A Rare 18th Century Deceptive Ale Glass c1790

Description

Heading : 18th Century Deceptive Ale Glass
Date : c1790
Period : George III
Origin : England
Colour : Clear
Bowl : Conical and deceptive
Stem : Capstan with a shoulder blade knop
Foot : Conical – substantial. but not quite to the point of being a genuine firing appendage
Pontil : Snapped
Glass Type : Lead
Size : 12.2cm tall – 5.0 cm diameter bowl – 5.6 cm diameter foot
Condition : Excellent. an inclusion – small piece of clinker – towards the base of the bowl. and a small calcified deposit at the very bottom; 3mm flaked chip to the underside edge of the collar knop; mossing to the base as absolutely to be expected with a glass of this nature
Restoration : None
Weight : 175 g

References : Dwarf Ale Glasses And Their Victorian Successors (Stephen Parry – 1978) page 5

Historical Irrelevance:  It may seem rather curious for there to be such a thing as a deceptive ale glass. bearing in mind that the purpose of such vessels was to enable the toastmaster at a function to join in with every round of salutational libations whilst ingesting less alcohol than those following his lead – and ale was. generally. not considered to be used for formal toasts. It is. however. often thought to have been integral to the very start of the fabled practice. in that spiced and toasted bread – dipped in ale – would be consumed in lieu of physically taking a draught. or to flavour the beverage of choice. Over time. the name of the constituent part became synonymous with the procedure itself. and remained in place long after the consumption of bread ceased to play any part in the ritual.

Only the third example we have offered for sale