Wistarburgh Large Threaded Tumbler Pontil South Jersey WOW One of a Kind Start Price USD 11,000.00 Current Price USD 11,000.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, November 21, 2008 End Time Friday, November 28, 2008 Location Moorestown, New Jersey See more about 'Wistarburgh Large Threaded Tumbler Pontil South Jersey' Description Where do I begin? My name is Michael Bauscher. I am a collector of early American Handblown glass for 23 years and bottles for 35 years. I buy and sell with some of the top  dealers in South Jersey and around the country. I have sold on Ebay for six years. I am involved with research and study and collecting and selling of early South Jersey glass and Wistarburgh as well as other American glass houses of the 18th and 19th  centuries. You can contact me at any time with questions, my # is 609-932-7160. I also have some other peices. Have you seen the large presentation tumblers made by Amelung that are in the Smithsonian Museum? They are at the most 8 1/2 inches tall without their lid. Well this is a much larger threaded tumbler made in  the German tradition, made at Wistarburgh South Jersey in the 18th century. Now don't get me wrong this piece is VERY SPECIAL! not just because it is the largest peice of Wistarburgh Non-Production glass in existence but many other things that I will describe. I am listing one of my rarest and unique pieces. This is a large Tumbler probably made at Wistarburgh New Jersey between 1739 - 1750. This item came from an estate sale in Connecticut. This peice is amazing and one of a kind. This peice relates to small group of  threaded mugs that are attributed to Wistarburgh, also the threaded "Heston" bottles that are at the Wheaton Glass Museum in South Jersey. So lets get to the details: Size matters! This thing is HUGE! 12 1/2" tall. 9 1/2" wide across the top. 6" across the base. Also the glass is thick 3/8" thick sides. It is heavy probably 5 -6 pounds! (Revision: its more like 10 -15 pounds!) The Germans would make large communal drinking vessels from the 16th through the 18th centuries, but I have not seen any that look like this tumbler. Color: A beautiful yellow- green, full of bubbles, the kind you like to see in Wistar glass (yes we study the bubbles too). I have a pic of a top of a Wistar chestnut that was dug from a Federal era privy in Philadelphia ( some of these frags are in Murshells book on Wistar glass) and the color of this fragment matches the tumbler perfectly. You must look through one side of the tumbler when comparing because the glass is so thick. When you look at the peice head on you can see some emerald green more like the green of the Wistar sugar bowl at the Winterthur museum. Construction: Very large crudely freeblown, not molded. Uneven sides that slightly flare as they go up. Lots of large and small bubbles Top edge is uneven, having said that it is made with skill and there are no less than 13 threads of glass going from the bottom over the entire peice, stopping 2 1/4" from the top, a similar feature found on the threaded mugs. Shallow kick up base. The crudity of construction reminds me of the threaded handled childs mug ( see glassinternational.com article on Threaded Wistar Mug) Pontil: Here is one of those aspects that make this piece so unique, it has a split rod pontil! Now we know that South Jersey used split rod pontil but we did not know how early they used it. Well there are some fragments from Wistar that had it, and there is a Columbian Pitcher circa 1800 that has a light split rod pontil. Very sharp pontil edges that cut bad. Any raised glass including the pontil and the threading has an area of dirty patina that can only occur from many years of dust and grime. Alot of base wear as well. Now some experts say that the split rod pontil was not used at Wistar after 1750 and also the thick glass "junk" bottles were early, that would place this peice as an early Wistar peice before 1750 because it is thick glass and has a split rod pontil. Make no mistake this is definately a crude period piece! just awesome when you think about many Amelung "Humpen" type tumblers; only one Wistar! Thirteen threads, the bottom threads are thicker although the bottom four rows are mostly missing, although there are some pieces still around the bottom, it seems that this piece has spent alot of time on the ground as an umbrella stand or vase and probably has been kicked a lot, thus the loss down at shoe level. You can still see where the threading was as there are remnants of the threading embedded in the glass also there is a line of patina and dust wherever the threading was. Some other unique aspects of this piece is there seems to be an 1/8" remnant of gold gilding on the rim, the rest must have worn off over the years. Did Wistar send this piece to Philadelphia for gold gilding, or did Wistar do this at the factory? That's what I'm talking about. This piece really makes you think! Also there is some extra very light yellow-green glass on the side from having touched another vessel during annealing, or it was on one of the holding instruments. Boy I am tired, I wrote all this once and lost all the info, so now I am rewriting it. Seriously, this is an amazing peice you will not find another like it. It is not cheap but is reasonable given its rarity. One of a kind freeblown Wistarburgh pieces go for twice this much so this is a great investment. Feel free to ask any questions as always and call if you are interested and are a serious buyer. Pieces like this usually sell for a low amount, and then go up in price every subsequent time it sells, so get it while it is low in price! Thanks Mike.   Place a Bid!