Victorian fancy glass, in all its astonishing variety. Here is a field for the collector who likes pieces which can sometimes be gay and charming, sometimes elaborate and impressive, nearly always triumphs of glass-making skill which will probably never be made again. The group on the front cover shows a few of the types made.

But here as elsewhere the ordinary collector must specialise, otherwise he or she will be overwhelmed with all there is to buy. There are many ways of doing this— you can pick a particular process like spangled glass and collect specimens of it, or you can look for things of one kind, like vases or coloured glass plates. You could also make up combinations of them. But before going too far into selection let us see what there is to select.

CASED AND FLASHED GLASS

You will undoubtedly have seen imposing vases or decanters or lustres with pierced decoration which enables you to see through the top layers of glass to other colours underneath. This is what is known as cased or overlay glass, both of which words help a little to explain how the effect is achieved. They leapt into popularity about the middle of the nineteenth century, when the Bohemian glassmakers had a big success with them at the great Exhibition of 1851. Our own glasshouses very quickly climbed on to the wagon, and nowadays it is often difficult to know whether a piece was made in Bohemia or Stourbridge.

Antique Collector MagazineCased glass is made by covering the basic glass vessel with one, two or even four layers of coloured glass, either clear or opaque and then cutting through the upper layers so as to reveal the ones beneath. There are many combinations of colours, and often the pieces are additionally decorated with gilding or enamelling. Good specimens with the enamelling still fresh are making high prices now wherever they come from. But personally I find the simpler English sorts preferable to the rather heavy Continental styles.

Another form of overlay much simpler to do and therefore cheaper, was called “flashed” glass. Here the basic glass vessel was allowed to cool, and instead of being inserted into a made “case” of glass, as with the more expensive process, it was quickly dipped into a pot of coloured glass. The film thus left on it could be cut through to show a pattern in the clear glass. One sees very attractive decanters and glasses which have been “flashed” with the popular ruby or amethyst, also some with several different colours, all incorporated in the etched or engraved design.

Transparent coloured glass comes in many forms. There is the dark blue called “Bristol”—though much of this was made elsewhere as well—like the enamelled blue jug and tumbler on the back cover. There are also several greens, there is a glorious deep purple which looks black until you hold it up to the light. Combinations of colours are found: there are ruby tea-sets or amber vases with scalloped decoration in clear class (on back cover). Sometimes you will come across a rather distinctive green with the not very attractive name of Vaseline Glass, though this does describe the colour pretty well. Chief items here are doorknobs, glass boxes, flower baskets, candlesticks and also some very fine ewers and basins. There is also a blueygreen glass with a smoky thread running through it, shown in the pair of candlesticks on the back cover.

MOTHER OF PEARL AND SATIN GLASS

Victorian glassmakers loved to play around with texture as well as colour, imitating other materials both in feel and appearance. Mother of pearl was much beloved by their customers, so they managed to get a finish which suggested it. One still sees a great deal of this Satin Glass, with its colours shading off into each other, say pale orange or pink into rose, or yellow into blue. Vases, candlesticks, nightlights, rose bowls and other items turn up frequently and one could make quite a show of them.

“Grizzling” and “crackling” was another favourite effect. This was done in the same sort of way as the crackle in Chinese porcelain. One sort of glass was “cased” with another, the inner one having a higher degree of expansion under heat than the outer one, with the result that the outer surface showed a multitude of tiny crackles, like a shattered car windscreen.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Victorian Fancies