Heavy baluster glass

{{Short description|Type of drinking glass}} [[File:English Heavy Baluster Wine Glass (c1710).jpg|thumb|384x384px|An English heavy baluster wine glass from the early 18th century.]] '''Heavy baluster glasses''' or [[goblets]] ([[French language|French]] 'balustre' = '[[pomegranate flower]]') were popular in the period 1680–1740, and they exemplify the golden age of English glass stemware (façon d'Angleterre).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lanmon |first=Dwight P. |title=The golden age of English glass: 1650 - 1775 |date=2011 |publisher=Antique Collectors' Club |isbn=978-1-85149-656-3 |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk}}</ref> The [[baluster]] stem is formed in one piece with the bowl of the glass, and is then drawn out to form a tapering stem.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heavy Baluster and Baluster Stem Georgian Wine Glasses |url=https://scottishantiques.com/georgian-wine-glasses/baluster-stems |access-date=15 Jan 2023 |website=scottishantiques.com}}</ref>

With the manufacture of longer stems the design was embellished with knops or knobs, which were decorative shapes formed in the stem. After about 1720 the heavy baluster glasses were replaced with thinner glass and stems, featuring smaller knops, and known as light balusters or balustroids.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a Heavy baluster glass |url=http://archive.museumoflondon.org.uk/ceramics/pages/subsubcategory.asp?subsubcat_id=776&subsubcat_name=1680+-1740%3A+Baluster+stems&cat_id=870 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104031648/http://archive.museumoflondon.org.uk/ceramics/pages/subsubcategory.asp?subsubcat_id=776&subsubcat_name=1680+-1740%3A+Baluster+stems&cat_id=870 |archive-date=2013-11-04 |website=museumoflondon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bickerton |first=L. M. |title=Eighteenth century English drinking glasses : an illustrated guide |date=1987 |publisher=Antique Collectors' Club |others=D. Robert Elleray |isbn=0-907462-61-8 |edition=2nd rev. |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |oclc=18053155}}</ref>

==Naming== Baluster glasses were so named because the first stems resembled balusters, starting just from below the bowl and swelling towards the foot. Because the difficulty in grasping such a [[shape]], it was replaced by inverted baluster with a swelling at the top.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Designer Glassware That Blends Artistry And Utility |url=https://www.abd-studio.com/studionotes/studio-notes-no-002 |access-date=2025-12-22 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Taxation== Taxes in the eighteenth century were imposed according to the weight of the glass, leading to a reduction in the size of the [[wikt:knop|knops]] and more elegant glasses, known as light balusters or just balusters. When the knops became no more than swellings of the stem, the term [[balustroid]] was used.<ref>{{Cite web |title=18th Century Glass, the World's Leading Site for 18th Century Glass |url=http://18cglass.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103131437/http://18cglass.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2 |archive-date=2013-11-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Francis |first=G. R. |title=Old English drinking glasses. |date=1926 |oclc=614276766}}</ref>

== Continental examples == Continental manufacturers developed similar variations during the 18th century in non-lead glass, taking inspiration from the forms produced in England (façon d'Angleterre) during the first half of the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bellanger |first=Jacqueline |title=Verre d'usage et de prestige: France, 1500-1800 |date=1988 |publisher=Editions de l'Amateur |isbn=978-2-85917-077-6 |location=Paris |pages=487}}</ref> [[File:18th Century French Baluster wine glass.jpg|thumb|18th Century French Baluster wine glass (Burgundy glass).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Verre à pied |url=https://madparis.fr/verre-a-pied-4291 |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=madparis.fr}}</ref> |374x374px]]

==See also== * [[History of glass]] * [[Dwarf ale glass]] * [[Eighteenth-century English drinking glasses]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Drinking glasses]]