Dutch Engraved Armorial Light Baluster Goblet c1755

Description

Heading : A Dutch Engraved Light Baluster Goblet
Period : c.1755
Origin : The generally received wisdom is that the glass was made in England and engraved in Amsterdam
Colour : Clear
Bowl : Round funnel engraved with the coat of arms of Amsterdam. Two lions supporting a shield with a crown as the crest. The pedestal on which the lions stand is supported by rococo scrolls and tassels;
Stem : An angular knop above a small flattened ball with air tear. example. An inverted baluster knop with two rows of air beads and ball cushion knop
Foot : High conical
Pontil : Snapped
Glass Type : Lead (see notes below)
Size :  Height 19.0 cm. bowl 8.7 cm diameter and foot 9.0 cm diameter
Condition : Excellent
Restoration : None
Weight: 225 grams

Notes : The coat of arms was not augmented with the city’s motto – Heldhaftig. Vastberaden. Barmhartig – (“Valiant. Steadfast. Compassionate”) until 1947. when it was added at the behest of Queen Wilhelmina in order to commemorate the role of the citizens of Amsterdam during the war. The crown is the Imperial Crown of the Austrian Empire which has somewhat longer provenance. its use having been granted – in the first instance – by Emperor Maximilian I in 1489; this was to recognise the financial support given to Maximilian’s cause during the protracted Hook & Cod Wars from 1350 to 1490. The derivation of the three crosses in the centre of the arms has never been definitively established. but they are believed to hark back to Jan Persijn. a 13th century knight who controlled the region in which Amsterdam was to develop.

Lead glass was being produced in Holland and Wallonia by the mid 18th century and in Norway within another decade. Quite why the enterprising merchants of the Provinces of The Netherlands would not prefer more locally sourced glassware for their artisans to engrave than that imported from England fails the common sense test.

It is also worth noting that Dutch engraved light balusters have a propensity to be made from brighter glass than the equivalents being produced in England during the same period.