ENGRAVED GLASS
Some part of the engraving on some glasses was really cutting: in roses which form part of the decoration of finely engraved glasses, the finger feels plane after plane of depression, where the engraver deeply cut away the metal to imitate the petals of the rose. When the engraving goes as deep as this, or deeper than usual, the effect is to give a dust colour to the engraved work, which helps one to be sure that the object before one is not an old plain glass recently “engraved up” with a Jacobite or other design to make it sell for more money.
UNDER-SIDE OF BASIN, SHOWING THE STAR CUT TO THE EDGE
But as a rule engraving is a surface operation, done with a diamond or on the wheel, or by sandblast, or by use of acids. Where the engraving is flat, not cut in, the original greyish-white effect may long remain; a collector need not suppose that the engraving is recent because the tint of it is not brownish, a colour due to years and accumulations of dust. Indeed, the rougher and coarser the recent engraving the more likely dust to settle in it, as well as upon it, and to give it a dusty tint. Really fine old engraving can remain almost as fresh in appearance and tint as it ever was, even till to-day. And the natural tint of glass engraving resembles the tint of ground glass. Of course, when the polishing-wheel was applied, either to parts or to the whole of the engraving, this greyish-white tint was polished away.
The polishing-wheel was also used to remove the pontil-mark (when it was a lump or knob) from the feet of wine and other glasses.
Dutch or German engraved old glass shows more smeary in the engraved part than English or Irish glassware does.
V. OLD COLOURED GLASS
At Bristol, Nailsea, Wrockwardine, and perhaps at Norwich, glassware of various colours was made. There are collectors who care for nothing else but coloured glass; there are collectors who only care for coloured glass paper-weights; there are collectors who will not buy coloured glass at all.