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Pre 1900 German Glass Christmas Ornament

$175.00

Quantity

This is a very rare survivor dating to 1892 - 1898.
This ultra thin blown glass ornament is still unbroken. These ornaments were highly susceptible to breakage due to the thin glass and the long pike style.

This ornament is nearly transparent, with most of the internal silvering of silver nitrate and sugar water. The external paint applications of red and gold worn away with only traces remaining due to the passage of time.

The ornament is a long pike, second generation thread cap. These caps are cemented to the pike. By the turn of the 20th century the spring clip cap was fairly common on blown glass ornaments. Before 1900 glass ornaments could be hung similar to early kugels, with a cork or other material holding the hanger in place inside the pike.
These early metal caps are glued on the pike with small holes in the top. The pre hanger ones have very small holes that had to be carefully strung with thread. In 1892 the ornament hanger hook was available and the conical caps were adapted to have a small metal ring that made decorating the tree with hooks much easier.

This is one of those early pre 1900 ornaments. It comes with an early metal thread wound ornament hook.

This ornament has been in my personal collection for more than 40 years and guaranteed to be 100% authentic.
2 1/2" High with Ring. 2" Diameter