French Light Blue Art Glass Pitcher Jug w Hand Painted Blue Flowers Leaves c 1885

050113-5/RL-577

This is a French 19th century art glass jug or pitcher made of a light blue glass that does not appear to be milk glass. The date is circa 1885, however it may date earlier to circa 1870.

The pitcher is 8 ½" high and 7" wide at the belly.

The shape is one of a round belly, a tall neck, a tiny spout, a smooth rim and a clear handle.

The glass is not totally opaque. If you hold the pitcher up and peer down through it, you can see your fingers on the outside of the glass.

The painting on the glass is beautifully done, in shades of blue with strokes of white enamel in raised relief. There are large leaves and grassy leaves and large petal flowers. The detail is exquisite and the blue shading is perfection.

The top inside of the applied clear glass handle has a fold in the glass, which is part of the glassmaking process when the handle was applied to the body of the pitcher. There is an air bubble inside the handle and a tiny bump of white enamel on the exterior. The inside of the pitcher has some estate staining and residue. There is a fold in the glass on the mouth, along with a few indentations in the glass that were painted over in the same blue as the flowers, so again, part of the glassmaking process. The outside of the vase has a few small areas of paint residue, one small popped air bubble, and some estate dirt.

The pontil is round, indented, polished smooth, but with a few remaining abrasions from the pontil snap-off. The color of the inside of the pontil is a pale blue, almost white, with blue showing again at the bottom. This might mean the glass is of three thin layers, blue-white-blue, but I am not certain, just mentioning the possibility because of what can be seen in the pontil.