Posted 12 years ago
frankieboy
(51 items)
If there are any decanter experts out there I would be glad to have your opinion on this piece. It is not marked but it is an exceptional piece of glass It has been hand blown and cut. The edge round the neck is not exact .The pontil mark is polished. It is simply a wonderful piece of work.
I am guessing it is British glass because 'whisky' has no 'e' but it may have been engraved at a later date.
I think the stopper is called a "lozenge" shape. The ship's decanter itself is called a "Rodney" after the British Admiral George Rodney who is said to have designed this shape for personal use in his cabin. It's cut around the rim? Is the bottom round or ovoid? Could be as early as 1820 but the use of 'gold ruby' might put it later in the Victorian period when ruby became all the rage. Scotch whisky was more in vogue then too rather than fortified wines.
The shape of this decanter is called a Mell decanter. Ships decanters have flat bottoms which yours does not. Mells are usually mid-1800s, however, I am less certain of yours because it doesn't have a wide pouring lip, it has a panel cut neck, and a fitted stopper. Mell decanters usually have cork stopper with a metal top and some have the name if a drink, like "Whisky" in gothic letters on the metal top.
I have a pile of old cork stoppers with drink names and with a quick look I found 4 with Whiskey and 2 with Whisky and one with Scotch Whiskey. When you're drunk who cares how it's spelt.