Old Glass and How to Collect it

by J. Sydney Lewis

Among the commoner “finds” of this kind are the glass paper weights, made with, apparently, a bunch of flowers inside, which is visible when viewed laterally and disappears on a vertical view, when the observer sees nothing but clear glass. I have seen many examples of this kind on sale in shop windows in London, and the price asked is usually modest enough even for a good specimen.

In olden times it was customary to place names and dates upon the bottles which held the best ale. Many of these are still in existence, mostly, however, in collections. They are certainly by no means beautiful as far as appearance goes, their interest being centred upon the date, and upon the fact that the practice has now been obsolete for many years. To a casual eye these ale bottles appear black, but if held up to a strong light a greenish tinge is plainly marked. They are very stout and amazingly tough, so that they may even be dropped upon the ground without fear of breaking or chipping. This, by the way, is often put forward by experts as the best test of their genuineness. The test is, however, something on the drastic side. Moreover, dropping other people’s bottles to test their bona fides is a practice hardly likely to commend itself to the seller, and one which might prove unexpectedly costly to the connoisseur.

There are many other objects made in glass which are worthy of note—knife-rests, rolling-pins, walking-sticks, quaintly shaped jugs, baskets, forks, bells and horns.

The knife-rests often assume most curious forms. A not unfrequent type was that of a hound running at full stretch, fore and hind legs widely extended, and the body coloured to nature. Salt-cellars, too, were made, like the paper weights before mentioned, with sprays of flowers inside. These were made in two pieces, which were fused together after the flowers, painted on paper or thin canvas, had been placed between them.

Small glasses made in the form of flowers or their petals, and glass buttons and beads decorated (sic) with faces, names, dates, initials, etc., are other examples of freakwork in glass which the amateur should be glad to acquire.

Possibly one, more fortunate than his fellows, may chance across a “toddy-lifter.” At first sight this bears a distinct resemblance to a tiny decanter; on examination, however, it will be found to be without either bottom or stopper.

The toddy-lifter, as its name implies, was used instead of a ladle for filling glasses with punch or toddy from the bowl. The open bell of the lifter was dipped into the liquid and at once filled. Then the opening at the top was closed by the finger and the “lifter” raised out of the bowl, the contents being retained in it by atmospheric pressure until the finger was removed from the top, when the contents were discharged into the consumer’s glass. One would imagine that a ladle would prove equally useful and more convenient. Possibly, however, the fact that the toddy-lifter never spilt a drop of its contents, however unsteady the hand that held it, was not without its advantages in a hard-drinking age. Similar pieces of Scottish origin may be found. These are usually more club-shaped, and are even rarer than the English examples.

None of the foregoing pieces is particularly difficult to acquire, and it is comparatively easy, therefore, to form an adequate collection of really fine specimens. By fine I do not, of course, mean rare or exceptional pieces, but specimens of sterling merit of which the collector may be proud and which are likely to increase in value. They are mostly in the hands of people who have no conception of their merits, either pecuniary or artistic.

A few years ago I found in an old book shop quite a collection of old Bristol glass paper weights. The fact that each bore upon it a view of some object or place of interest in Bristol or its environs should have furnished a direct clue to their identity. One particularly fine specimen was used as the lid of an old glass ink-pot. Its owner readily parted with it as a thing of no value, for a few pence. But it may interest the budding collector—no less than its late owner should he by chance read these lines—to learn that the purchaser resold it shortly after for a very respectable sum to someone more appreciative of its merits.

Freak glasses proper include yards and half-yards, boots, cocked hats, frog glasses, and trick glasses designed to send their contents anywhere but in the direction which the would-be consumer intended.