These table centre-pieces instantly evoke Victorian and Edwardian style, although they have their origin in the habit of amassing pyramids of glasses containing sweetmeats and desserts which were a feature of 18th. century dining tables. Collections of glasses were replaced in Regency times by tazzas, broad shallow dishes on elevated stems, designed to display fruit. From the 1840s taller vases or hanging baskets for the display of hot-house flowers became fashionable, leading to the development of what we now recognise as an essential ingredient of the mid-Victorian dinner table.
Epergne in Silver Wire-work holder, 1905, Birmingham
The glass, cased green with white trailing is most likely to have been made in Stourbridge, and is of exceptional quality. The manufacturer of the...[read more]
Epergne in Vaseline glass, probably by Stuart and Sons Ca. 1900
This restrained example shows the influence of the Art Nouveau movement, and the gradual simplification of glass design at the end of the nineteenth...[read more]
Epergne with Vaseline glass and blue edging
Maker uncertain, possibly Richardsons. It is unusual to find an Epergne in this colour combination – blue rather fell out of favour during the...[read more]
Cranberry Epergne, ca. 1860-1880, probably by Richardsons of Stourbridge
Cranberry was one of the most popular colours in the mid-nineteenth century, although stories of the glass works owner ‘improving’ the colour by...[read more]
Glass Comport and Tazza, 1864, by Molineaux & Webb
The factory was situated in Ancoats, Manchester, and until its demise in 1929 was owned and run by the Webb family. (They were no relation to the...[read more]
Plain Cut Glass Tazza, ca. 1830. Maker unknown, possibly Irish
Unusually, this large elevated tazza has a perfectly plain un-cut foot, which may indicate it was designed to be placed in a shallow bowl or on...[read more]
Tazza, ca. 1740
The domed foot rises to a blown fluted baluster stem below the circular plate with a shallow upstand rim. This would have been used for supporting an...[read more]
