A collector nervous about frauds should take note that counterfeits of old cut-glass are much more numerous than counterfeits of old blown glass; the latter is forged, in the shape of wine glasses with spiral stems, but not at all successfully. In cut-glass there is also the confusion with moulded glass to beware of, but the finger feels the edges of cut-glass to be slightly rough—rather like woodwork edges not sand-papered off—and the eye can detect a difference between what was cut and what was moulded. In fine old cut-glass the surface feels silky, and the touch slips upon it where the cutting is shallow; moulded glass has a wavy, rounded feel. Cut-ware glass seems to be the more popular “line” of collecting in glass, so it is well to consider the kinds of cutting here; remembering all the while the tests of tint, etc., as between the old and the new.

THE ORIGIN OF CUT-GLASS

English-and Irish-made glass, being heavier and better quality than any other, lent itself to cutting especially well; but probably the chief cause of the development of cut-glass here was the excise duty, which was levied on the plain manufactured article, so to speak—the glassware as the blower or moulder turned it out. The excise on that having been paid, all additional value given to the ware afterwards was non-taxable; therefore cutting came into vogue, and the glass cut in these islands became the best in the world. Of all cut-glass “Waterford” was the most beautiful; its specific gravity was the greatest, and deep cutting could take place without the ware being clumsily heavy to begin with.

THE “WATERFORD” STYLE OF CUTTING

Cork, Dublin, and Belfast cut-glass resembles Waterford cut-glass in everything but tint and weight, and perhaps it was the Celtic strain in the Irish glass-cutters’ blood which gave a more than English freedom and fantasy to their art. At any rate, the style of their cutting may be described as “curved” and “arabesque”; it was also shallow, generally; flowing lines and slight hollows, flattish rounded curves, and interlacings are evident; stems and candlesticks are “whittled” rather than cut deeply; rims are often surrounded by little semicircles, the edge of each semicircle being cut into angles with sharp points; sometimes these resemble half-open fans. The less the amount of cut ornament, the earlier the piece, as a rule. There is English style diamond-shaped cutting in Irish glass, and some “hob-nail” cutting—shaped flat ends standing out as hob-nails do from boot soles: there is some “strawberry” cutting; but as a rule, a fluent, curving, arabesquing style of cutting, with parallel horizontal lines, hollow prisms, upright fluting, and parallel vertical lines in panels, the latter sometimes resembling basket-plaiting, characterize Waterford cut-glass.

THE “STOURBRIDGE” CUTTING

The Stourbridge glass-cutters, on the other hand, rather over-did and abused the deep, regular, machine-like repetition of the “diamond” and the “hob-nail” and the “pomegranate.” Sometimes, however, the cutting was flat and flowing, and a festoon-like, hung-tapestry-like form may be seen.

THE “BRISTOL” CUTTING

Bristol glass-cutters went in for depth, but also for fantasy: a leaflike arrangement may be seen: the flowing lines in “Bristol” cutting are not so fine and curved as they are in Waterford glass.

“NEWCASTLE” CUTTING

Perhaps the “thistle” glasses, so popular in Scotland, were made and cut at Newcastle, the nearest glass-making centre: but “thistle cutting” does not mean cut like a thistle; it means minute diamond-shape cuts upon a vessel conventionally resembling a thistle-head in shape.

THE STAR AT THE BASE

In old cut-glass a star is often found, cut in the base of the vessel, under it; usually the old glass-cutters extended this star to the very edges of the base. In more modern cutting the rays of the star do not extend so far.

MOULDED GLASS

About 1850 moulded imitations of cut-glass begun to oust the more expensive originals, and moulded glass of that date and since then is not worth a collector’s attention. But old moulded glass, with the right tint in it, is worth acquiring; in the shape of candlesticks, for instance.

Cutting could be done, and was done, either upon glassware originally blown, or upon glass originally moulded—that is, cast in a mould. Sometimes the stem or shank and foot were left untouched while the upper part of the vessel was cut. Moulded glass uncut shows no acuteness of edge nor sharpness in the depressions. Modern moulded glass is often very elaborate, however, and the beginner may readily be deceived.

ENGRAVED GLASS

Some part of the engraving on some glasses was really cutting: in roses which form part of the decoration of finely engraved glasses, the finger feels plane after plane of depression, where the engraver deeply cut away the metal to imitate the petals of the rose. When the engraving goes as deep as this, or deeper than usual, the effect is to give a dust colour to the engraved work, which helps one to be sure that the object before one is not an old plain glass recently “engraved up” with a Jacobite or other design to make it sell for more money.

But as a rule engraving is a surface operation, done with a diamond or on the wheel, or by sandblast, or by use of acids. Where the engraving is flat, not cut in, the original greyish-white effect may long remain; a collector need not suppose that the engraving is recent because the tint of it is not brownish, a colour due to years and accumulations of dust. Indeed, the rougher and coarser the recent engraving the more likely dust to settle in it, as well as upon it, and to give it a dusty tint. Really fine old engraving can remain almost as fresh in appearance and tint as it ever was, even till to-day. And the natural tint of glass engraving resembles the tint of ground glass. Of course, when the polishing-wheel was applied, either to parts or to the whole of the engraving, this greyish-white tint was polished away.

The polishing-wheel was also used to remove the pontil-mark (when it was a lump or knob) from the feet of wine and other glasses.

Dutch or German engraved old glass shows more smeary in the engraved part than English or Irish glassware does.