FIG. 25.
awkwardly as inevitably to lead to detection. Sometimes, too, in the imitation, the colours used to produce the milky-white tone cease abruptly, leaving the “mark” perfectly transparent. In genuine old Bristol the colour fades gradually, leaving only the very tip of the “mark” clear.
Another good test is to place the specimen in a strong light, preferably sunlight. If, when examined, the colour is mixed, the piece is of doubtful authenticity. Spurious specimens often run “cloudy” or patchy, possibly because of bad mixing. This is, of course, a useful test, provided one does not rely upon it entirely, for certain specimens of undoubted authenticity display somewhat similar features. In particular, I remember an old drinking flask marked with irregular streaks of white, where this test would have proved absolutely misleading. Possibly the “feel” of the glass is the best criterion, genuine old Bristol being much softer to the touch than any modern imitation.
So many pitfalls await the average collector of Bristol glass that I should hardly advise anyone to make this his sole hobby, for although it is still possible to find small pieces—cups, salt-cellars, small bowls, finger basins, mugs, and the like—the really important pieces of Bristol glass are few, and they and their owners are pretty well known to the cognoscenti. At any rate I have not met anyone, in recent years, who could boast of a considerable find in this direction.
A very fine specimen, described as “Old Bristol, 1760,” was put up for sale some eighteen months ago, near London. Its genuineness was further guaranteed by a label pasted on the base, showing that it had passed through a well-known London auction-room. The owner, a dealer in a small way, failing to find a customer in London, had put it into the sale of the effects of a cottage. It was bought in by its owner for £3, 3s., and eventually at the end of the day realised only 36s. I saw the piece subsequently. It was obviously a reproduction, though a very good one, and certainly worth what was given for it; but as he had purchased it as real old glass, and at a proportionate figure, it will, I fancy, be a long time before he again endeavours to secure a bargain in Old Bristol. I have known many such instances, and as a result of my experience I have come
FIG. 26.—SPECIMENS OF BRISTOL GLASS.
(Enamel Colouring by Michael Edkin.)