Glass Encyclopedia
Glass Encyclopedia
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Glass Shoes: A short explanation Glass Shoes come in all shapes and sizes and colours. They make an excellent collectible item because they are small and easy to display, and often have date or registration marks which make them easy to identify. Amongst the earliest were the glass slippers made by melting and flattening a bottle and then adding strips of glass decoration. These are said to have been made in Europe around the third century AD. In the 17th and 18th centuries, glasses shaped like boots were used for drinking. During that same period in England, boot-shaped bottles (hand blown) were also popular. In the 18th and 19th centuries, small shoe and slipper-shaped glass containers were made as table ornaments to hold flowers or as salt cellars. All of these early items were hand-made and are rare today. By the mid-19th century glass shoes had already become a popular collector item. They were available as souvenirs inscribed with place names and they were also made to commemorate events (like winning the derby). Over the past hundred and twenty years there has been a steady stream of new designs and colours in collectible glass shoes, made in every major glass-producing country. There are some very attractive English pressed glass shoes from the 1880's and 1890's; some superb Murano glass shoes made throughout the 20th century, and in more recent times, some excellent hand-pressed glass shoes made in the USA. The Fenton Art Glass Company made new colours or patterns in collectible glass shoes every year over a long period. |
