Wednesday 7 March 2012

"Here's tae the wee man in the black velvet waistcoat"

More pastiche (or simply 'fake') antiques. Above is the Bath residence of General Wade - England's prime beater-upper of all those rebellious Scots way back in the 18th century. When he wasn't beating up the Scots, he was Bath's beloved Member of Parliament, so he probably had a nice gaff in London as well.

There is another reason to despise the general, though - the market is flooded with fake 'Jacobite' drinking glasses to the extent that a curmudgeonly Scottish glass-dealer and collector I know describes the whole area of Jacobite glass as 'a mine field'.

It is reckoned that well over half of all engraved Jacobite glasses in private and public collections are fakes - by which it is meant that some clever engraver has got hold of an original, early to mid 18th century glass, then embellished it with Jacobite symbols and slogans, thereby tripling it's price. The net result of the attack on the market is that people are so scared of buying one of the numerous fakes that glasses without provenance have come right down in price, and a well-engraved one can be bought for a few hundred pounds. The one below is a well known genuine one.

The world expert on Jacobite glass has managed to identify about 7 individual engravers by their style, and one of them is reputed to be still alive and working today. He is not, however, 260 years old.

For this reason - and that I have never met a glass-dealer who is not prepared to knife his own mother in the back to undercut another bidder - I have somewhat baulked from seeking out engraved glasses of late. I just don't have the expertise, and added to that is the price of the real things (when they can be attributed as real). The curmudgeonly Scot recently acquired a glass which was so good that he could not afford to keep it. He also owns the original photo below, along with all the others. I think that his 'Wolfe' engraved glass sold for about £40,000. It was nice, though.



9 comments:

  1. Unfortunately the photo doesn't want to magnify, but it looks stunning.

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    1. Sorry - maybe I'll post a larger picture, but you will find one yourself by looking up Jacobite glasses, so maybe I won't.

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  2. I've magnified it Cro and it is beautiful. I love etched glasses. I even like the Victorian ones .... I can hear you Tom, taking a sharp intake of breath .... I know that they aren't as wonderful as the Jacobite glasses but they are pretty and very affordable. Would the owner of the £40,000 'Wolfe' engraved glass keep it in a display case or be brave and drink out of it ?

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    1. I agree - if you like something, then that's all that matters (unless you become obsessed, as all glass collectors do). I don't know if they are drunk out of, I don't move in those circles.

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  3. Very beautiful I agree Tom but it does lead me to ask does it really matter whether it is a true original or not (is this sacrilege (and have I spelt it right?)

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  4. Very beautiful glass. It is a pity that something that begs to be sipped from -- is essentially an 'untouchable'.

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    1. Nothing is untouchable, Broad - not even me.

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  5. the pictured glass is an 'AMEN' glass the most valuable of the jacobite glasses,engraved in diamond point by Sir Robert Strange.
    yes there are a lot of fakes and reproductions and some can be very close to the originals especially some recent ones where great lengths are gone to to try and deceive ,and just because it is sold at a reputable auction house is no guarantee to authenticity.
    thankfully there are a couple of people who can tell ,I am one and can and do advise to those who ask as well as buy and sell, if there is a plus to all the fakes it means you can get real ones for a lot less than they are really worth given they were generally exclusively the property of the lords and gentry. Ian McKenzie
    www.craneglass.com

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