English Toasting Glass c1760

Description

Heading : Georgian toasting glass
Date : c1760
Origin : England
Colour : Clear
Bowl : Lipped pointed funnel
Stem : Plain
Foot : Conical
Pontil : Snapped
Glass Type : Lead
Size :   Approx 15.5cm tall with a bowl of 7cm and a foot of 7cm
Condition : Excellent
Restoration : None
Weight : 136 grams

Additional Information : Most authors state that toasting glasses were made for one time use. such that. having toasted the well being of some fair lady. or the health of the king then the stems of the glasses would be snapped or the glasses smashed to prevent the value of the toast being denuded.

Despite the seemingly repetitive confirmation by various authors. an effect compounded by plagiarism.  Sydney Compton. Joseph Bles and others are all in accord with one another.

The primary sources of information confirm the following . Such was the cost of glass that toasting glasses were offered for “a toast to their majesties” and then removed for subsequent use within gentlemens clubs (Laurence Sterne – clergyman and novelist 1713-1768). The reality is so much less romantic and less dashing.

References :

Eighteenth Century English Drinking Glasses an Illustrated Guide. By L.M Bickerton – Page 136 Plate 332.

Old English Drinking Glasses Their Chronology and Sequence By Grant R. Francis F.S.A – Plate 179.

The Arthur Negus Guide To British Glass By John Brooks– Page 34 Plate 16.

Glass By E. Barrington Haynes – Plate 50e.