Forming a collection of early glasses is facilitated by the research carried out by many English collectors and dealers, beginning in 1897 with the publication of a monumental work by Albert Hartshorne (reprinted 1968). The study of stem-styles he initiated gradually became systematized during the following years and culminated in the publication of GLASS THROUGH THE AGES by E. Barrington Haynes (second edition, 1959). Barrington Haynes' classification is used here, as slightly modified by L. M. Bickerton (1986) and others.
The various stem-styles found on drinking glasses, and the years during which they were most popular, are summarized in the following table. This classification is comprehensive, but only glasses with air twists, opaque-white twists, and faceted-stems are illustrated and discussed in this folder. The collector who wishes detailed information on other stem-styles should consult Bickerton's 1986 compilation as well as the introduction to this subject he wrote for the Shire series of publications on antiques and collectibles (Bickerton 1984).
Group or Type Classification Approximate Date 1 Heavy Baluster Stems 1685-1710 2 Baluster Stems 1710-1735 3 Balustroid Stems 1725-1760 4 Molded Pedestal Stems 1715-1765 5 Plain Straight Stems 1730-1775 6 Hollow Stems 1750-1760 7 Air-Twist Stems 1740-1770 8 Incised-Twist Stems 1745-1765 9 Opaque-White Twist Stems 1750-1780 10 Composite Stems 1745-1775 11 Mixed and Color Twist Stems 1755-1780 12 Faceted (Cut) Stems 1760-1820
The baluster series (1 and 2) reflects the classical (Palladian) style of late seventeenth and early eighteenth century architecture, as well as the physical characteristics of the newly-discovered lead metal, the "flint crystalline" of George Ravenscroft (perfected c1676). These groups include a variety of lumpy shapes -- called knops -- in their stems, shapes that look like acorns, cylinders, mushrooms, etc. As time passed, these glasses became slimmer and the balustroids (that is, baluster-like) glasses (3) emerged. This group includes an especially tall and elegrant form -- often with a superbly engraved bowl -- called the Newcastle light baluster.
Eighteenth century glasses include a group with a pedestal stem that is molded (4) -- the so-called silesian stem -- a style that was probably imported from Hesse (not Silesia) about the time that King George I assumed the throne. Straight and hollow stems (5 and 6) are easily visualized. Air twists (7), as the name imples, contain threads of spiraled air, while incised twists (8) refer to an attempt to mimic them through the use of corregated molds. Enamel-glass is incorporated into the opaque-white twists (9) in place of air. Stems made up of short segments of the foregoing, for example a plain section over a section that contains an air-twist, are called composite stems (10). A color twist (11) has at least one strand of colored glass in its stem, and a mixed twist (11) has both air and enamel elements. Faceted (cut) stems (12) have had their stems wheel-cut.
Finally there is a group of glasses that can not be classified because their stems are very short, or even non-existent. This group contains a large, varied assortment of glasses, including -- among others -- jellies, drams, Georgian ales, and rummers, that were made through-out the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Haynes' study is particularly valuable because he examined the twelve groups in great detail, dividing them into sub-groups and estimating their rarity. Because his sample size was large -- it included several thousand glasses -- his percentage-estimates can be used by the collector to estimate the relative availability of a particular glass. Very early drinking glasses -- those that can be dated prior to c1760 -- are scarce, but glasses made during the late Georgian and Regency periods (1760-1820) appear with some frequency. To determine their availability an informal experiment was conducted. All glasses of possible eighteenth century origin were examined while the writer was routinely searching for other glassware at antique shows and in dealers' shops during a period of twenty-five months, beginning in January 1986. The search area was limited to southeastern New England: that is, roughly east of New Haven/Hartford, CT and south of Boston, MA. No glasses were purchased by mail order, and none were obtained at auction. Specialist dealers were avoided.
During this short period twenty glasses were purchased, including three reproductions and two glasses "of the period" but of Continental origin. Several others were not bought, either because they were similar to examples already obtained or because they lacked appeal or were poorly made. Aesthetics is always a factor to be considered. And a poorly made glass is just that, no matter when or where it was made.
The purchased glasses fell into the air-twist, opaque-white twist, and faceted-stem categories -- that is, groups 7, 9, and 12 in the above table. In New England at least, a supply of eighteenth century English drinking glasses exists for the collector. In some respects this relative abundance is not surprising. Originally a great many glasses were imported for colonial table. This is confirmed by newspaper advertisements, wills, bills-of sale, and archeological digs. George Washington is said to have been particularly fond of the opaque-white twist, and various stem styles have been recovered from a well at Jefferson's Monticello. The earliest account of an air-twist ("worm'd") stem appears in a Boston newspaper (1746), not an English one (Charleston 1984). But probably most of the examples found today made their way across the Atlantic during the fairly recent past. It is likely that the supply is regularly replenished whenever the strength of the dollar increases relative to the British pound.
In the manufacture of stemware the bowl was sheared from the blowpipe and reheated at the furnace's glory hole. The result of this shearing can be detected as slight irregularities along the bowl's rim, and sometimes there is even a small bump that marks the beginning/ending of the shearing. The reheating -- called fire-polishing -- will producee a rounded profile at the rim. Glasses with cut (ground) rims are either Continental or else English glasses that have had rim chips removed. The latter repair, when properly done, will be somewhat rounded and therefore simulate the original rim. Detection of this repair can be difficult, but an effort should be made as it affects the value of a glass.
Tools used to shape the bowl marked the glass with striations, especially abundant as slightly irregular, horizontal lines. Most glasses will also show a few tool marks as short, vertical lines, running downward from the rim of the bowl. All these lines are best seen when the glass is viewed against a diffuse light source such as a translucent lamp shade. The lack of tooling marks, especially when combined with bowls of uniform thickness, suggests late nineteenth or twentieth century manufacture.
The foot of the glass should be given particular attention. On a genuine glass its diameter is at least as large as the diameter of the bowl's rim, and usually it is significantly larger. A small foot can indicate a reproduction or an authentic example that has had rim chips removed. This type of repair, when incorrectly done, can result in a non-circular foot, although a perfect circle was not always achieved by the eighteenth century footmaker.
A pontil mark will always be present on the underside of the foot. It is somewhat sharp to the touch on all glasses except the faceted-stem series where it may have been ground smooth (concave) and polished. Because the foot typically has a conical shape, a rough pontil scar would not, in any case, mar any underlying surface. "Polishing out the pontil" was probably considered a final touch, easily carried out on the faceted stems where the equipment was readily at hand.
Special attention should be paid to the foot's rim. It was formed by pressing the pliant metal against a wooden paddle or board. This resulted in the flattening of a narrow area at the rim, the so-called foot-ring, in such a way that while the upper surface of the foot's rim is rounded, the under surface is flat. The edge of the under surface is often quite sharp, a sharpness that can be felt, along with the tiny nicks that have resulted from normal wear. The foot-ring itself, which makes contact with the underlying surface, should show normal wear; this can be simulated for purposes of deception.
Two final points regarding authenticity should be mentioned: a glass that has a very unusual combination of bowl-shape, stem-type, and foot-shape should be given close inspection, as it could be of later manufacture. And the balance of the glass, when held in one's hand, should always be judged. Except for some special-purpose glasses, the weight of eighteenth century glasses is evenly distributed. The glassmaker seemed to know instinctively how to make a glass with good balance.
All of the glasses considered in these files will be of either two-part or three-part construction. In the former case, the stem was drawn from the gather that formed the bowl, and then the foot was added; it is often called a drawn-stem glass. In the latter case the stem was prepared separately, and then attached to the partially formed bowl, and the foot added; it is sometimes called a stuck-shank glass. Inconveniently, the profile of a drinking glass gives little indication as to its construction. For example, although the smooth, unbroken curve of a trumpet-shaped glass usually indicates a two-part glass, sometimes the glass will prove to be of three-part construction when examined closely. Three-part construction can sometimes be confirmed by a hump or cyst that can be felt on the bottom of the bowl on the inside. This characteristic was caused when the stem was applied. It will not be noticeable, however, when the base of the bowl is especially thick. In this case the bowl is said to have a solid base.
Updated 19 Jul 2002