Cameo Cut Goldfish Glass by Paul Hoff

• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
• Engraved Glass - The method of decorating glass by marking the surface with a sharp intrument such as a diamond, metal needle or rotating cutting wheel. As pressure is applied to the surface, best results for engraving are achieved if the glass is of sufficient thickness. In the 19th century etching was used to decorate some table glassware that was too fine to take an engraving tool.
• Cut Glass - Cut glass is glassware decorated with facets, grooves and depressions of various sizes and shapes, made by cutting into the surface of the glass using a rotating abrasive wheel. The glass is ground so the surface consists of facets, which have a high degree of light refraction, so that the surface sparkles.
  
  The techniques of glass cutting had been known since the 8th century BC, and the practice was revived in Bohemia and Germany in the early part of the 16th century and in England in the 18th century. Cutting became the most common method of decorating glass in the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Kosta Boda (Kosta Glasbruck, Sweden) - glass makers 145