Engraved Footed Tumbler Nautical Interest c1850

Description

Heading : An engraved Victorian beaker
Date : 1820-1880
Period : Victorian
Origin : England
Colour : Clear 
Bowl : An engraved snow rigged brig ‘Jane Whitfield’. Aan engraved floral and acanthus leaf band
Pontil : Ground and polished
Glass Type : Lead
Size : 11cm tall. 10cm bowl and 8cm foot
Condition : Excellent. no chips or cracks
Restoration : None
Weight : 366grams

This is a footed tumbler in the strictest sense although nowadays Tumbler and Beaker are synonymous. A tumbler has a convex base and would tumble over…without the foot. The walls are far too thin to be a tea mixing bowl and there are no internal scratches as would be the case had it been used for this purpose.

This form has been produced since the first or second century as a drinking vessel.

We were unable to locate anything within the Lloyds register for Jane Whitfield. Many thanks to ex RN Cpt Williams for his invaluable contribution. This is a snow-rigged brig. They were built in large numbers in the 18th and early 19th century for naval purposes and continued to me made into the early 1880s as commercial vessels. Their advantages over coastal trade routes were denuded as both paddle driven steam and propellor driven steam engines reduced transit times.

The absence from the Lloyds register may be explained if the ship had been made for export. From the twenty or more shipyards based on the wear alone in 1880 it is estimated that up to sixty percent of all ships built were export orders. The demise of British ship building is a tragedy on a par with that of mining. car and motorcycle manufacture and the glass and ceramics industries.