Set of Six Rowland Ward Lead Crystal Hi-Ball Tumblers with Big Game Engraving

This is a set of six high-quality lead crystal hi-ball tumblers produced for Rowland Ward Ltd and dating to the mid-20th century.

Each tumbler is approximately cylindrical and made from fine lead crystal. It tapers in towards the thickened base, which is cut around the base with twelve panels.

They are copper-wheel engraved with scenes showing trees, ground, and birds. Each tumbler is engraved with a different big game animal. The six animals featured are a lion, a rhinoceros, an elephant, a giraffe, a buffalo, and an antelope.

The base of each tumbler is thickened and acid-etched with a stylised antelope head mark, encircled by an oval-shaped band containing the words ‘ROWLAND WARD NAIROBI KENYA’.

Rowland Ward Ltd catalogues state that glassware was produced in Bavaria (Germany) for Rowland Ward and that when items were ordered they would be shipped directly from the factory. The Nairobi branch of Rowland Ward Ltd was established in 1950 but was seized by the government in 1974 when the country closed down their hunting program.

Each glass has a height of 14.0cm, with a diameter across the rim of about 6.9cm and across the base of about 5.8cm. There are minor variations in their dimensions due to their handmade nature.

Each glass has a liquid capacity (to the brim) of 375ml.

They have an unwrapped weight of 860g.

They are in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks.