Georgian Wine Glass with Floral Engraving
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A George III wine glass, the floral engraved spray with traces of original gilding, knopped baluster stem with air included centre, spreading circular foot. Height 16 cm. Note: Purchased by our vendor from Cordy's 10/11/82 for $200.
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- Baluster (glass) - An architectural term for a column in a balustrade or staircase.
When used to describe glass, it can either refer to the shape of the stem of a wine glass, being slender above and pear shaped below, or the shape of the whole vessel, usually a vase. In fact the baluster shape is often described as being vase-like.
The description of a vase as being of baluster shape covers a wide variety of shapes that often bear no resemblance to the original architectural form. - Stem - In drinking glasses the stem is that section of the glass that joins the bowl to the foot. In mass produced glasses is usually solid and of cylindrical shape, but in antique drinking glasses it may be long and short and in various styles or with decoration, such as air twist, baluster, collared, faceted, hollow, knopped, teardrop, twisted or incised.
- George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
- Knop (glass) - In Georgian glassware, the knop is a bulbous protrusion, usually midway up the stem of the glass. It may be included singly or in groups, and may be hollow or solid. There are many styles of knop including basal, baluster, bell, acorn, cone, flattened, melon and mushroom.
- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today. - 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.
- Knop - In Georgian glassware, the knop is a bulbous protrusion, usually midway up the stem of the glass. It may be included singly or in groups, and may be hollow or solid. There are many styles of knop including basal, baluster, bell, acorn, cone, flattened, melon and mushroom.
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