CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

In this guide I will introduce you to the world of antique English cameo glass scent bottles. These exquisite perfume flacons were popular during the Victorian era and were no doubt very expensive in their day just as they are now. There are some very good and informative websites which can explain the process of making cameo glass, so I wont put that info here.

English cameo glass appeared around 1876.  Acid etching allowed large areas of outer glass layers to be removed relatively faster rather than painstakingly removing it by hand. The carving of the design is achieved in two ways.

First, the outer layer is roughened by acid pitting to provided a key for the acid resist. The pattern is then painted in acid resist layer of wax or some other acid-resistant material such as bituminous paint and repeatedly placed in hydrofluoric acid which removes any area not covered by the resist. Then, the remaining glass is then modelled using small steel points or wheels set into wooden holders to 'carve' the glass. This produced very fine details not seen in French cameo glass.

Nineteenth-century English producers of true cameo glass include Thomas Webb and Sons and George Bacchus & Sons,  though ceramic imitations made popular by Wedgwood's bi-colored "jasper ware", imitated by others from the late 18th century onwards, are far more common. Like Wedgwood's designers, they usually worked in a more or less neoclassical style. Some of the finest English cameo glass artisans were Philip Pargeter (1826—1906) and John Northwood (1836—1902)

 Webb Cameo scent bottles were sold in fine jewelers and will sometimes bear markings with London, Paris and New York on the inside of the presentation cases.

THOMAS WEBB & SONS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, c. 1890's. 6 1/2" Long. 

STEVENS & WILLIAMS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, Mordan & Company sterling cap. circa 1880s.

THOMAS WEBB & SONS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, with Mordan & Co sterling cap. Circa 1885.

STEVENS & WILLIAMS SWANS HEAD CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, Frederick Carder circa 1890.

THOMAS WEBB & SONS CAMEO GLASS SCENT BOTTLE, sterling cap,hallmarked Birmingham 1888. 

Some pictures were provided by the following websites:

O'Gallerie

Antique Coloured Glass.org

Antique Centre Online.com

Ceramics Museum

David Issitt

Please take a moment to view their current websites.