A pair of 18th Century Jelly Glasses

This is a pair of cut jelly glasses circa.1780. These have hexagonal cut feet all over shallow cut bowls and a serrated pattern lip. These are for eating jelly out of. Back in those days jelly was made by boiling calves hooves forever, so jelly was a real delicacy as it was so difficult to make. As it was such a posh thing to eat, they had special glasses to eat it out of.

The thing about buying very old glass is that it doesn't come with labels on, you have to learn what is what by reading books, pressing your nose against the glass in museums, and mauling antique dealers stock with your paws. Once you have made the effort the rewards come back to you. A year ago, these were labelled as "Small Cut Glass Vases" in a rather nice antiques centre in Stamford and cost me £14. They were really dusty and looked like they had been there for some time. They looked a little worn in, so no one touched them. I would look a little worn in after 230 years too. They were just waiting for someone to know what they were and love them.