Please upload better picture(s) of the Cake Stand (lower part, plate on a pedestal), especially the underside of foot's edges, because the stand is as interesting in design & construction as the bell dome. The dome may not have been original to the cake stand; it looks very top-heavy, especially when you think of how precarious it would be over that cake stand's very small foot. Horticulturists in France & elsewhere used these glass domes at least by mid 1700s much as you are displaying it, to cover sprouting garden plants early in the Spring, the clear glass sitting on the dirt covering the seedlings and allowing in the warming rays of the Sun while keeping out damaging cold air. But the dome could have been original to the stand and in that case, the dome's high form suggests it would not have been made for the home cake baker but more probably as a display case for a fancy bakery or chocolatier / confectionary shop. You sometimes see them currently in donut shops, etc. The "stuck-on" appearance of the knob handle and the large size of the dome suggests it is hand-blown, not pressed in a mold. The "Cake Plate" portion seems to have a blown "bubble" knop replacing what would ordinarily be a solid stem, this suggesting the entire cake plate portion has been blown as three glass bubbles brought together as one piece while still molten, at the furnace. Look for the usual signs of having been blown and for edge scratches suggesting substantial age. --GlassBobB (Chris, I'm back, at least temporarily)
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