Floral Engraved Opaque Twist Stem Wine Glass c1760

Description

Heading : Floral Engraved Opaque Twist Stem Wine Glass
Period : George III
Origin : England
Colour : Clear, grey tone
Bowl : Round funnel engraved with two carnation flower heads and leaves opposite a birrd in flight
Stem :A multiply corkscrew with a pair of spiral threads
Foot : Conical
Pontil :Snapped
Glass Type : Lead
Size : Height 13.9cm, bowl 5.2. foot 6.6
Condition :  Restored
Restoration : The foot rim has been polished
Weight: 120g

The Intire Glass Shop advertised Flower’d glasses on their trade card as early as 1742. With floral designs featuring prominently in decorators books of the period it seems entirely natural that an engraver would choose to use a theme from the natural world to adorn glassware. just as painters did for porcelain. This is a far more plausible reason for the engraving than hidden support for a lost cause, just much less romantic and far less commercial.

It has also been suggested that this is one element within an acrostic set. Specifically a set of wine glasses each engraved with a different flower the first letter of which when combined have some Jacobite relevance. CRLSTRT being a well known example. This may also be a possibility.