the Hanoverian
party there existed a group of gentlemen of
militant convictions as staunch to the memory
of Dutch William as were the Jacobites
to the side of the Stuarts. No. 213 is a
Williamite glass bearing the inscription —
"THE IMORTAL MEMORY;" others read, "TO

THE GLORIOUS MEMORY OF KING WILLIAM " —

words from the Orange toast which begins,
" To the glorious, pious, and immortal
memory of the great and good King William,
who freed us from Pope and Popery, knavery
and slavery, brass money and wooden shoes,"
and concludes, after much inconsequent verbi-
age, with the hope that he who refuses the
toast maybe " damned, crammed, and rammed
down the great gun of Athlone."

Among the more moderate men party
rancour and dissension probably gave way
gradually to national and patriotic ideals,

P 105

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

crystallizing round the established sove-
Loyaity and reignty of the Guelphs, and this
Patriotism. sentiment seems to have inspired
the decoration of No. 215. Here the motto,
" LIBERTY," is associated with the rose of
England and the white horse of Hanover,
and in the next example (No. 217) the national
ideal of a united kingdom seems to be ex-
pressed by the intertwined rose and thistle
and the Union Jack (without the cross of
St. Patrick) encircled by the motto of the
Order of the Garter. Still another phase of
political belief in a time of continuous Con-
tinental warfare, that of peaceful patriotism,
pure and simple, is probably responsible for the
figure of Britannia bearing the olive branch,
engraved with great skill on No. 218, and on a
rummer of the same date in Mrs. Rees Price's
cabinet. With these is naturally associated the
decanter reproduced in Plate XLIII, bearing
national emblems and the toast, " THE LAND
WE LIVE IN," a sentiment with which few could
be found to disagree. The other glass illus-
trated in Plate LVII is associated with those
of royalist and national inspiration, as it
records the coronation of King George IV,
bearing the date "JULY 19, 1821," and the
picturesque figure of the King's Champion.
1 06

PLATE LVII

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING LOYAL AND
PATRIOTIC EMBLEMS.

215. Height, 6| inches,

• 218. Height, 6| inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

In this connection it may be interesting
to mention a monument of disloyalty, a
tumbler formerly in the possession of an old
friend of mine. It bore on one side the
word " TINKER," and on the other the word
" KING," and concealed in the ornaments
below the latter were several slits, so that if
the person drinking chose the Tinker as his
toast the liquor arrived at its proper destina-
tion, but if in loyal custom he toasted the
King, the ale would pour through the perfora-
tions, not only failing to reach his lips, but
drenching him into the bargain.

It is not a long step from devotion to the
sentiment of national greatness to admiration
of the men who were responsible Heroes—
for raising the country to the Naval and
climax of victory; and this— Militar^
one might almost say — adoration of the hero
of the moment is found recorded on perish-
able glass as well as the triple brass of
more enduring memorials of a nation's love.
Nelson's memory was not infrequently thus
honoured ; some glasses bear his portrait,
others his famous flagship the "Victory," and
yet others (see No. 219) his funeral car and
catafalque adorned with the name of his two
great triumphs of "TRAFALGAR" and the

107

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

"NILE." The popular worship of another naval
leader, Admiral Keppel, is evinced on No. 220,
a tumbler which owes its origin to the wave
of appreciation that passed over the country
after his trial and acquittal in 1779; and as
this gallant sailor was created a viscount in
1782 this glass (obviously dating between
those years) is valuable as a standard of
style and decoration by which to fix the date
of such examples as No. 221, bearing the
same characteristic ornamentation.

Yet another naval glass, that was once
in my possession, and now rests in Mr.
Singer's collection, bears round the rim
the names " DUNCAN, ST. VINCENT, HOWE,
NELSON," a relic of the admiration entertained
by its unknown owner for the great leaders
whose names are thus recorded.

With all the British pride in the Navy, the
claims of military memto recognition were not
disregarded by the engravers of the period ;
and while in the nineteenth century, "Welling-
ton/or ever" was emblazoned over a sword,
as in No. 222 (the bird of peace being engraved
on the other side of the bowl), fifty years
earlier our friends on the Continent were not
neglected. Whoever drank from No. 223, or
from a glass in my own cabinet similarly
108

PLATE LVIII

INSCRIBED GLASSES, COMMEMORATING NATIONAL

HEROES,
>. Height, 3£ inches. 219. Height, 8| inches. 221. Height, 3* inches.

PLATE LIX

INSCRIBED GLASSES, COMMEMORATING NATIONAL

HEROES, ETC.
Height, 7! inches. 222. Height, 4! inches. 224. Height, ;| inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

inscribed, pledged the great Frederick, King of
Prussia, a sovereign whose popularity in this
country dated from the battle of Rossbach,
where he destroyed a French army, with the
result that he was bonfired and belauded all
over the kingdom as the " Protestant hero."

An interesting example, with the curious
inscription, " De Negotie, HnttO 1772," is
figured as No. 224. It has been A Cryptic
suggested that these words refer inscription.
to the judgment delivered in that year in the
case of the slave Somerset, who, after being
arrested as a fugitive, was liberated by order
of the Courts on the ground that a slave
became a free man as soon as he stepped on
British soil. This is probably a glass made
in Bristol, a great Quaker centre, and a port
nearly connected by ties of trade with the
slave-holding provinces of America, and it
is not unlikely that some member of the
Society of Friends had the rummer engraved
(by the diamond-point) with this inscription,
commemorating a notable step in the anti-
slavery crusade.

The bitterness of political feeling all
through the eighteenth century is well
known, and the stubborn way in which
Parliamentary elections were fought, with

109

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

lavish bribery and unscrupulous corruption,

Political and *s a matter °f history ; so that it
Pariiamen- is little wonder that a few glasses
tary' still bear records of these heated

contests. Nos. 225 and 226 are cider glasses ;
both bear apple-trees on the bowl, and the
former has also the motto " NO EXCISE," the
farmer's protest against the taxation of his
home-brewed drink, which has already been
alluded to ; while No, 227, an interesting
piece in the collection of Mr. J. T. Cater,
commemorates the still unforgotten upheaval
caused in the country by Wilkes and the
famous No. 45 of his " North Briton/' This
story need not be repeated here, and no com-
ment need be made on No. 229, with the
inscription " SIR i POLE FOR EVER/' probably
a relic of some fiercely contested election ;
while No. 228, a fragment of glass of a type
somewhat resembling No. i, also bears an
inscription referring to a Parliamentary elec-
tion, which seems to have been a political
cataclysm not mentioned in our histories. It
reads " THE REVOLUTION OF 5Lowtbt Novembr
the ist, 1755," and is said to commemorate
the triumph of a loyal and independent club
in returning Mr. Thomas Tipping to Parlia-
ment ; a change, doubtless, but one— however
no

PLATE LX

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING POLITICAL AND
SOCIAL MOTTOES, ETC.

225. Height, 6| inches. 227. Height, 6| inches. 230. Height, 6| inches.

226. Height, 6| inches. 228. Height, i J inches. 229. Height, 6f inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

complete — which was only a " revolution/' so
far as Louth itself was concerned.

Comparatively few glasses of the eigh-
teenth century bear inscriptions which relate
to the highly convivial and bibu- convivial
lous habits of the time ; possibly and Masonic.
had the idea of thus perpetuating these
characteristics occurred to any of the " three-
bottle " heroes of old, they would have deemed
the surviving glasses themselves quite as
convincing to future generations as any
record or inscription. But some few seem to
have thought otherwise, and to have chosen
to inscribe their favourite glasses with symbol
or with sentiment embodying their roystering
creed and custom. Of the glasses so treated,
the first on my list is No. 230, an example
reasonably accorded priority because of the
unusual nature of the society it belonged to.
Among the multiplicity of the Glasgow clubs
of the eighteenth century (concerning which
a large and thick octavo has been compiled)
surely this body was unique, for it was
indeed a " sober" club, and the members
drank at their meetings nothing but water.
This particular glass was the property of
Alexander Allan, of Newhall, the " PROVOST
ALLEN" of No. 235, and is now in the

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

possession of Major F. W. Allan, a leading
light of Scottish Freemasonry, P.G.M. of
his province, and a true exponent of the
honourable principles of the craft. Fitly
balancing No. 235 therefore, on Plate LXI,
is an English masonic firing-glass, once the
property of John Boulderson, of Falmouth ;
while other masonic glasses are figured as
Nos. 238 and 240, the latter bearing the
name of " MOTHER KILWINNING," the lodge
which, on the score of antiquity, obtains
and is accorded precedence of all other
Scottish lodges.

How often from this quaint little example
the toast of "King and Craft" has been
Toasts and drunk with all the honours due,
Sentiments. no man can say. Masonry has its
social side, as well as its moral and benevolent
purpose, and it is popularly believed that
neither is neglected ; certainly this glass was
made for use, and was used, as is evident
from the fragment broken and replaced.
Another Scottish specimen is No. 231, which
bears the rather mysterious words, "THE
BLACK FACE o'x " round the rim ; and
balancing this is an English example
(No. 232), on which — associated with a
figure of Mercury and other commercial
112

PLATE LXI

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING SOCIAL MOTTOES

AND TOASTS.

231. Height, "Clinches. 000 u • , . , • , 232. Height, 4^ inches.
234. Height, 4 inches. 23S" Hei8ht- 7* inches- 235. Height, Jf inches.

PLATE LXII

INSCRIBED GLASS, BEARING THE ARMS AND

MOTTO OF THE TURNERS' COMPANY

OF LONDON.

J. Height, 9! inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

emblems — we find the sentiment, "As we
travel through life may we live well on
the road." Both these glasses probably
belong to the early years of the nineteenth
century, but it nevertheless seemed worth
while to include them here.

Some of the most interesting glasses
inscribed with toasts are those which bear
the names of ladies, reigning beauties who
were the idols of their day and generation.
Mr. Albert Hartshorne possesses one in-
scribed, "Mrs. Walpole, June 2*jtk 1716,"
which doubtless comes into this class ; and
No. 233 is not impossibly of the same
character, bearing as it does the name
"MRS. A. GOF."

At Levens Hall is preserved a tall glass
of the early years of the eighteenth century
which Mr. Hartshorne described societies
as " inscribed round the rim Hunts, and

LEVENS HIGH CONSTABLE," and C1"bS'

used time out of mind at the Radish Feast to
drink the mysterious " Morocco/* and " Luck
to Levens as long as the Kent flows." This
is a ceremonial glass, and No. 236 would
seem to fall into the same category — a very
handsome piece, elaborately engraved with
the arms, crest, and motto of the Turners'

Q H3

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Company of London. This may have been
so decorated for an enthusiastic Turner, or
it may have been a Master's cup, or even a
loving-cup — in any case, it brings to mind
the quaint toast given at the Company's
Livery Dinner : " The pretty maids, the
merry wives, and the buxom widows of the
Turners' Company." In this connection a
passing allusion may be made to No. 243,
a tumbler of much later date, which bears
the arms of the Bakers' Company.

The cheerful toper who inscribed on a
glass possessed by Mrs. Rees Price, " IVine
does wonders every day" was probably a
sportsman of the old school, who would
have delighted in the mighty goblet now in
the same collection which bears (with a
beautifully engraved vine pattern) a decidedly
adipose figure of Bacchus astride a barrel
with a goblet in each hand, and the trium-
phant declaration, "JovE DECREED THE

GRAPE SHOULD BLEED FOR ME." He might

perhaps have been a member of the " Con-
federate Hunt " (a Welsh club with lady
patronesses, which, at any rate, existed from
1754 to 1758), or possibly a follower of
"THE FRIENDLY HUNT/' whose little glass
is figured as No. 239 ; in any case, he would
114

PLATE LXIM

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING SOCIAL MOTTOES
AND EMBLEMS.

238. Height, 2i inches. ™ £jf }£ « j^; 240. Height, 3 inches

INSCRIBED GLASSES

have found himself at home with the royster-
ing gentlemen who are depicted (engraved
and gilt) on No. 237, with their motto,
" KEEP IT UP," or among the eccentric souls
to whom the quaint symbols on No. 241
had a meaning. To the observer of to-day
the reason for the choice of a cat as the
instrumentalist, and the bagpipe as the
instrument, is far from clear; and the con-
nection of this grotesque with the motto,

" HONOUR AND FRIENDSHIP/' is Still leSS

obvious.

Glasses inscribed to naval heroes have
already been alluded to; now we come to
the cases in which the inscription ship and
refers to the ship, and not par- Naval Glasses.
ticularly to the man. The first of these to
be illustrated is a very notable example
(figured as No. 242), a tumbler on which
are engraved the words, " Succefs to the
BRITANNIA, EDMD ECCLESTON, 1774"; and
this is a piece which is further interesting
as still possessing the original cover. Other
specimens of this same group are reproduced
on Plate LXV, and one which always delights
me is No. 247, inscribed " SUCCESS TO
THE BRITISH FLEET, 1759 " (referring to
Hawke's defeat of the French at Quiberon

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Bay, on November 20 of that year), and
engraved with the quaintest old ships heaving
and tossing on the oddest and curliest of
waves, as well as a figure of Britannia
analogous to that on No. 218. The tall
glass figured as No. 244, which bears the
toast, " Succefs to the Renown" (a name
not unknown in the Navy), also possesses
considerable interest ; but it is when we
come to Nos. 245 and 246 that we are
brought into touch with another phase of
the eighteenth century, a custom long dead
so far as Britain is concerned. The former,
over the gallant ship in full sail with the
long pennon, is inscribed, " Success to the

EAGLE FRIGATE, JOHN KNILL COMMANDER,"

and it is puzzling to learn from the Navy
Papers that during the eighteenth century
no King's ship named the Eagle was under
the command of a John Knill ; but the second
piece, with its toast, " Success to the LYON
Privateer/' gives the clue, and shows that
these very charming examples are relics of the
old days when privateering was a very lucra-
tive speculation. Dampier, on one voyage,
secured booty to the value of nearly ^200,000 ;
and while we know nothing of the Eagle's
record in this respect, we know at least that
116

C/5 £

5; x

« o

W c

S 3

PLATE LXV

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING NAVAL TOASTS
AND DESIGNS.

244. Height, 8 inches.

247. Height, yj inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

she made more than one voyage, for other
glasses exist in which she is toasted without
her commander's name being stated. Bristol
was a great privateering port ; in that city
these glasses were bought and probably
made ; and one is perhaps justified in con-
cluding that they were Bristol vessels which
were thus toasted.

In few cases has the personal note a
quainter and more abiding charm ; in few
instances is the glass more re- Names of
dolent of old times and old habits Owners.
than in one or two of the pieces illustrated on
Plate LXVI. The glass figured as No. 249,
inscribed, " i. PADWICK DEAN," simply records
the ownership of a forgotten worthy; but
Nos. 248 (c. 1740) and 251 (of a later date)
tell us something of his individual tastes ;
for " P : TATE," the possessor (otherwise un-
known to fame) of the former, was clearly
a devotee of the fiddle, a jovial soul to whom
melody and Malmsey were both delights ;
while "TOM SHORTER/' whose counterfeit
presentment is seen on his glass, hunt-
ing the red deer with horse and hounds,
was evidently one of the old Exmoor
sportsmen, immortalized — at least, while this
glass endures — on the frailest of materials.

117

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Sometimes one finds simply the owner's cypher
on a glass, sometimes his crest, sometimes
even more elaborate marks of possession.
No. 250, for instance, bears a quaintly en-
graved coat-of-arms, and the words, " A-Sgr
BECKfoRD," but this Beckford was not the
millionaire collector and romancer of " Vathek"
fame ; and I have a rummer with a cut stem
inscribed " CHARLOTTE HAYWARD BORN MARCH
THE 9, 1774," which (like a tumbler of later
date in my cabinet, with an analogous in-
scription) would seem to have taken the
place of the more familiar " christening
mug."

Let me record a wine glass with a beau-
tiful white spiral stem, on the bowl of which
are engraved the words, " Brief Alderson
to Ann Brooks." It seems a curious
present for one lady to make another, and
I wonder if the friendship were half as
enduring as the glass.

Let me conclude this section with a
description of Nos. 252, 253, and 254, three
Emblem of the most interesting pieces in
Glasses. my cabinet ; glasses of singularly

fine metal, decorated with excellent engraving,
which may possibly date from A.D. 1730.
It will be seen that each bears a motto
118

PLATE LXVI

INSCRIBED GLASSES, BEARING DIVERS NAMES
AND ALLUSIVE DESIGNS.

250. Height, 6* inches.

INSCRIBED GLASSES

associated with an emblem in a panel. To
the representation of bees hovering over
flowers is appended the line, "Hence we
gather our Sweets!' "I elevate what I
confume " relates to a heart tried by fire ;
while the palm-tree growing on a rugged
rock seems to say, "/ rife by difficulties."
Each is what old Quarles called a "moral
emblem," and the sentiment of all is un-
impeachable ; but the man for whom these
glasses were made had the brain of a subtle
humorist under his periwig, for the mottoes
not only refer to the pictured symbols, but
also bear a less obvious relation to the glass,
the wine, and the drinker. The first may be
taken as the wine-lover's allusion to the sweets
to be imbibed from the glass ; the second to
the action of raising the glass in a toast ;
while the third might surely be understood,
without undue straining, as referring to the
condition of the drinker after numerous and
deep libations, and be read, "/ rise with
difficulty!"

My tale is told ; I fear, with many and
great imperfections in the telling, but honestly

119

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

and to the best of my ability. If I have
succeeded in conveying to my
ory* readers some little information
on the subject of a singularly interesting
series of objects, I am content ; if I have
suggested, however incompletely, something
of the charm and fascination that our old
glasses have for the seeing eye and the
sympathetic mind, I am, indeed, more than
satisfied.

All glass is frail and brittle, and much
that was worthy of the most careful preser-
vation has already passed to destruction ;
all the more does it behove all who care for
relics of our ancestor's good taste, their
creeds, their passions, and their personality,
to cherish all that remain, eloquent as they
are of memories of dead days, some proud,
some sad, some foolish, but all intensely
interesting. The man who destroys an old
example destroys a fragment of history, the
miscreant who attempts to forge one wrongs
our forebears as well as ourselves, and the
erring soul who places on a long-descended
glass an inscription of to-day, is only a little
less culpable, even when he writes with as apt
an artificiality as the rhymester who scratched
on an old rummer —
1 20

</>' Js

W o

o .s

O w

I *

< w

Q ^j-
W 5
CQ bJD

e«5

INSCRIBED GLASSES

In this old glass, in other times more debonair and gay

Than our dull decent plodding hours that mock us as they

pass,

Wit lurked and flashed (though often drowned), and soitg
and laughter lay

In this old glass.

What if the men who quaffed from it tJieir golden Hippocras
Are but a mellow memory now, sans rhyme or roundelay ?
Their jovial ghosts are with us still, though o'er them grows
the grass.

These bid us smile : and though the years our temples touch

to grey,
And though ambition's clarion call becomes but sounding

brass,

Old love endures, old wine is ours— pledge me, old friend
to-day,

In this old glass.

121

INDEX

ADAMS, an English glass decorator,

Air-twist stems : ale glasses, 60-
62 ; rummers, 67 ; " tears," or
bubbles, in, 40; wine glasses,
27, 28, 39, 40, 42-46

Ale glasses : air-twist (Nos. 121-
123, 125, 126), Plates xxviii, xxix,
xxx, 60, 61, 62 ; baluster stems
(Nos. 116-11 8), Plate xxvii, 58,
59 ; cut stems (No. 127), Plate
xxx, 62; plain stems (Nos. 119,
120), Plate xxviii, 59, 60; white
twist stems (No. 124), Plate xxix,
61 ; smaller pieces like (Nos. 109,
249), Plates xxv, Ixvi, 55, 62, 118 ;
yard-pf-ale glass (No. 145), Plate
xxxviii, 62, 63, 71 ; bulb at the
base, its supposed object, 63 ;
some modern reproductions, 64 ;
interesting seventeenth-century
ale glass (No. 116), Plate xxvii,
58 ; specimens with folded foot,
59; specimen in the possession
of a Brighton collector, 59 ; fun-
nel-shaped specimen on which
is engraved " Disher's Ale," 61

Allan, Alexander, of Newhall (the
provost), alluded to, 1 1 1

Allan, Major F. W., specimens
belonging to (Nos. 230, 235),
Plates Ix, Ixi, no, 112

Arms : Arundell (?) (No. 191), Plate
xlix, 82, 84 ; Bakers' Company
(No. 243), Plate Ixiv, 114, 116;
Turners' Company (No. 236),
Plate Ixii, 113 ; royal arms (No.
212), Plate Ivi, 104

Athlone, the great gun of, alluded
to, 105

BAKERS' Company, of London,
arms of the (No. 243), Plate Ixiv,
114

Baluster stems : ale glasses, 58,
59 ; goblets, 64, 65 ; " tears," or
bubbles, in,'33 ; wine glasses, 27,

32-35

Bath, city of, alluded to, 6, 15, 61

Beckford, William, of Fonthill,
alluded to, 118

Bell, with trailed decoration (No.
181), Plate xlvi, 79, 80

" Bonnie Prince Charlie." See Ja-
cobites

Borde, Andrew (Merry Andrew),
physician to Henry VIII, alluded
to, 5

Bottles. See Decanters

Boulderson, John, of Falmouth,
glass formerly belonging to (No.
234), Plate Ixi, 112

Bowes, Sir Jerome, an early glass-
maker, alluded to, 23

Bowl (covered), with trailed decora-
tion (No. 182), Plate xlvii, 80

Bowls, varieties and types of, 30,
41 ; classification, 30, 31 ; ex-
pansion of the lip, ib.j ogee
from Bristol houses, 51 ; straight-
sided, i&.j associated with air-
twist stems, ib.

Box, near Bath, the Queen's Head
at, 71

Braintree, an example from, 70

Brighton, alluded to, 59

Bristol, alluded to, 6, 79, 84, 101,
109, 1 17 ; single ogee-bowl largely
made at, 36, 51; coloured twists
made at, 54 ; example of ale
glass purchased at (No. 127),
Plate xxx, 6 1

Britannia, medallion of, on wine
glass (No. 218), Plate Ivii, 56, 106

British Museum, tankard which
belonged to William Cecil, Lord
Burleigh, at, 21 ; illustrations of
specimens at, Plate ii, 22 ; (Nos.
193, 194), Plate 1, 86; (No. 206),
123

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

British Museum — continued.

Plate liv, 101 ; (No. 209), Plate

Iv, 102 ; (No. 213), Plate Ivi, 104 ;

(No. 229), Plate Ix, no; (No.

249), Plate Ixvi, 118
Bromley, Kent, alluded to, 63
Buckingham, Duke of, his furnaces

at Greenwich, alluded to, 23
Burleigh, William Cecil, Lord, his

glass tankard at the British

Museum, 21
Burns, Robert, poem by, engraved

on goblet, 85
Byng, Admiral, commemorated on

a glass, 12

CANDLESTICKS, also a series, 74 ;
(Nos. 165-167), Plate xli, ib.

Carlisle, " Toey " glasses from (Nos.
148, 149), Plate xxxviii, 71

Carlyle, Thomas, quoted, 3

Cater, Mr. J. T., specimens in his
possession (No. 172), Plate xliii,
76 ; (No. 227), Plate Ix, 1 10

Charles II, description of seven-
teenth-century goblet, with por-
trait of, 23 ; alluded to, 8, 103

Charles Edward, Prince. See Ja-
cobites

Cider glasses (Nos. 133, 225, 226),
Plates xxxiv, Ix, 67, 68, no

Classification : typical and indi-
vidual examples, 17 ; method of,
26; bowl types and nomencla-
ture, 30 ; tendency to expansion
of lip, 31 ; feet, three classes of,
28 ; second class without fold
but with pontil-mark, 29 ; third
class, pontil-mark polished away,
29 ; feet either conical or domed,
30 ; domed feet only found in asso-
ciation with baluster and rarely
with air-twist stems, ib.; stems,
five groups of, 27 ; air-twist, ib.;
baluster, #./ cut stem, ib.; plain
stem, ib.; white twist stem, ib.;
types of bowls not confined to
wine glasses, 31 ; vessels without
stems, ib.; flutes, yards, etc., ib.

124

Clubs: Confederate Hunt, 114;
Cycle, 100 ; Jacobite, 101 ;
"Sober Club," in

Coins enclosed in " tears," or bub-
bles, 34

Collecting, the growing taste for,
2 ; possible to those of moderate
means, ib.; beginning of the
author's collection, 5 ; a fascina-
ting pursuit to the thoughtful
and artistic, 10, n ; warning
concerning yard-of-ale glasses,
64 ; forgeries, frauds, and fakes,
1 8, 22, 53, 88-92, 95 ; pitfalls and
problems, 93

Collar, the, 42, 43, 78 ; a prevailing
feature of air-twist stems, 44

Coloured twist stems, 53

Coloured wine glasses, their rarity,
54

Confederate Hunt Club, alluded to,
114

Cosway, Richard, alluded to, 2

Covered cups intended more for
display than use, 80

Crofts, J., 2nd Life Guards, 85

Crutched Friars, Jacob Verzelini's
factory at, 20

Cut stems : ale glasses, 62 ; rum-
mers, 67 ; wine glasses, 27, 28,

«<?5'56

ycle Club," a Jacobite asso-
ciation, ico ; its motto, 102

DAMPIER, CAPTAIN WILLIAM,
alluded to, 116

Decanters (Nos. 170, 172), Plates
xlii, xliii, 75, 76 ; one used at the
coronation of George IV, ib.

Decoration : the eighteenth cen-
tury, although under-rated, noted
for its artistic productions, 4;
the metal and the engraving, 56 ;
probable effects of the Regency
on artistic crafts, 57 ; hop and
barley decoration on ale glasses
(Nos. 1 1 8, 124, 125), Plates xxvii,
xxix, xxx, 58, 59, 61, 62, 82, 84 ;
the conventional rose, 73 ; some

INDEX

D ecoration — continued.
of the patterns, 82 ; methods
(Nos. 184-192), Plate xlix, 82 ;
varieties of engraving, 81 ; gild-
ing and enamelling, 83 ; diamond-
point engraving, 84 ; fluoric acid
etching (Nos. 193, 194), Plate 1,
86 ; Bacchus and his vine, 87,
114; impressed seals, 87

Dickens, Charles, alluded to, 24

"Disher's Ale " inscribed on funnel-
shaped glasses, 6 1

Dram and spirit glasses (Nos. 150-
164), Plates xxxix, xl, 69, 72, 73 ;
a tiny specimen, 66

Drane, Mr., of Cardiff, his advice
to collectors, 7 ; his collection of
spoons, 9

Drawn glasses (Nos. 40-62), Plates
xi-xv, 40-44; (Nos. 146-149),
Plate xxxviii, 71 ; drawn stem
goblets, 66

Drinking glass made in London
by Jacob Verzelini, Plate ii, 20-
22 ; drinking glasses numerous
in the eighteenth century, 25

Drinking habits of the eighteenth
century, 24

Dutch artists and examples, alluded
10,7,51,87,91,94

"EAGLE," the, a supposed priva-
teer, 116

Edward IV, alluded to, 8

Elizabeth, Queen, her glass at
Windsor Castle, 20

Elizabethan early English glasses, 20

Emblems inscribed on glass (Nos.
252, 253, 254), Plate Ixvii, 1 18-120

Engraving, 56 ; varieties of, 81 ;
patterns, 82 ; diamond-point, 84 ;
Greenwood, 87 ; Wickenden, 85

" Evelyn's Diary," yard - glasses
mentioned in, 63

Exmoor, alluded to, 12, 117

FALMOUTH, alluded to, 112
Fashion, change and development,
an interesting study, 8

Feet, three classes of wine glasses,
28, 29 ; conical or domed, 30 ;
their character on forgeries, 88,
89 ; engraved upon underneath,
83, loo ; folded feet on ale glasses,
59 ; in pieces with trailed de-
coration, 80 ; on goblets, 66 ; on
wine glasses, 28, 35, 36-38, 51, 52

Fluoric acid, decoration by means
of, 86

Foreign work compared with Eng-
lish eighteenth-century glass, i ;
not easily distinguished from
English productions, 94

Forgeries, frauds, and fakes, 18, 22 ;
pontil-mark sometimes removed,
53 ; feet and their characteris-
tics, 88, 89 ; (Nos. 195-198), Plate
li, 89 ; stems and spirals, 90 ; a
so-called " Williamite " glass, 91 ;
importance of noting colour of
the metal, 92 ; pitfalls and pro-
blems, 93 ; summary, 95

Foster, Felix, an early decorator of
glass, 85

Franklin, Benjamin, his glass al-
luded to, 72

Frederick the Great, alluded to, 109

French defeat at Rossbach, alluded
to, 109 ; inscribed' glass com-
memorating defeat by Admiral
Hawkes (No. 247), Plate Ixv,
115, 116, 117

Frome, alluded to, 13

GEORGE I, KING, alluded to, 104
George III, King, decorated glass
said to have belonged to (No.
185), Plate xlix, 82, 86
George IV, King, decanter used
at his coronation (No. 172), Plate
xliii, 76 ; glass recording his
coronation (No. 216), Plate Ivii,
106

Germany, fluoric acid etching pro-
bably originated in, 86
Gilding and enamelling, 83
Giles of York, an early decorator
of glass, 85

125

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Glasgow, alluded to, 15 ; rummer
probably made in (No. 140),
Plate xxxvi, 69 ; its clubs, 1 1 1

Goblets : seventeenth-century speci-
men with portraits of Charles II
and his queen described, 23 ;
stunted specimens from the Low
Countries,3o; rare short-stemmed
specimens, 62 ; with baluster
stem (Nos. 128, 129), Plates
xxxi, xxxii, 64, 65 ; of heroic
size, ib.; drawn stem (No. 130),
Plate xxxiii, 66 ; the folded foot
on goblets, 66 ; glass of a bibu-
lous patient, 66; specimen with
poem by Burns engraved thereon,

Greene, John, glass-seller of Lon-
don, alluded to, 23

Greenwich, the Duke of Bucking-
ham's furnace at, alluded to, 23

Greenwood, an English decorator
of glass (No. 193), Plate 1, 87

Guelphs, the, alluded to, 106

HANOVERIAN National Anthem,
second verse of, 99 ; Hanoverian
glasses, 104

Hartshorne, Mr. Albert, F.S.A.,
his monograph on the subject,
9, 10 ; his method of classifica-
tion, 26, 27 (note) ; quoted, 48 ;
alluded to, 20, 21, 30, 49, 50, 54,
72,77,87,99> 104, 113

Hawke, Admiral, his victory at
Quiberon the subject of an in-
scription (No. 247), Plate Ixv,
115, 117

Henry VIII, King, alluded to, 5

Holland, alluded to, i, 36, 50, 51, 54,
86, 94 ; stunted goblets from, 30 ;
glass-house referred to, 91

Hop and barley decoration, 58, 59,
61, 62, 82, 84

Houghton's "Letters for the Im-
provement of Trade and Hus-
bandry," referred to, 25

Hume, Mr. Joseph, M.P., "Joeys"
named after, 71

126

IMPRESSED seals, 87

Incised twist stems, wine glasses,
37,38

Inscribed and historic glasses, 96 ;
glasses bearing Jacobite mottoes
and emblems (Nos. 200-214),
Plates lii, 97, 98; liii. 100 ; liv,
101 ; Iv, 102 ; Ivi, 104 ; Jacobite
emblems and traditions long
cherished, 98 ; most Jacobite
glasses memorials of the " forty-
five," 99; Hanoverian National
Anthem, 99 ; rose decoration
(Nos. 201, 202), Plate Ixii, 100;
Jacobite clubs, 100 ; few speci-
mens of Jacobite emblems im-
mediately contemporary, 101 ;
portrait glasses (Nos. 203, 206,
209), Plates liii, liv, Iv, 100-
102 ; Hanoverian glasses, 104 ;
the Orangeman's Toast, 104 ;
" Williamite " glass, 105; Orange
glasses, 105 ; bearing loyal and
patriotic mottoes and emblems
(Nos. 215-218), Plate Ivii, 106;
Tinker and King glass, 107 ;
heroes, naval and military, com-
memorated (Nos. 219-224), Plates
Iviii, lix, 107-109 ; a cryptic
inscription, 109; rummer com-
memorating the anti - slavery
crusade (No. 224), Plate lix,
109 ; " The revolution of Lowth "
(No. 228), Plate Ix, no; arms
of the Turners' Company (No.
236), Plate Ixii, 113, 114; arms
of the Bakers' Company (No.
243), Plate Ixiv, 114; political,
naval, and social mottoes, etc.,
toasts and emblems (Nos. 225-
243), Plates Ix, no; Ixi, 112;
Ixiii, 114; Ixiv, 115, 1 16; bearing
naval toasts and designs (Nos.
244-247), Plate Ixv, 117; bear-
ing divers names and allusive
designs (Nos. 248-251), Plate Ixvi,
118; bearing pictorial emblems
and mottoes (Nos. 252-254),
Plate Ixvii, 120

INDEX

Inscriptions,mottoes,etc.,on glasses,
12,21,87,89,93,99-119

JACOBITES, alluded to, n; speci-
men of glass in Mr. Singer's
collection, 82; their relics, 97;
emblems and traditions, long
cherished, 98 ; memorials of the
" forty-five," 99 ; clubs, 100 ; em-
blems and portraits, 101, 102 ;
James Francis Edward, the " Old
Pretender," 99, 102, 104 ; Charles
Edward, "Bonnie Prince Char-
lie "—the "Young Pretender,"
loo, 102, 104; glasses inscribed
with mottoes and emblems (Nos.
200-214), Plates Hi, 98 ; liii, 100 ;
liv, 101 ; Iv, 102 ; Ivi, 103, 104

James II, King, alluded to, 104;
his health drunk in a yard-glass,

" Joey " glasses, or friends to tem-
perance (No. 147), Plate xxxviii,
70,71

KEPPEL, ADMIRAL, portrait and

inscription (No. 220), Plate Iviii,

108
King and craft toast, alluded to,

112
Knill, John, commander of the

Eagle frigate, alluded to, 1 16

LAMERIE, PAUL, alluded to, 2
Lane, Mr. John, alluded to, 71
Levens Hall, eighteenth - century

tall glass preserved at, 113
Liqueur glasses, 70 (Nos. 42, 74,

131), Plates xi, 40; xviii, 46;

xxxiii, 66
Lorraine, " gentlemen glassmakers "

from, alluded to, 22
i Louth, a recorded revolution at

(No. 228), Plate Ix, no, in
Low Countries. See Holland
" Luck to Levens," the toast alluded

to, 113
Lynn, glass-house at, alluded to,

MACDONALD, ADMIRAL ROBERT-
SON, glasses once in his posses-
sion engraved under the foot, 83

Mansel, Sir Robert, an early glass-
maker, alluded to, 23

Masonic and convivial inscriptions
on glasses (Nos. 225-235, 237-
243), Plates Ix, no; Ixi, 112;
Ixiii, 114; Ixiv, 116

Mercury, the figure of, inscribed
on Scottish specimen (No. 232),
Plate Ixi, 112

Merry Andrew. See Borde

Metal, 33, 39, 56; of forgeries, 91 ;
colour of, 92

Mixed twist stems, wine glasses, 45,
47

" Morocco," strong ale used at the
annual Radish Feast at Levens
Hall, 113

Mugs, tankards, and tumblers (Nos.
136, 138, 140, 142-144, 220, 221,
243), Plates xxxv, 68 ; xxxvi, 69 ;
xxxvii, 70; Iviii, 108; Ixiv, 116;
tankard which belonged to Wil-
liam Cecil, Lord Burleigh, at the
British Museum, 21

NATIONAL heroes, naval and
military, recorded on glasses
(Nos. 219-224), Plates Iviii, 107,
108 ; lix, 109

Navy and ships, inscriptions re-
lating to (Nos. 242, 244-247),
Plates Ixiv, 116 ; Ixv, 117

Nelson, Lord, inscriptions relating
to (No. 219), Plate Iviii, 107, 108

Newhall, in

Normandy, " gentlemen glass-
makers " from, alluded to, 22

Norwich glass-house, a type of
bowl supposed to have been made
at (No. 91), Plate xxii, 51, 52

"OLD English Glasses," by Mr.
Albert Hartshorne, alluded to, 10

"Old Pretender," the. See Jaco-
bites

127

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

"Orange" glasses and "Orange"
toasts, 104, 105

PENNSYLVANIA, the Historical
Society of, Benjamin Franklin's
glass alluded to, 72

Perry, Dr., inscribed glass belong-
ing to (No. 200), Plate lii, 98,

99
Pevensey, old haunted house at,

alluded to, 5
Photographing specimens, method

of, 1 8, 19
Plain stems : ale glasses, 59, 60 ;

rummers, 67 ; "tears," or bubbles,

in, 35 j wine glasses, 27, 34, 36-

Political and Parliamentary in-
scriptions on glasses (Nos. 225-
230), Plate Ix, no

Pontil-mark on forgeries, 53 ; on
trailed decoration pieces, 80 ;
alluded to, 29, 40, 46, 53, 56, 88,
89,92

Porringer, two-handled, with trailed
decoration (No. 183), Plate xlviii,
79, 81

Portraits engraved on glasses (Nos.
203, 206, 209), Plates liii, 100;
liv, 10 1 ; Iv, 102

Price, Mr. Rees, 15

Price, Mrs. Rees, her collection re-
ferred to, 15-17, 24, 53, 75, 84,
85, 89, 93, 1 06 ; specimens from
her collection, Plates iv,33 ; v, 34 ;
vi, 35 ; vii, 36 ; viii, 37 ; ix, 38 ;
x, 39 ; xi, 40 ; xii, 41 ; xiii, 42 ;
xv, 44 ; xvi, 44 ; xvii, 45 ; xviii,
46 ; xix, 47 ; xx, 48 ; xxi, 50 ;
xxii, 51; xxiii, 52; xxiv, 54;
xxvi, 56 ; xxvii, 58 ; xxix, 61 ;
xxx, 62 ; xxxiv, 67 ; xxxv, 68 ;
xxxvi, 69 ; xxxvii, 70 ; xxxviii,
71 ; xxxix, 72 ; xli, 74; xlv, 78 ;
xlvi, 79 ; xlvii, 80 ; xlix, 82 ; liii,
loo ; Iv, 102 ; Ivi, 104 ; Iviii, 108 ;
lix, 109 ; Ix, no ; Ixiii, 114 ; Ixiv,
116

128

QUARLES, FRANCIS, alluded to,

119
Queen's Head at Bath, alluded to,

7i
Quiberon Bay, Hawkes' defeat of

the French at, commemorated,

"RADISH FEAST," the Leven,

alluded to, 113
Rogers, Mrs., goblet presented to,

85
Rossbach, the battle of, alluded to,

109

" Royal Oak " glass, alluded to, 23
Rummers, the four types of stem,
67 ; plain stem (No. 132), Plate
xxxiv, 67 ; air-twist stem (No.
133), ib.s white twist stem (No.
134), ib.; cut stem (No. 135), #./
example commemorating the
anti-slavery crusade (No. 224),
Plate lix, 109

SEVENTEENTH century, English
glass of the, 22

Singer, Mr. J. W., his experiences
of collecting, 12, 13 ; allusion to
pieces in his collection, 37, 54,
68, 72, 77, 82, 83, 108

Slave trade, a memorial of the, 109

Societies, hunts, and clubs, inscrip-
tions relating to, 113

Somerset, the slave, a notable judg-
ment relating to, commemorated
on an inscribed glass, 109

Spanish example, alluded to, 7

Spoon, the development of the, 8 ;
Mr. Drane's collection of spoons
alluded to, 9

Spirit glasses. See Dram and
Spirit glasses

Stems : ale glasses, 59-62 ; coloured
twist, 54 ; goblets, 62 ; rummers,
67 ; wine-glasses, 27 ; stems and
spirals on forgeries, 90 ; the five
groups of, 27 ; Plate i (Frontis-
piece}

INDEX

Sweetmeat glasses (Nos. 173-180),
Plates xliii, 76 ; xliv, 77 ; xlv, 78 ;
xlvi, 79

TANKARDS. See Mugs

"Tears," or bubbles, in baluster
stems, Plates iii-vi, 32-36 ; in
plain stems (No. 23), Plate vii,
35, 36 ; in air-twist stems (Nos.
42, 60, 85), Plates xi, xv, xx, 40,
44,48

"Tinker and King" glass, a test of
loyalty, 107

Tipping, Mr. Thomas, glass sup-
posed to commemorate his elec-
tion for Louth, no

Toasts and sentiments inscribed on
glasses (Nos. 237-240, 244-254),
Plates Ixiii, 112, 114; Ixv, 117;
Ixvi, 118 ; Ixvii, 120

Toddy fillers (Nos. 168, 169), Plate
xlii, 75, 76

Trailed decoration pieces with, bell
(No. 181), Plate xlvi, 79, 80;
bowl (No. 182), Plate xlvii, 80 ;
porringer (No. 183), Plate xlviii,
81

Travellers' glasses associated with
the old coaching days (Nos. 146-
164), Plates xxxviii, 71 ; xxxix,
72 ; 3d, 73

Turners' Company of London, in-
scribed glass bearing the arms
and motto of (No. 236), Plate
Ixii, 113, 114

Twist and stem, varieties of, 42

Two-handled cup (No. 136), Plate
xxxv, 68

" VATHEK," alluded to, 118
Venetian glass, alluded to, i, 7, 23
Venice, productions of English de-
sign made at, 23

Verzelini, Jacob, a Venetian worker
in glass, 20, 21 ; drinking glass
made by, Plate ii, 22 ; destruction
of a splendid example of his work,
ib.

WELLINGTON, DUKE OF, inscribed
glass relating to (No. 222), Plate
lix, 1 08

" Wemmick," his method sugges-
tive of the habits of the early
users of glasses, 24

White twist stems : ale glasses,
6 1 ; rummers, 67 ; wine glasses,
27, 48-52

Wickenden, J., engraver on glass,
alluded to, 85

"Wilkes and Liberty," alluded to,
ii ; inscription on glass (No. 227),
Plate Ix, no; Wilkes and the
" North Briton," ib.

W'lliam III, King, alluded to, 105

William IV, King, alluded to, 8

" Williamite " glass (No. 213), Plate
Ivi, 104, 105 ; a forgery detected,

Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's
glass by Verzelini at, 20

Wine glasses : air-twist, drawn
(Nos. 40-57), Plates xi, xii, xiii,
xiv, 40-43 ; Plate i (Frontispiece),
27, 28 ; in some respects the most
beautiful of English pieces, 39 ;
fall into two groups, 39 ; method
of manufacture, 40 ; their great
popularity, ib. j air-twist, not
drawn (Nos. 63-78), Plates xvi,
42, 44 ; xvii, 45 ; xviii, 46 ; xix,
47 ; persistency of type possibly
due to conservatism of workmen,
43 ; a puzzling specimen (No. 65),
Plate xvi, 43 ; the " collar " a
prevalent feature of (Nos. 68, 69),
Plate xvii, 44, 45; (Nos. 174,
236), Plates xliv, 77; Ixii, 113;
varieties of stem and bowl, 44 ;
ornamentation of bowl, 45 ; feet
with pontil-marks, 46 ; air-twist,
with domed feet (Nos. 58-62),
Plate xv, 44 ; baluster stem (Nos.
6-16), Plates i (Frontispiece} ; iii,
27, 32 ; iv, 33 ; v, 34 ; coins en-
closed in, 34 ; tendency to orna-
ment in this type, ib.j bubbles,
or " tears," 33 ; bowls, ogee and

129

ENGLISH TABLE GLASS

Wine glasses — continued.
straight-sided, 51 ; associated
with air-twist stems, ib. ; of other
shape, 53 ; coloured twist stems
(Nps. 101-105), Plate xxiv, 54;
rarity of coloured glasses, ib.;
cut stem (Nos. 106-115), Plates
xxv, xxvi, 27, 28, 55, 56 ; cutting
previously employed, probably
on larger objects, 55 ; folded feet,
incised twist stems with, probably
produced at one early factory, 37,
38 ; shown in examples presum-
ably from Norwich, 52 ; folded
feet (Nos. 6-12), Plates iii, 32 ;
iv, 33 ; (Nos. 22-30), Plates vii,
36 ; viii, 37 ; (Nos. 58, 91), Plates
xv, 44; xxii, 51; incised twist
stems, 37 ; method of manufac-
ture, 38 ; (Nos. 36-39), Plate x,
39 ; mixed twists, intermediate
links between air twist and spiral,
45 ; mixed twist not drawn (Nos.

Wine glasses — continued.
79-81), Plate xix, 47 ; plain stems,
34; generally accompanied by
folded feet, 35 ; (Nos. 22-31),
Plates vii, viii, 36, 37 ; Plate i
{Frontispiece); plain, with domed
feet (Nos. 32-35), Plate ix, 38 ;
white twists, how manufactured,
48, 49; method of production
analogous to air-twist stems, 49 ;
attributed to Dutch makers, 50 ;
possibly common to both coun-
tries, 51 ; (Nos. 82-100), Plates
xx, 48 ; xxi, 50 ; xxii, 51 ; xxiii, 52

YARD -OF -ALE glass. See Ale

glasses
" Young Pretender." See Jacobites

ZOUCHE, SIR EDWARD, alluded to,

23
Zuyder Zee, the, alluded to, 67

THE END

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWBS AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.

i BINDING SECT. APR 3

Bate, Percy H
|U3 English table glass

MOV '^ 2 1993

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