CANDLESTICK BETWEEN TALL BEER GLASSES
Many glasses, drawn, bell, or waisted-bell shape in bowl and baluster, plain round, air spiral, cotton-white spiral, or cut in stem, exist, which appear to have been used for the very strong ale then brewed; often these are engraved with representations of hops and barley.
Large vessels, perhaps used for “small beer,” exist, from 9 to 16 inches tall, and proportionately capacious: the biggest of the kind I ever saw was engraved with Jacobite emblems. The smaller examples of this class may have been used daily; the larger may have been kept for occasional use as loving-cups, or were never used at all, perhaps, being merely tours de force of the glass-maker, and kept as ornaments to a sideboard. The very large ones are drawn glasses, with plain round stems, as a rule; the nine-or ten-inch tall glasses of this kind are baluster or plain round in stem. I bought one of these (see [page 48]) for £2 5s. not long ago; its West-End price now might be £10, for it is “Waterford.”
2. CIDER GLASSES
No doubt some of the glasses mentioned just above were used at times for strong cider; perhaps large goblets were used for draught perry or cider at times. But special cider glasses exist, engraved with representations of apples and apple-tree leaves, or apple-trees, and these, from 6 to 7 inches tall, have ogee or rectangular bowls as a rule, and usually cotton-white spiral stems.
3. CHAMPAGNE OR MUM GLASSES
There are two types of old champagne or mum glasses, each rare: one type has a wide-lipped bell or double-ogee bowl, upon a baluster stem, and much resembles some of the bigger sweetmeat glasses; the other type is 7 to 9 inches high, ogee bowl, and cotton-white stem.
4. RUMMERS AND MUGS
There were three shapes of rummers used, one goblet shape, one on a tall stem, and one on a stem which is also a base: sometimes the base of an old rummer is square. The first of these three shapes has a baluster stem, the second a plain round, spiral, or cut stem.
Fine mugs, with handles, imitating contemporary old silverware, are found; the mugs show something of a stem (see [illustration], page 7). Often they are engraved with the initials of their first owner, and sometimes are dated also. Fine double-handled mugs, like loving-cups, exist.