Victorian Bohemian Ruby Flash Wheel Engraved Decanter Bottle, 19th century

A Bohemian onion shaped decanter bottle with an external flash or coating of ruby coloured glass which has been wheel engraved to reveal the white glass beneath. The bottle features grapes and vines, indicating that this was intended to be a wine decanter. The bottom shows a rough pontil mark, where the blown glass was broken off from the pontil rod. The shape dates it to 1850 onwards.

The bottle is very good condition, with one small inclusion on the neck. The bottom shows wear commensurate with age. There is no stopper.

Bohemia, currently a part of the Czech Republic, became famous for its beautiful and colourful glass during the Renaissance. Bohemian glass-workers discovered potash combined with chalk created a clear colourless glass that was more stable than glass from Italy. This glass contained no lead but Caspar Lehmann, gem cutter to Emperor Rudolf II, adapted the technique of copper wheel engraving to glass. Czech glassware became as prestigious as jewellery and was sought after by the wealthy and the aristocracy of the time. Czech crystal chandeliers could be found in the palaces of the French king Louis XV, Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, and Elizabeth of Russia. In the second half of the 19th century, Bohemian coloured glass was exported all over the world.