Lot 10
IMPORTANT SET OF SIX JACOBITE ENGRAVED COLOURED ENAMEL TWIST WINE GLASSES
MID-18TH CENTURY
Fine Furniture and Works of Art
Auction: 2 May 2018 at 11:00 BST
Description
the drawn trumpet bowls finely engraved with open rose head flanked by open and closed buds within foliage, the reverse with large moth, raised on a slightly tapered stem with intricate white enamel twist surrounded by a double red and white enamel twist (6)
Dimensions
Height: 18.7cm, diameter of foot: 7.5cm
Footnote
Note: This rare set of six Jacobite wine glasses is remarkable as 'sets' of Jacobite glassware are virtually unheard of. This may be due to the majority of Jacobite glasses being made as singles or pairs, or that sets have regularly been split up over the years. The latter seems unlikely as there would always have been great status and value in keeping a complete set together, suggesting groups like this were very rarely made.
This set is also important due to the mixed red and white enamel stems. Although coloured stems in British drinking glasses are not uncommon, to find any coloured stems in Jacobite glass, let alone two colours, is remarkable. In Seddon's 'The Jacobites and Their Drinking Glasses', he recorded 436 Jacobite drinking glasses, of these only seven are listed with coloured stems.
It is tantalizing to consider that these glasses must have sat on a Jacobite table, belonging to a supporter who was very confident in his position and status, and who had a close group of companions he could share his views with. As such a statement of wealth, taste and prominence within the Jacobite community, it can be assumed they were owned by an important high-ranking Jacobite.