Old Glass and How to Collect it

ge scale. It is equally fascinating when pursued in the humblest fashion, by ra

lure, one of those hopeless and helpless folk who can never learn to discriminate between the true and the false, he speedi

bought will justify the enthusiasm of the first moments of possession. But I do say that, given reasonable judgment, anyone may form the nucleus of a small collection, and that with decent care i

s in our principal cities who are as incapable of telling the real antique from the artful fake as the veriest tyro. Their statements, about glass in particular, are often utterly unreliable. There are good firms to be found who have expert knowledge and whose judgment may be relied upon, but they are few and far between. The so-called expert

ed with the "Fiat" decoration and emblems. They are stored in a dark cupboard and one only is shown at a time. There is little doubt that many collectors have suffered from this insolent piece of trickery. Personally, were I starting to collect glass in a small way, and for any reason preferred not to go out into the highways and byways to gat

not necessarily be excessive; a genuine specimen acquires value in proportion to its rarity rather than its beauty of design or build. As to genuineness, a decent firm will readily give a guarantee by writing upon the bill something of this nature, "We guarantee this article to be genuine old -- glass, made

these features being reproduced with remarkable fidelity. Only a short time ago a buyer to a large London firm asked my opinion with regard to a bowl which he had bought as "Early English glass." To all appearance it was genuine, and yet it was clearly proved to be of Dutch, and very recent Dutch, manufacture. This Dutch glass is imported in large quantities, but the expert eye can readily detect it. The colour is a uniform green-a kind of deep-sea tint, and very clear. Moreover, the ware is not nearly so heavy a

e British Museum or in the South Kensington Museum. Thus the eye becomes educated to the colour, shape, texture, style of

uld be a fair recompense for all three. And, further, there is the ever-present risk that fashion may change, and articles once greedily sought after may become unsaleable{188} because they are "out of fashion." Of course, one obvious way of purchasing to advantage is when others have to sell at a disadvantage; when collections come into the market because of the death or misfortun

s to sell an old Waterford jug with a cracked handle, the crack being where it is least likely to show, i.e. at the top or bottom of the handle close to where it joins the body. For an ordinary spiral wine glass 7s. 6d. to 10s. is a fair pr

finger glasses with double lip are, roughly, worth from 5s. to 7s. 6d., and sometimes higher prices are given for sets of a dozen, or even half a dozen. Opaque glass is rare, and glasses with opaque twists are worth about 15s. apiece. Masonic, thistle, and boot glasses run about three, two, and one guinea respectively. Salt-cellars, with their Irish flat cutting, cost anything from a guinea each, and vinegar and oil bottles about 30s. I have purposel

certainly a great demand for it at the moment; but such crazes are rarely lasting, and the time may come when antique gl

nd