Drinking glasses from the 18th and 19th centuries are enormously varied and survive in surprisingly large numbers, making them affordable and attractive items for collectors.

At the end of the 2nd century BC the Romans were making cups and beakers in pale green or blue-tinted glass in large numbers. Glass was a material of everyday use in a way that was not to be seen after the fall of Rome until the l9th century. (more…)

The diamond-like brilliance of cut crystal glass exudes wealth and even opulence. While it is still costly new, there are antique bargains to be had.

The London GAZETTE of October I, 1709, noted the arrival of a set of German cut and carved glasses, the like of which had ‘not been exposed to public sale before’. The newly developed lead glass was ideally suited to this technique, and within 20 years several London manufacturers were producing a variety of cut-glass cruets, casters, salts, punchbowls and dishes. (more…)

Heavy handed Decor

Cosy family life remained the aim of mid- Victorians. This still demanded comfortable furnishings such as deep-buttoned chairs, ottomans and chesterfield sofas, but now everything had a heavier look, showed more wood — along the top of seat backs, for example — and bore fancy carving or fretwork. The front legs of the graceful balloon-back chairs were elaborated into carved cabrioles. (more…)

Dinner consisted of a soup, fish, fricassee of chicken, cutlets, veal, hare, vegetables of all kinds, tart, melon, pineapple, grapes, peaches, nectarines with wine in proportion. Six servants wait upon us, a gentleman-inwaiting and a fat old housekeeper hovering round the door. Four hours later the door opens and in is pushed a supper of the same proportions.’ So the Countess of Granville recorded in 18 o a meal served just to her husband and herself. Food and drink were central to luxurious living and the wealthy offered guests dozens of dishes at dinner. (more…)

Adam, Wedgwood and Sheraton are names that conjure up the delicate Neoclassical style of the late 18th century. It was a style ideal for the factory methods that were starting to nudge at the craftsman’s pre-eminence.

A marked Change in decorative style coincided with the start of George III’s reign in 1760 — not that the devout, industrious 22-year-old king had much to do with the change. He became a cultured and devoted family man with an interest in science, but he was no society leader. (more…)

Comparatively few teapots were made in England before the eighteenth century and these are now exceedingly rare. As the fashion for drinking tea spread, the demand for the right kind of vessel in which to brew it brought about new types of containers for sugar, milk and tea. These tea accoutrements were made increasingly throughout the eighteenth century until, by the final decades, they had become an important branch of the silversmith’s work. Late seventeenth century teapots are unique and are mostly seen in museums. Outstanding among them is the historical conical-topped teapot (1670) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, with the spout quaintly set at right-angles to the handle, a practice which was short-lived. Another shape of this early period looks like a melon or similar fruit. (more…)

The British have not always been a sweet-toothed nation. According to G. M. Trevelyan, the country only consumed a mere 10,000 tons of sugar, even as late as 1700, although she had prosperous sugar colonies of her own. By the turn of the nineteenth century the position had altered drastically, the figure having risen to 150,000 tons. As Trevelyan pointsout, allowing for the population to have doubled, the average use of sugar by each person had risen seven and a half times during the eighteenth century. As might be expected the production of containers for the sweetener increased proportionately. (more…)

Few basic changes have been made to the salt cellar since the eighteenth century, and even those produced today in sterling silver or electro-plate are usually exact, or very close, copies of their predecessors. From time to time, of course, designers have endeavoured to break away from

established forms, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has a superb Art Nouveau specimen in parcel-gilt by C. R. Ashbee which incorporates amber and a small figure, the latter being characteristic of Ashbee’s work, but this ‘salt‘ would be considered too ornate for general use. An interesting example of 1866 by Stephen Smith was of frosted silver with figures of sowers and men carrying baskets of seeds upon their backs. (more…)

Sauceboats were among the pieces of domestic silver which emerged during the second decade of the eighteenth century, possibly because George I introduced certain types of sauces to England at that time. Early examples had a pouring lip on either side of the vessel, in between which were two scroll handles. Rococo sauceboats were beautifully ornate and by the 1740s the earlier moulded base was surpassed in fashion by three or four cast feet in ornamental shapes, while the outline of the vessel evolved into an oval or bombe form which was concurrently in use for tureens. The delightfully elaborate scroll handle, positioned opposite the pouring lip, was one of the major attractions of the sauceboat of this period. (more…)

A very interesting collection of knife rests can be built up, particularly if the collector seeks them in other materials in addition to sterling silver. The added advantage is that the general cost of establishing such a collection is lessened. Such a collection can then be sold at a later stage and the money re-invested in something more costly.

Basically the knife rest is a simple rod with a support at either end which keeps the rod clear of the table and enables it to support carving implements. The interest of knife rests lies mainly in the amazing diversity of ideas, many of which are novel, that brightened up this ordinary object. Animals were well-favoured as the supports and included elephants, camels, lions, monkeys, owls and so on. Others may be delicate, in the form of butterflies, or rather impressive, featuring peacocks or unicorns. Sometimes the supports are not disguised at all, perhaps merely decorated a little. Thistles, flowers or gnarled branches might grace others. Knife rests became more general in the nineteenth century. (more…)