Victorian Glass Flower Vase
These pieces of a victorian glass flower vase bring vibrant nineteenth-century colour and delicate form to any room.
Victorian Glass Flower Vase
When you search for a victorian glass flower vase, you encounter a diverse range of nineteenth-century vessels designed to hold cut blooms or display as table centrepieces. The examples on this page span the mid to late nineteenth century, taking forms such as trumpets, lilies, cornucopias, and multi-trumpet epergnes.
The selection ranges from small posy vases to tall lily vases and elaborate table centrepieces mounted in silver plate or brass. Many pieces incorporate mounts, stands, or associated hardware of silver, silver plate, and brass.
English, French, and Bohemian workshops produced these items, employing vibrant coloured glass alongside clear crystal and opaline wares. The aesthetic shifts from early Victorian ribbed designs through to late nineteenth-century art glass and early art nouveau interpretations.
How they were made
Glassmakers utilised various techniques involving cranberry, vaseline, opaline, soda, and cased glass, often layering colours such as pink over white or cranberry over crystal. Molten metal was blown into moulds or free-blown into lily, trumpet, and cornucopia shapes, sometimes incorporating white cane decoration or coloured trails.
Many vessels feature hand-enamelled floral motifs or white enamel figures in the style associated with Mary Gregory, painted directly onto the glass surface. Decorative metal components, including silver-plated stands, pierced silver mounts, and gilt bronze frames, were manufactured separately and fitted to hold the glass securely.
Some Victorian glass vessels took the form of cornucopias designed to spill abundance across the dining table.
What varies in quality
Quality in a victorian glass flower vase rests upon the depth of the glass colour, the skill of the free-blown or cased technique, and the crispness of any hand-enamelled decoration. Pieces with layered cased glass or complex internal trails demonstrate higher technical ambition than plain moulded alternatives.
The integration of metalwork also dictates the tier of the piece, with substantial silver-plated or hallmarked silver mounts by known makers elevating the status of the vessel above unmounted glass. Balance, proportion, and the preservation of delicate applied elements like trailing feet or ruffled rims separate standard production items from exceptional examples.
Walker & Hall·Thomas Webb·Hukin & Heath·Josiah Williams & Co·Konstantin Stoitzner
The Victorian Glass Flower Vase Glossary
- Cranberry glass
- A transparent red glass coloured with gold chloride, highly popular throughout the Victorian era for vases and epergnes. It ranges from a pale pink to a deep ruby hue.
- Epergne
- A large table centrepiece featuring a central bowl or basket surrounded by multiple detachable arms and vases for holding flowers or fruit. They frequently combine coloured glass with silver-plated frames.
- Vaseline glass
- A pale yellow-green glass containing uranium dioxide, which exhibits a distinctive fluorescent glow under ultraviolet light. It appears frequently in nineteenth-century cornucopia and posy vases.
- Opaline glass
- An opaque or translucent pale glass developed in the nineteenth century, often tinted in white or soft pastel shades. It provides an ideal smooth ground for hand-painted enamel flowers.
- Cased glass
- A method where a layer of coloured glass is fused over a contrasting base layer, such as white or clear crystal. Artisans often cut back the outer layer to reveal the contrasting colour underneath.
Victorian Glass Flower Vase: Frequently Asked Questions
What is cranberry glass?
Cranberry glass is a distinctive transparent red material created by adding gold chloride to the molten batch. It became a defining characteristic of Victorian tableware and decorative vases.
The intensity of the colour varies from a delicate pale pink to a rich, deep ruby tone, often seen in trumpet vases and multi-armed epergnes.
How do I clean a glass epergne?
Cleaning requires patience and lukewarm soapy water, avoiding any harsh abrasives that might damage hand-enamelled floral decoration or delicate glass rims. Detachable trumpets and baskets should be removed from their metal stands before washing.
Silver-plated mounts require separate care using a mild polish formulated specifically for plated metals, keeping paste away from the glass surfaces.
What is Mary Gregory glass?
Mary Gregory glass refers to Victorian glassware decorated with white enamel silhouettes of children playing, usually set amidst foliage or branches. While traditionally attributed to an American artist, most pieces of this type actually originated in Victorian England and Bohemia.
The white enamel work is baked onto coloured grounds such as cranberry, blue, or green glass.
How are vaseline glass and ordinary glass different?
Vaseline glass contains a small amount of uranium dioxide, which imparts a distinctive transparent yellow-green colour reminiscent of petroleum jelly. When exposed to ultraviolet light, it glows with a bright green fluorescence.
Ordinary green or yellow glass lacks this specific mineral content and does not display the same fluorescent reaction under UV light.