Georgian Masonic Wine Glass Engraved With Beehive c1745

Description

Heading : Georgian Masonic wine glass with engraved beehive
Date : c1750
Period : George II
Origin : England
Colour : Clear
Bowl : Bell with tear drop in base of bowl. Engraved beehive and bees.
Stem : Plan stem with long thin tear drop in lower third of bowl
Foot : Folded conical foot
Pontil : Snapped
Glass Type : Lead
Size :16 cm tall.  6.5 cm bowl and 8 cm foot
Condition : Excellent. no chips or cracks
Restoration : None
Weight : 140 grams

Beehives to appear on some Jacobite wine glasses but not in isolation. This to be a masonic symbol.

Bees themselves have been used with masonry as symbol of industry and cooperation and a reminder against the evils of sloth since the 18th century. An old collective noun for freemasons is a “hive”.The number of bees . 3 in one cluster. five and seven in the other two is “perfect”.