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:

Shape	Period
Funnel or conical	1685 - 1710 (some examples to end 1700s)
Bell	1685 - 1760
Ovoid	1760 onward
Rounded	1830 onward

18th Century bowl decoration:

Feature	Period
Wrythen moulding	1685 - 1800 (brief revival c 1820)
Copper-wheel engraving	1725 onward (more sophisticated by late 1700s)
Enamelling	1760 onward
Facet-cutting	1760 onward

stem types:

plain	teardrop	knopped	twist	inverted baluster
true baluster	bobbin	silesian	faceted	incised twist

18th Century stems:

Type	Period
Venetian influence	1650 - 1700
Heavy balusters	1685 - 1710
Light balusters	1710 - 1735
Balustroids	1725 - 1760
Plain & hollow	1730 - 1775
Moulded pedestal (Silesian)	1715 - 1765
Incised twist	1745 - 1765
Air twist	1745 - 1770
Composite	1745 - 1775
Opaque twist	1755 - 1780
Mixed & colour twist	1755 - 1775
Faceted	1760 - 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:

Feature	Period
Folded foot	1685 - 1750 (brief revival c 1820)
Ground pontil (on faceted stem wines)	1775 - 1810
Ground pontil (on other glasses)	1800 - c 1860
Square foot	early 1800s
Gadget mark	c 1860 onward
Gadget mark disappears	c 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:

miscellaneous:

Item	Period
Drams & cordials	1650 - 1830
Rummers	1770 onward (thicker foot from c 1820)
Glass Excise Act	1745 - 1845 (doubled in 1780)

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