Aloha everyone!
Let me preface this thread by apologizing ahead of time for any mistakes I've made, and thank you for taking the time to read this whole post.
As discussed in my introduction thread, I de-lurked myself in order to gather more information about antique hardware for our favorite hobby. That's why this post is here: I need a second (third, fourth, ... nth) opinion about three glasses I've recently bought. I bought these from a reputable antiques dealer in France who genuinely believes these are the real deal. This antiques dealer mostly deals in a big variety of general antiques, but has previously sold absinthe hardware including spoons and glasses. My first purchase from this dealer some time ago was a spoon, which I'm confident is genuine. I've been in the mood for some antique glasses, and had been keeping an eye on three of these for a couple of months before taking the dive and buying them. I bought the "set" of three for a little over a hundred US dollars (total, not each).
The dosing is just about perfect. This was something I'd initially had doubts about, because it seemed to be quite a large amount of absinthe for the amount of water that would go into it afterwards, which made me think they might be antique post-ban glasses that were used for something like pastis. However, the glasses are quite thick around the bottom of the glass, which means that the amount of absinthe that fills to the dose line is much less than it appears, and makes a nearly perfect amount of absinthe and water for me. I like about a 1:2 mix of absinthe and water, but that varies wildly depending on a huge variety of factors.
Anyways, the dose mark appears not to be machined. I am reticent to use the word "hand made" here because it appears to be a very precise line, but whatever method was used to make it, it looks like it wasn't simply machined on there like you'd expect to see nowadays.
It weighs as much as a heavy glass tumbler in which you would get a finger of scotch on rocks at the bar down the street: These aren't delicate things. They feel distinctly like barware, with a nice heft and a low center of gravity. The glass itself has bubbles and small flaws.
Finally, the bottom of the glass does not have the small circular cut where a hand-blown glass would, indicating that these might have been molded. I have experience blowing glass, however, and there are small, circular rings -- most prominently around the base -- which indicate to me that these are not molded but blown glasses. I've tried to capture what I am talking about with the "rings" around the base of the glass (along the outer edge, which is distorting the black background in three different spots if you look closely).
The very bottom of the glass as I've said does not have the cut impression which is often mentioned as a very good sign the glass has been hand-blown. Looking closely at all three of the glasses, there is a fine line going across the middle of each. This "line" looks like it might be a glass fiber which dropped onto the bottom after a mould being poured. That being said, each of the glasses has one of these lines, which makes me think it might be a "cut" instead of a mould fiber, though I've never seen anyone cut a glass after blowing it. I've only ever seen a glass broken at the end where its attached to the tube used to blow it. I have only made a few small items at a friend's glassworks, so please don't interpret my limited glass-blowing experience as anything but.
What is my instinct about these glasses? I think they're certainly antique. Of that I have no question. There are scratches on the inside of the glass where you'd expect to see them after having been stirred with something. The bottom of the glasses do not appear to be very scratched, but it's also pretty hard to get a good look at the contact surface of the glasses, because the edges are "rounded" instead of flat and therefore don't take well to scrutiny by reflection of bright light to look for scratches. I trust that the dealer I bought them from genuinely believes they're antique absinthe glasses. However I'd like to get the opinions of an expert community before I make my final judgment call.
So there you have it. I apologize for the long-winded post, but I hope a few of you have something good to say about my recent purchase. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post below. Thanks!
Edited by L0j1k, 17 January 2014 - 04:48 PM.
