Mid-Victorian Cranberry Glass Rummer with Lens or ‘Printie’ Cutting c.1860

This is a highly unusual example of a small glass rummer, probably continental in origin and dating to around 1860.

The bowl is barrel-shaped and has an inner cranberry glass layer encased in a thick layer of clear (flint) glass. The rim is bevelled at the edges, and the bowl is cut with a row of eleven small ‘printies’ or lens cuts, surmounting a row of eight larger printies. Below adjacent large printies is an arched-shaped facet that terminates at the base of the bowl.

The stem and foot are made from clear (flint) glass; the former has a broad discoid section at the junction with the bowl, before tapering in to form a waist. It then widens out again to merges with the thick, discoid foot. The latter is polished flat and unmarked.

It has a height of approximately 12.3cm, with a diameter across the rim of about 7.0cm and across the foot of about 6.9cm.

It has a liquid capacity (to the brim) of 190ml.

It has an unwrapped weight of 380g.

It is in very good condition, with a few very minute nicks out of the bevelled edge of the rim and some scratches on the underside of the foot commensurate with age. There are also some enclosed bubbles within the glass, a striation across the foot, and a scuff caused by the cutting wheel on the edge of the stem collar. These are manufacturing artefacts and add to the charm of such an unusual piece.