Old Glass and How to Collect it

pt to eke out the very limited supply of the genuine article by imposing upon the credulity, or ignorance, of collecto

imitations in Old English glass is of quite sufficient importance to warrant a chapter to itself. There is, probably, no department of the "antiques" beloved of th

ng so much as to complete his "set," is insistent in his inquiries. But the trouble comes when a reproduction, altogether admirable in itself, is pa

e dealers must have known its period and its worth, or rather its worthlessness, and yet they allowed it to be sold as the real thing. Unfortunately, this is no uncommon occurrence, and it is a pity that the practice cannot be checked. The ordinary trader is not permitted to sell margarine as butter, or the publican ma

se, and also certain pawnshops, make a great part of their profit out of the unwary and unskilled hunter for

ut they were offered to the author as "genuine old Waterford sweetmeat dishes," and then as "perhaps salt-cellars," and finally as "old glass ice-cups," at a price dwindling from 31s. 6d., th

ution you may expect now and again to pick up in this casual way some pieces worthy of your attention, and maybe once or twice a specimen worth its place in any collection. For good examples of glass and china have been known to be pawned for a fraction of their worth, neither the depositor nor the pawnbroker having the slightest inkling of their value. But the shops above all others to be shunned by the picker up of unconsidered trifles are the shops{170} whose windows scream, by the aid of plastered tickets, of the "special bargains" to be obtained within. The collector may well abandon hope who enters here; there is probably not a genuine piece in the place. If there is it occupies a prominent place as a decoy

tor. He will find, if his hobby be glass, glass of all kinds and descriptions from Elizabethan downwards, and will be treated with such charming solicitude and deference that he may well become blinded to the fact

these one only hears from the victims themselves. Thus one, attracted by a specimen in a shop window, may become an interested listener to a conversation in which the beauty of the said piece and its phenomenal

e is also the notice, "Nothing sold until the 21st." By the 21st the few good pieces, having achieved their object, have disappeared. But the crowd they have attracted is there, and is there with the intention of b

ough if one stops to consider and t

e of discomfiture, that{173} the "deceased ancestor" who had been dangled before him was something of a myth, and that the specimens were only modern reproductions and probably foreign at that. To my surprise, on visiting a local museum on the West Coast recently, I found the same two pieces exhibited as specimens of early Bristol glass. The best test for this description of glass is carefully to scrutinise the decoration with a strong magnifying glass. The magnification will reveal alike the perfec

in England and America-so large a number of specimens of Bristol and Nailsea glass with a strong Teutonic "accent" that there is no likelihood of a dearth of it for some years to come. And although much of it bears such obvious traces of its origin that "he who runs may read," yet much is so perfectly cut and so similar in appearance to the genuine ware that the amateur is likely to be deceived, and par

175} all the more caution is necessary. Even then you will probably find that you will have to pay for your experience. For your comfort in misfortune, I may say that I have never yet met a collector who had not, in the beginning, fall

full amount paid if the article is returned safe and sound within, say, a week. You will not find it difficult to secure such an agreement-only get it in writing. If the dealer will no

alas! during a summer holiday spent among the Irish lakes he fell a victim. The lady who was the vendor had evidently kissed the Blarney stone, and as she was moving and the matter was urgent, a price-a tall one-was fixed on the spot, and my friend became the possessor of a remarkably f

s value. Moulded glass with its heavy, thick appearance and its rounded edges lends itself easily to imitation. But the reproductions are o

is really a considerable factor to the amateur collector. His aim should be to get a complete collection, however small, and his danger that of duplicating, simply because he sees a specimen cheap. "Oh, I must have that; I gave nearly twice as much for the on

d to accommodate it, and he had to have larger ones made. And yet one shelf alone contained four barley wine glasses, five ordinary air-twisted s

single bid, and the remainder went for far less than had been paid for them. Now, however, he possesses a good representative

ning with friends, if they are aware of the real nature and origin of the glass they use. On the other hand, one finds in some

enuine old Waterford bowl, about 18 inches in diameter, for stewed fruit. The bowl was easily worth from eighteen to twenty guineas, while the plates on the tabl

ges, shops, and inns, must be exceedingly wary and look upon exceptional discoveries with an exceedingly sceptical eye. An am

ignal service to a native of that distressful country and was given the glass in token of gratitude. Apart from the appropriateness of the gift, and a certain improbability that articles of such fragility would survive the vicissitudes of a campaign, the landlord proved not only willing but eager to{180} dispose of his valued heirlooms at a price unexpectedly moderate for pieces of such antiquity an

o examine at leisure any piece that may strike the eye, and in the surroundings which it will occupy. Artificial light, too, is a very treacherous medium in which to examine glass of any kind. Any find should be examined by daylight and side by side with other pieces of whose authenticity there is no doubt. Then with a little training he should{