Balustroid Stems

Georgian Glass: The balustroid stem wine glass

Two piece drawn trumpet plain stem wine glasses with folded feet were made before and after the glass tax. Commercial considerations alone never totally overcame aesthetic ones with Georgian drinking glasses despite 19th century commercial pressures and despite the government!

The knops on balustroid glasses are smaller than antique Georgian balusters and they did start to disappear almost altogether with the vogue for plain stems and later “twists”. But if speed of production and simplicity were the sole commercial drivers how can anyone explain the Newcastle light balusters whose production spanned the introduction of the glass tax and whose complexity in both multiple knopped stems and engraving is unsurpassed. 

I also do not entirely subscribe to the view that the smaller more elongated 18th century balustroid glasses were a result of increased demand and were correspondingly speedier to produce. We have placed balustroid glasses into the safe hands of collectors with multiple complex knops above and below a plain stem, time consuming pieces to produce.

Following the introduction of the glass tax products were taxed according to their weight. The assertion that balustroids developed as a result is a fallacy. Some balustroid glasses pre-date the introduction of the glass tax by twenty years and possibly more. Pure hollow stem glasses, not just extended tears and the engraved “No Excise “Georgian wine glasses can be attributed to the Glass tax more readily and obviously.

You may read elsewhere that the stimulus to develop the balustroid was the glass tax introduced in 1746 by Henry Pelham’s Whig government. This is completely unrelated to the earlier “window tax” of 1696 which purely by coincidence is the year that Sir George Barclay’s Jacobite assassination attempt was made on the life of the usurper William 111 in Kew. No Stuart King would have taxed “light” and definitely not drinking. I digress.

Georgian balustroid stem wine glasses are the stylised 18th century descendants of the baluster glasses, but with more elongated and some would say elegant forms. They are made from lead glass but a lighter construction and have a wider diversity of bowl shapes than balusters. To my eye they are amongst the most beautifully balanced drinking glasses ever made with a simple understated elegance.

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Kit-Cat Georgian Wine Glass c1740

Kit-Cat Georgian Wine Glass c1740

A very fine Kit-Cat type Georgian wine glass from c1745 in excellent condition. For more antique glassware, including a wide range of Georgian drinking glasses, please visit Scottish Antiques online store.

£575.00

Rare Form 18th Century Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Rare Form 18th Century Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Rare Form 18th Century Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£450.00

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass  c1740

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

An engraved antique balustroid wine glass. A glass from the reign of George II, the last British monarch to personally lead troops into battle at the Battle of Dettingen on the 27th of June 1743 during the war of the Austrian Succession.

£200.00

Engraved Balustroid Stem Georgian Wine Glass c1740

Engraved Balustroid Stem Georgian Wine Glass c1740

A very fine Balustroid stem Georgian wine glass from c1740 in excellent condition. For more antique glassware, including a wide range of Georgian drinking glasses, please visit Scottish Antiques online store.

£235.00

Balustroid Stem Georgian Wine Glass c1740

Balustroid Stem Georgian Wine Glass c1740

A very fine Balustroid stem Georgian wine glass from c1740 in excellent condition. For more antique glassware, including a wide range of Georgian drinking glasses, please visit Scottish Antiques online store.

£245.00

A Double Knop Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

A Double Knop Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

A Double Knop Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£240.00

Georgian Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

Georgian Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

Georgian balustroid stem wine glass from c1740 in excellent condition. For more antique glassware, including a wide range of Georgian drinking glasses, please visit Scottish Antiques online store.

£265.00

Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

£160.00

Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

Balustroid Stem Wine Glass c1740

A very fine balustroid stem wine glass from c1740 in excellent condition. For more antique glassware, including a wide range of Georgian wine glasses, please visit Scottish Antiques online store.

£170.00

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£795.00

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Engraved Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£775.00

Tall Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1750

Tall Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1750

Tall Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1750

£270.00

A Tall and Fine Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

A Tall and Fine Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

A Tall and Fine Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£260.00

Tall Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1745

Tall Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1745

Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1745

£135.00

An 18th Century Baalustroid Wine Glass

An 18th Century Baalustroid Wine Glass

An 18th Century Baalustroid Wine Glass

£225.00

A Bell Bowl Balustroid Wine Glass c1745

A Bell Bowl Balustroid Wine Glass c1745

A Bell Bowl Balustroid Wine Glass c1745

£190.00

Georgian Triple Knopped  Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Georgian Triple Knopped Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

Georgian Triple Knopped Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£270.00

A Georgian Balustroid  Wine Glass c1740

A Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

A Georgian Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£140.00

18th Century Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

18th Century Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

18th Century Balustroid Wine Glass c1740

£220.00

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