Posted 8 years ago
artfoot
(367 items)
"Mercury" or "silvered" glass is hollow-walled glassware with an interior reflective coating. Elemental mercury may have been used to create the earliest mirrors but it is unlikely that it was used much for this type of glassware. This type "mercury glass" was, by most accounts, developed in Germany/Bohemia around 1840. The interior coating was a combination of silver nitrate and glucose derived from grape must. Mercury glass is possibly most familiar to all of us as those shiny balls we hang on our Christmas trees.
The colored glass candle holders pictured are Deco era Czechoslovakian pieces with acid-stamped arched marks. The silver holder has a dime-size circular acid-stamped "Czechoslovakia" mark that may or may not be exactly Deco era. The silver piece is 4 1/2" (11.5 cm) tall, the blue piece is a bit over 4 1/4" (11 cm) tall, and the violet pair are each 2 1/2" (7 cm) tall.
