Description
Heading : Plain stem wine glass
Period : George II – c1745
Origin : England
Colour : Clear . good dark hue
Bowl : Bell with solid basal section
Stem : Thick plain stem
Foot : Folded conical
Pontil : Snapped
Glass Type : Lead
Size : 15.4 cm height. 5.8cm diameter bowl. 7.3cm diameter folded foot
Condition : No chips or cracks . There is a narrow burst air bubble inside the bowl as shown
Restoration : None
Weight: 196 grams
The thick plain stem would have most claiming dubious Irish provenance c1750.
It is no coincidence that the major Irish glass industries grew up for the most part around ports. Alice Murray states that no glass was exported from Ireland before 1782. there are no records of export and furthermore production capabilities were naive. Thus. there are seemingly highly disproportionate quantities of glass attributed to Ireland and purportedly made prior to 1770 and the advent of the Tyrone and Belfast glassworks founded by Benjamin Edwards in the early 1770s and 1775 respectively.
Free trade agreements stimulated considerable investment in the industry and the Penrose family grasped the opportunities presented and opened a factory at Waterford in 1783.
When drinking glasses were finally exported from Ireland the vast majority went to the Americas. not Europe. On balance this may be Irish but common-sense dictates that this is highly improbable. The safe attribution is a pre-glass tax English example despite Irish attribution commanding higher prices.
Be wary of Irish glass this is fertile ground for those proven to be mendacious. From Mrs Graydon Stannus whose own seminal work on the subject of Irish Glass included images of forgeries made by her own hand. to the present. day the myth is still being perpetuated for commercial gain.
Reference: History of Commercial and Financial Relations Between England and Ireland. Alice Murray p278
Common Sense 101.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.