Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Glass, Room 131

Decanter

ca. 1820-1825 (made)
Artist/Maker
Apsley Pellatt & Co. (manufacturer)
Falcon Glassworks (glassworks)
Place of origin
London (made)

Of 'Nelson' or 'cylinder' type, with cylindrical body cut with wide 'pillars' alternating with groups of five vertical V-grooves, the neck flares inwards, and is cut below the mouth with six 'prisms' or step cuts, the base is flat and radially cut, and the 'mushroom-shaped' stopper (which is a replacement of the same period, but which sits too high and is of a different colour) is radially cut. The front 'pillar' is wider than others and is cut with an oval surround with a sulphide inclusion of a ducal crest for a brother of George IV. This comprises a crowned lion on a coronet enclosed by the garter inscribed 'HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE' and surmounted by another coronet, and the reverse is lettered 'Patent London'.


Object details

Categories
Glass
Drinking
Object type
Decanter
Materials and techniques
Lead glass, cut and with sulphide inclusion
Glass
Cutting (Glassworking)
Brief description
Decanter, cut glass with sulphide inclusion of ducal crest of a brother of George IV, made at Apsley Pellat's Falcon Glasshouse, London, ca. 1820-1825
Physical description
Of 'Nelson' or 'cylinder' type, with cylindrical body cut with wide 'pillars' alternating with groups of five vertical V-grooves, the neck flares inwards, and is cut below the mouth with six 'prisms' or step cuts, the base is flat and radially cut, and the 'mushroom-shaped' stopper (which is a replacement of the same period, but which sits too high and is of a different colour) is radially cut. The front 'pillar' is wider than others and is cut with an oval surround with a sulphide inclusion of a ducal crest for a brother of George IV. This comprises a crowned lion on a coronet enclosed by the garter inscribed 'HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE' and surmounted by another coronet, and the reverse is lettered 'Patent London'.
Dimensions
  • Decanter and stopper height: 25.7cm
  • Decanter without stopper height: 22.3cm
  • Widest point of decanter diameter: 11.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed 'HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE', and lettered 'Patent London'.
Credit line
Bought with the assistance of an anonymous charitable trust
Object history
Henry Fox Collection; Bonhams, London, 8th December 2004, lot 137
Subjects depicted
Heraldry
Decorations
Bibliographic references
  • M.S. Newby, From Palace to Parlour, A Celebration of 19th-century British Glass, London (the Wallace Collection) 2003, p. 65, cat. 122
  • Apsley Pellat's Memoir on the origin, progress, and improvement of Glass Manufactures: including an account of the patent crystallo ceramie, on, glass incrustations, London 1821, Pl A 2 & 3.
  • A. McConnell, The Decanter: An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650, Woodbridge (Antique Collecters' Club) 2004, p. 310, pl. 440, 1
  • B. Morris, Victorian Table Glass & Ornaments, London 1978, pp. 41-47
Other number
1009 - Glass gallery number
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
C.4:1-2005

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Record createdApril 19, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O111306/decanter-apsley-pellatt/
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