How were Victorian Hobnail Cut glass bottles made? Please help

hobnailcut

Hi there

I am doing a small article on antique glass and I am trying to find out the process of how Georgian/ Victorian Hobnail cut glass was made. Am I even correct by calling this sort of glass 'hobnail cut' (see photos)?

If anyone can explain this manufacturing and cutting process, as well as any relevant dates, I would be so appreciative.

Many thanks

historic

Hobnail refers to a pattern of round projecting points in the glass. Most bottle collectors are familiar with hobnail barber bottles.

I would refer to these pieces as cut glass or brilliant cut glass. The cutting is done with a copper wheel. Here is a link to a copper wheel engraving setup which should give you an idea of the tool and technique involved.

historic

Here is a picture showing a hobnail pattern on a barber bottle.

hobnailcut

Very interesting indeed. So for all the years that I have heard people referring to these bottles, and similar decanters (see photo) as 'Hobnail Cut', it is indeed an incorrect term. I have since checked, and so many expert sites (including famous auction rooms are therefore also mistaken in this terminology.

Thank you for the link to the machinery. Its fascinating to see the actual type of machine used. How was this machine originally powered in the early Victorian era?

Was the bottle held still whilst the wheels did the cutting?

Thank you again for all your help

historic

I am by no means an expert on cut glass; it is entirely possibly that the term hobnail is widely applied and would include pieces like yours.

Was the bottle held still whilst the wheels did the cutting?

Yes. There are two photos at the bottom of this page on cut glass which show the cutting work in progress.

BobB

Naming patterns in glass very often runs into one or more problems because of country of origin, type of construction, and usage. Americans rarely describe glass as the English do; real cut glass (always handmade) is rarely described the same as the cheaper version in pressed or blown-molded glass; the gaffers at the furnace do not call a "pattern" or a form by the same names as the company advertising which promotes it to potential customers. I hazard a guess yours are English case bottles (usually square, boxed in a rack for traveling). You might find some proof by studying English glass literature (including company catalogues). In England the design in your first 2 pictures might be called Hobnail, as Europeans know hobnails as large tacks with 6 or 8-sided heads which are hammered into the bottoms of rock climbing boots to keep one from slipping. Note the case bottles have 8-sided buttons as part of their decoration. In America, hobnail has come to signify a surface covered by any kind of bumps. The "pattern" your case bottles have is somewhat similar to a very common pattern seen in the U.S. called "Daisy and Button" in pressed glass tableware. But the genteel cut glass industry referred to it as "Russian cut". How cut glass bottles are made: a heavy blob of molten glass would be blown into a mold to get the size and shape; when anealed and cooled, the cutter would rough-sketch the desired pattern with grease pencil, then roughing out the basic design with coarse wheels, then lighter detals with finer wheels. Although the copper-wheel method described works well for 2-dimensional "engraving", your case bottles have nice 3-dimensional relief which would have required the use of a series of stone wheels followed by buffing all over with a rouge or pumice. You really need to find some English and American books on cut glass and study how they are similar but can often be told apart by styles & workmanship. Unfortunately the English glass collectors have not thought that cut glass warranted any attention until about the last 2 decades, so while Americans have collected ABC ("American Brilliant Cut") period pieces since WWII, the Brits have only recently started to take seriously any glass newer than 1815 as it was considered too commercial and pedestrian. For starters see Jane Hollingworth, "Collecting Decanters" (1980) and Derek Davis, "English Bottles & Decanters 1650-1900" (1972) both of which compact the 19thC. into a few last pages. Then see if you can get ahold of newer English books that start to detail this lost chapter in fine glassmaking.