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decanters & drinking-glasses (dating notes)

The information below has been distilled from a variety of sources, most notably from "Miller's antique checklist - Glass" by Mark West, and "Eighteenth Century English drinking-glasses (an illustrated guide)" by L M Bickerton (full publication details of which you will find in the "books" section of "glass notes"), both of which books we recommend if this is a field in which you are thinking of starting a collection

decanters
  • general shapes
  • neck-ring types
  • stopper types, 1760 - 1850
  •     drinking-glasses
  • bowl shapes
  • 18th C bowl shapes (table)
  • 18th C bowl decoration (table)
  • stem types
  • 18th C stem types (table)
  • knop types
  • 18th C foot types
  • foot features (table)
  • miscellaneous (table)
  • decanters

    shapes:

    N.B. Several of the shapes below have been reproduced in later periods. During the 1920s and 1930s, there was a big revival in interest in Georgian and Regency styles, and the kuttrolf or cluck-cluck was produced for many years after the second World War by Holmegaard. For this reason, shape alone should not be the sole criterion when attempting to date a decanter. The colour and clarity of the metal, skill of execution, wear-marks etc., must also be taken into account

    Silver collars on decanters should generally be regarded with suspicion, as they are often added later to cover damage to the neck


    cruciform
    1725 - 1750

    shouldered
    1760 - 1770

    bell-shaped
    c 1770

    another
    bell-shape
    c 1770

    tapered
    c 1780

    club
    c 1780

    ovoid
    c 1780

    Prussian
    1790 - 1830

    bell
    c 1810

    ship's decanter
    (with neck-rings)
    c 1820

    William IV decanter
    c 1835

    fancy (royal)
    1830 - 1850

    onion or
    shaft-&-globe
    c 1850 onward

    coloured bottle
    decanter
    c 1870

    Arts & Crafts
    decanter
    c 1870

    kuttrolf
    or
    cluck-cluck
    1880 - 1910

    square
    (for use in a Tantalus)

    ship's decanter

    neck-rings:


    plain

    triangular

    triple

    milled

    cut

    square

    stoppers, 1760 - 1850:


    spire
    1760 - 1780

    lozenge
    1760 - 1820

    faceted lozenge
    1760 - 1820

    target or
    bull's-eye
    1780 - 1820

    another
    target or
    bull's-eye
    1780 - 1820

    flat roundel
    1780 - 1820

    mushroom
    1790 - 1840

    another type
    of mushroom
    1790 - 1840

    faceted
    1830 - 1850

    drinking-glasses

    bowl shapes:


    funnel or
    conical

    bell

    thistle

    pointed round
    funnel

    ogee

    bucket

    trumpet

    round funnel

    cup

    double ogee

    hexagonal

    Lynn or
    stepped

    pan-top

    ovoid

    waisted bucket

    18th Century bowl shapes:

    ShapePeriod
    Funnel or conical1685 - 1710
    (some examples to end 1700s)
    Bell1685 - 1760
    Ovoid1760 onward
    Rounded1830 onward

    18th Century bowl decoration:

    FeaturePeriod
    Wrythen moulding1685 - 1800
    (brief revival c 1820)
    Copper-wheel engraving1725 onward
    (more sophisticated by late 1700s)
    Enamelling1760 onward
    Facet-cutting1760 onward

    stem types:


    plain

    teardrop

    knopped

    twist

    inverted
    baluster

    true
    baluster

    bobbin

    silesian

    faceted

    incised
    twist

    18th Century stems:

    TypePeriod
    Venetian influence1650 - 1700
    Heavy balusters1685 - 1710
    Light balusters1710 - 1735
    Balustroids1725 - 1760
    Plain & hollow1730 - 1775
    Moulded pedestal (Silesian)1715 - 1765
    Incised twist1745 - 1765
    Air twist1745 - 1770
    Composite1745 - 1775
    Opaque twist1755 - 1780
    Mixed & colour twist1755 - 1775
    Faceted1760 - 1810

    knops:


    flattened

    ball

    annular

    annulated

    angular

    mushroom

    acorn

    cylinder

    drop

    cushioned

    egg

    bladed

    18th Century foot types:


    conical

    conical
    folded

    domed
    folded

    terraced

    flanged

    firing

    foot features:

    FeaturePeriod
    Folded foot1685 - 1750
    (brief revival c 1820)
    Ground pontil
    (on faceted stem wines)
    1775 - 1810
    Ground pontil
    (on other glasses)
    1800 - c 1860
    Square footearly 1800s
    Gadget markc 1860 onward
    Gadget mark disappearsc 1900

    N.B. The presence or absence of a pontil (ground or not) is not enough evidence in itself to date a glass. I have seen good-quality glasses made in the 20th Century with ground pontils, and some distinctly Art Deco-looking glasses (probably Czechoslovakian, c 1920s) still showing gadget-marks.

    The only absolute certainties are these:

    1. The presence of a gadget-mark means the glass was made after c 1860
    2. The absence of either pontil (ground or not) or gadget-mark means the glass was made after c 1900

    miscellaneous:

    ItemPeriod
    Drams & cordials1650 - 1830
    Rummers1770 onward
    (thicker foot from c 1820)
    Glass Excise Act1745 - 1845
    (doubled in 1780)

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