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Transcription

[Page] 58
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at Dowells, he has tempted me with an offer of £90.
A glass of large capacity with a pedestal or baluster
Stem bought in Bristo St. for 30/- he offers £60 for.
A sweetmeat glass bought many years ago from
Montford, Market Drayton for 3/6 he will give £25 for.
Three days ago in Wilsons in George St. I spotted an
unusual object of glass in the bottom of a showcase.
On having it brought out I discovered it to be a
revolving sweetmeat-stand of cut glass. I realised that
it must be an object of great rarity and very cheap
at 40/-. It was not an attractive piece from an
aesthetic standard, but knowing that Mr Churchill
was coming I bought it forthwith. My opinion re:
:garding it has proved to be correct and £30 is his offer,
which I have accepted. Tomorrow he makes me
a valuation of all the pieces I have in the R.S.M. [Royal Scottish Museum]
& I seriously think of letting him have £400 or £500
worth. He offers me £324 for pieces that have cost
me £7!!

7th Nov. 1918.
Two days ago I completed my glass deal. For the
last 20 years when occasion offered I have never
lost an opportunity of picking up old wine glasses
of the 18th century, or earlier, provided the price was
within my means. When I commenced my collection
these objects sold for very little - the usual price for
white spiral stems was 3/6d and I occasionally

bought examples for less. As the value was so trifling,
however, the supply was limited, and there was no induce:
:ment for people to route out such things from the glass
cupboards and storerooms of old houses. Hartshorne’s
splendid monograph had, however, just been published
at a price of £3.3/- and was speedily followed by pot-
-boiling articles in magazines, & gradually by cheaper
works. With the increase of information available, the
demand increased & gradually the price mounted
upwards. Ten years ago, I disposed of several
pieces to a dealer and having obtained £10 or £12
for what had cost me 50/- thought I had done
very well . Alas, among the lot I sold was one which
though it only cost me nine pence I could have got
£12 for today! In 1906 -10/- a piece was the current
price for white spiral stemmed glasses. I studied
the literature of the subject, and trained my eye
by frequent visits to Museums, so that my knowledge
became considerable. My luck was great, as
for example one of my earliest purchases was
three glasses in one lot in Dowell’s saleroom for
15/- the lot! One was a magnificent glass with an air
spiral stem set on a beaded bulb on a domed base.
Around the lip ran the legend “His Royal Highness Duke William
in a Bumper” evidently referring to Cumberland,
while the bowl was etched all over with emblematic

[Margin - sketch of glass with note]
This glass many
years later was
sold in London
for 200gs [guineas]
[initialled] AOC 19/2/41 ---

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