Old Glass and How to Collect it

ose which derive their interest, apart from their intrinsic merits, from their a

the birth of a son or the marriage of a daughter. Others, however, had a wider appeal: a great national victory on sea or land, the winning of{96} an election, or the passage or defeat of a hotly contested Bill in Parliament. All were suitably inscribed and generally dated-a fact which adds to their importance and value-and frequently decorated, in addition to the usual conventional designs, with a more or less crude pictorial representation of the event or o

ing is particularly necessary in the case of Jacobite glasses, of which large numbers were made by faithful adherents of the House of St

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tself to the demand; and it is the easiest and least detectable of frauds to take a veritable old glass of

ch hidden treasure is brought to light. But it may be generally said that, in view of the fierce light the modern craze for antiques has thrown u

emory, and to plot for his return. Great numbers were probably made, mostly, it is thought, at Newcastle, whence the{98} manufacturers might, in case of need, speedily retire across the Border and seek concealment from the law among a sympathetic population. Unfortunately, few only remain, for

robably brought his own glass, which was stored, with the others, between the meetings, in a secret receptacle; the possession of such a glass being, of course, treason. Thus it is that many have been preserved-frail memories of a lost cause

age which placed physical courage as the first of human attributes. Even his not inconsiderable intellect failed to compensate for an utter lack of everything else which his time found worthy of

ng in

like the le

le. He sold England to France, betrayed Holland, robbed the State and the Navy, and starved his sailors to flatter his mistresses. James II. was cold, callous, cruel-a syco

an unworthy line and restore it to the throne from which it had been twice driven by an outraged people? But we are digressing

te cause-which meant, in brief, plotting for the downfall of the House of Hanover, and in a hard-drinking age it was clear that their consultations could not have been carried on without

s was the Cycle Club, founde

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eresting of commemorati

t within your

tkin's health g

found engraved on Jacobite glasses, which are, in consequence, often referred to as "Fiat" glasses. A "Fiat" gla

c thistle. Others have two roses supporting the laurels. Sometimes there is the Stuart rose, with two buds, a reference, perhaps, to James II. and his two sons. The des

w the Rou

'd a sur

} of a hope never realised by the hapless Stuart line. Most of

der with oak leaves, thistle, and rose, in place

ssential in purchasing anything which purports to be a genuine specimen. "Fiat" glasses, especially those bearing the portrait of the Pretender, are imitated in considerable numbers and generally disposed of through the shops

of the glass are useless, since the piece is i

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JACOBITE

ction, by permission

attern to become filled with dust and dirt. A test that may be found useful is to hold the piece in a strong light, when some part of the engrave

y houses dotted up and down the country and in various museums. One in the British Museum bears the mottoes "Cognoscunt me mei" and "Premium Vir

bert Museum. Eleven Jacobite glasses in all were discovered,{104} eight of them being "Fiat" glasses. Four of them, of a larger size, bear the Prince of Wales' feathers on the upper surface of the foot. One is the

at, ye Brave, t

ince ye noble

Feats ye Wo

lory and Bri

st rabid Jacobite-if such a person still exists-can hardly fail to be satisfied with such a wholesale and whole-hearted testimony to the merits of the leader whose cause he had espoused-the luckless Prince, whose doom it was to

the glass is hardly worthy of these exalted sentiments, though in point of a

ames II. and the two Pretenders, and the Cycle Club motto, "Fiat." In addition there is an oak leaf. Whether this is an allusion to the famous Royal Oak of Boscobel, in which Charles II. t

the needle of which points to a star apparently rising towards the zenith-probably in hopeful anticipation of the fortun

convict the owner of treason. In other cases the emblem was hidden from the casual eye by being engraved underneath the foot. The times were perilous ones, and it behoved careful

ing, I mean the

arm in blessin

ender is, or

l,-that's quite

but these are few and, to say the truth, are lacking in the interest that their roman

es are more nume

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eresting commemorating the battle of the Boyne. Some bear the portrait of the King-generally crossing the Boyne on horseback. Such specimens are exceedingly rare. Later ones bear only an inscription, "To the Immortal Memory," or "To the Im

lorious, pious, and immortal memory of the great and good King William, who freed us from Pope and

history fails to say. But there is no doubt that Bute was hated with a fury almost without precedent, and the King's mother, whose favourite he was, was hated with equal intensity. In 1763 a jack-boot and a petticoat were publicly burnt at Temple Bar, and a crowned ass led

d dated 20th November 1759, was evidently made in commemoration of the battle of Quiberon Bay, in which that great seaman, deliberately ignoring the figh

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WING STUART ROSE W

S, CIRCA.

AL GLA

AMITE

G.

OASTING GLASSES-JAC

scawen, Rodney, Anso

ero's portrait; others are adorned with a representation of his famous flagship; others

funeral car in the shape of a ship. On the stern is the historic name Victory. At the prow stands an emblematic figure of Victory, bearing in one hand a laurel wreath and in the other a branch of bay. On

blicly sold as memorials of the event, have on the one side a representation of

Mem

L

ls

9??

These glasses were probably made in cons

ces must have been inscribed with his name as a testimony to

we, and St Vincent and the date 1st August 1798, together with various nautical emblems. But, as we have said, the manufacture of

in this way. Thus one is inscribed "Up to Sowerby Bridge, 1

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LSON

G

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ORONATION GLASS O

inscription, "Success to Trade and Navigation." Others bear political cries, like a cider glass (Fig. 23) from the Singer Collection. It is characteristically engraved with sprigs of apple blossom and a barrel, presumably of cider. Arou

was made to commemorate the launch of that vessel. The fine air-twisted goblet, which is the largest in the illustration, belongs to a period{112} somewhere about 1760. The figure depicted is that of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, then our ally and at the zenith of his military glory. It was through

"Long live George, Prince of Wales, 1759." It is beautifull

nt of their kind. The tankard on the right of the plate is engraved with vine leaves and bunches of grapes, together wit

he left of the plate (Fig. 24) is very quaint.

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OMMEMORATI

ollection, by permissi

h of the craft and the goblet, who registered to posterity his pride in the one by means of the other. This glass, I am informed, wa

rtistically engraved with roses and festoons, with the insc

t make in out-of-the-way places, provided he will first take the precaution to acquire such knowledge of the characteristics of old glass as will serve to protect him from being deceived by modern reproductions. One does not, for example,{114} expect to find engraving or cutting on early importations from Venice, or that the glasses made in commemoration of various events

ible of the various forms of deception adopted being, as elsewhere suggested, to engrave some comparatively valueless

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AND GROG GLASSES.

tion, by permission of the