I POURS FOR EFFECT
These beautiful decanters can add a touch of class to any drinks party
F, like me, the country’s present political turmoil has turned you to drink, read on. I asked for a lesson in how it should be done in style. My tutor was Robert Marris, a member of the British Antiques Dealers’ Association, who will be exhibiting at the upcoming Harrogate Antiques Fair.
First off, in polite society, the bottle should not be plonked on the table. Instead, its contents should be decanted, originally an alchemical term, from the French décanter, perhaps from medieval Latin decanthare – “to pour from the edge of a vessel”, Robert explains.
“The history of decanters goes back to the late 17th century when decanting wine from the barrel separated out the dregs and made it easier to serve,” he says.
Early decanters were made by blowing clear molten glass into an iron mould, echoing the squat onion or shaft and globe wine bottles of the period, but with longer narrower necks and occasionally with a loop handle. However, late 17th century serving bottles are rare.
Look for the “pontil scar”, the rough glass on the base where the iron pontil rod attached to hold the justblown hot bottle during finishing was snapped off. This was often pushed upwards making a “kick”, in order to stop the scar from scratching a polished surface.
Styles and shapes evolved over time with six and eight straight-sided “mallet decanters” becoming popular. The latter date from around 1730, when, prior to corking machines, they had trails of glass around the neck to create a “string rim”, enabling a muslin cloth or cork to be fastened by wire or string, Robert explains.
Occasionally these decanters are found with an applied handle and pouring lip, but they are rare and command a high premium if they appear on the market.
The cruciform decanter appeared from around 1730-1750, so-called because it is shaped like a cross when viewed from beneath.
“There are many variations of this form,” Robert says. “The earlier ones are true cruciform, while the slightly later versions are more box sectional straight-sided bottles with vertical grooves and have one or more string rings made up of several trails of glass.”
None of these early bottles was stoppered. However, many plain ball stoppers, some with either one or more “air tears”, air trapped inside when they were blown, survive from
the mid 18th century.
“It is likely these were used as an alternative to muslin or cork as loose-fitting temporary stoppers. The string rim then becomes more of a decorative feature and provides a useful grip when holding the bottle.” Robert says.
Stoppered decanters did not appear until the 1760s, and they were used not only to serve wine or spirits but also for storage.
“The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a progression in styles of decanter from the shouldered type with spire stoppers around 1760, the mallet or sugar loaf decanter, normally with a clipped disc stopper in about 1770 and taper decanters with a facet-cut disc stopper from about 1780 to 1800,” Robert adds.
“It was the custom at the time to engrave the name of the intended contents on a faux label on the body of the decanter and these are quite
sought after by today’s collectors, particularly those with rare names and fine facet cutting, which command quite high prices.”
Names commonly found are Claret, Lisbon, White Wine, Port and Madeira, while Beer, Mountain, Calcavella, Ale and “Cyder” are rarer, as are those decanters with all over facet-cutting.
Coloured decanters, usually in blue and more rarely green, date from this period, as did the introduction of the pouring lip, which became more pronounced as the early 19th century developed.
“By the end of the18th century, the decanter became lighter and more elegant with a cylindrical tapered body,” Robert says. “These came in a variety of colours such as blue, green and ame- thyst, but, plain flint was the most common.
Small, coloured, club-shaped decanters were popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and vast numbers were produced. Blue glass was the most common, although, green and amethyst
examples can sometimes be found, all usually decorated with gilded faux labels for brandy, Hollands (Dutch gin) and rum among others.
“These usually came in sets of three or four and stood in either leathercovered metal or a papier-maché frame,” Robert says.
“They are not so popular with collectors due to their small size and also they don’t take a full bottle of wine, but they are over 200 years old, pleasing to look at.”
The classic decanters with three neck rings which collectors know best, first appeared in the 1820s and 1830s. Earlier examples have a plain bulbous bottle and a bullseye stopper.
The slightly later version has a similar shape but the base is cut with narrow flutes which grow wider at the neck and a mushroom stopper. However, there is a wide range of similarly shaped decanters with various numbers of neck rings and an endless variety of cut decoration, many of which can be purchased quite reasonably.