Exhibit Antiques has dated this Regency Glass Spirit Decanter to the Regency era.
It is made in the fashionable Prussian form, with a compact tapering body, broad rounded shoulders and a slender neck, finished with two applied annulated neck rings and a further applied ring around the shoulders. The decanter retains its original hollow mushroom-form stopper.
The entire decanter and stopper have been decorated with hot-applied opaque white glass trailing, pulled into an intricate pattern of flowing loops and sweeping curves. Most significantly, this decoration was applied before the neck rings were added, with the annulated rings clearly laid over the white trailing during the final stages of manufacture. The decoration continues uninterrupted beneath the body to the underside of the base and across the stopper. Both the stopper top and base have snapped pontils.
Date & Origin
England, probably Nailsea or another glasshouse within the Bristol–Somerset glassmaking district, c.1820–1825. Regency Period.
Condition
Excellent. No chips, cracks or restoration. The decanter retains its original hollow stopper. Minor manufacturing imperfections and light wear commensurate with age. Clean and clear internally.
Dimensions
Height: 21 cm (includes stopper).
Diameter: 9.2 cm.
Historical Context
This style of decoration is closely associated with the technique traditionally referred to as Nailsea glass, although this remarkable example predates the vast majority of surviving Victorian Nailsea wares by several decades. Its elegant Regency form, original hollow stopper and exceptionally early date place it amongst the earliest known examples of this distinctive style of decorative glassmaking.
Whilst an exact factory attribution cannot presently be made with certainty, it was almost certainly produced in England, probably at Nailsea or another glasshouse within the Bristol–Somerset glassmaking district where this style of opaque white trailing was being developed during the early nineteenth century.
In over twenty years of handling early English glass, we have never encountered another example combining the fashionable Prussian form with such extensive opaque white trailing and its original matching decorated stopper. It is an outstanding and remarkably rare survival, representing the transition between refined Regency table glass and the decorative hot-worked glass for which Nailsea would later become renowned.
Exhibit Antiques has dated this Regency Glass Spirit Decanter to the Regency era.
Specialists in 18th & 19th century antique glass
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Exhibit Antiques Profile Page
Exceptionally Rare English Regency Prussian Personal Spirit Decanter with Opaque White Trailing C1820–1825
