Eloise

Pink pressed glass

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My small collection of pink pressed glass began in the mid 1980s when I was given the opportunity to choose a couple of mementos after my aunt died. One of the things I chose was a small pink vase which I thought really pretty.

Vase

By chance, not long after, I came across a little pink glass dish in an antique shop. It was very inexpensive and , again, I chose it for its prettiness. I never set out to start collecting but over the years I’ve come across similar other pieces and liked them. Although full sets of larger pieces (even full dinner sets) can be very costly, for the most part small, individual pieces can be bought very Inexpensively though perhaps not often quite as cheaply as the candlesticks I discovered at a village jumble sale for just 20p! (Shown in the top picture). The oval dish below was bought at the local church fete for a pound. The others for just a few pounds in various antique shops.

Since pink has never been a colour I’ve used in decor, it was surprising that I was becoming drawn to what I later found is known as pressed glass.This type of glass became common during the mid 1800s to early 1900s and is produced by pouring molten glass into moulds which shape it. In plain, upright pieces there is a noticeable seam where the two halves are joined together, though this can be harder to see in heavily patterned ones. In the case of dishes and bowls the seam can often only be seen on the rim where two pieces have been moulded Easter egg fashion. It is the seam which distinguishes Pressed glass from other kinds. Here is my latest purchase.

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I’m not necessarily looking to increase my collection but if I see something that appeals, I doubt that I’ll resist!

Published by Eloise

Welcome to my blog. I am a 'sixty something' year old mother of three and grandmother of five. Having worked for many years in HR, Training and Health & Safety for an international energy company, I took voluntary redundancy in 2011. After a couple of years of short term interim jobs I decided to become a mature student, graduating in 2016 with a First class joint honours in English Language (mainly sociolinguistics) with Creative & Professional Writing. I am currently working part time as a HR Advisor in the transport & logistics sector, and planning to retire at the end of 2021. Currently writing my second book whilst seeking representation for the first.

14 comments

  2. I love your pink pressed glass. I have a green glass collection, started by inheriting a dressing table set from my nana and then finding a filthy cake stand at a market in Brighton. I try to resist these days as much as possible but always pounce on any old green candlesticks which I mass on my mantelpiece at Christmas and which look vey festive.

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    • I think collections often begin unintentionally. I have a few green pieces which are displayed in the kitchen, unlike the pink ones which sit in a cupboard because they really don’t fit in with the decor anywhere. One day perhaps…!

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  3. That’s a very pretty collection, Eloise. I’m partial to pink, although the predominant color in my home is blue. I look forward to seeing your green pieces!

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    • Thank you Bess. I’m a bit unsure what to do with them. I like them a lot but they really don’t fit anywhere in my house so they live in a cupboard.

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  4. Oh, Eloise, those pieces are so pretty. I haven’t many pink items, either, but pink in interior design has a long history, and it can look really lovely. Think of all the pink interiors in the historic houses, such as the wonderful pink hall at Ragley Hall, and even in Wilton House John Fowler, who was engaged to do some work there, painted a lovely corridor (well, it’s more than a corridor, it’s so beautiful) in a lovely soft pink, more the shade of damp plaster (I don’t mean stick plaster, but the plaster you put on a wall.)
    Pressed glass is lovely and it meant that the man and woman in the street, as the saying goes, could have glass, not just the wealthy.
    Margaret P

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    • Haha, I knew you meant wall plaster! Pink isn’t a colour I’ve ever used in decorating even when my daughter was a little girl. (She got Laura Ashley plum which I suppose is on the pink spectrum but no baby pinks). I have some lovely green glass too….subject of a forthcoming post. I live only a few miles from Ragley Hall but it’s years since I went. We used to take the children to the woodland play area there.

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