James Giles Bristol Blue Cruet

This is a James Giles Bristol blue cruet circa.1770. James Giles [1718-80] is best-known as a decorator of Worcester porcelain. However, surviving documentation proves that around a fifth of his workshop’s output was in gilded and enamelled glass of the highest quality. James Giles bought his glass from the Whitefriars Glasshouse. This was before James Powell took it over 1834.

Owning this is like having a girlfriend that is out of your league, it really belongs in a museum or a mansion. In fact there is a museum about 30 miles from me that has one fairly similar to mine, and theirs doesn't have a top either. The photos don't do it justice, it has total charisma in real life, a bit like when you go to Paris and see the real Van Goghs...... am I getting carried away.