Lot 139 , A rare documentary Irish wheel engraved lead glass goblet, dated 1697, with a Victorian fitted rosewood & pewter inlaid box

A rare documentary Irish wheel engraved lead glass goblet, dated 1697, attributed to Odaccio's Glasshouse, Dublin,
the rounded funnel bowl engraved with numerous 'M' family member's initials within laurel wreaths, possibly for the Martin family, and the inscription 'I : PRAY TO GOD ' BLESS THEM : ALL', above a merese and angular inverted baluster stem, on an incomplete conical foot, 17.5cm high, with a Victorian fitted rosewood & pewter inlaid box
Estimate £1,000-1,500

See R. J. Charleston, English Glass and the glass used in England, c. 400-1940, p.153 where the author references a glass engraver, Joseph Martin living in Fleet Street, Dublin, opposite the Golden Ball who was the only person employed at the glass works in Fleet Street employed in the profession and left to set up his own business in 1735. It is possible that Joseph Martin learnt the craft of engraving from a previous generation of his family who engraved the goblet in this lot with the initials of the Martin family members. The evidence that engraving on glass in Dublin preceded 1735 is a drinking glass which bears the roughly engraved inscription Lord Arch Bishop of Dublin 1715, decorated with similar laurel branches to our goblet (see The Earliest Dated Irish Drinking Glass, Dublin, 1715, Catriona Mac Leod The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 103 (1973), pp. 47-50 (6 pages) Published By: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
Up to this time this was the earliest known dated piece of Irish glass.

Similar stem fragments with a merese above an inverted baluster have been found in excavations at Rathfarnham Castle near Dublin dating to the late 17th century. Colin Brain has undertaken extensive research on glass made in Dublin and has written about sixteen similar stem fragments excavated in the British Isles that share these features. He says 'Fourteen of these were found in excavations in, or near Dublin. That one of the stems was found during the excavation on the glasshouse site strengthens their identification with Odaccio. John Odaccio (Formica) was one was one of three people named in a glass patent for Ireland issued in 1675 and is thought to have operated in Dublin into the 1690s.

cf. a similar small wine glass, dated as c.1680-90, sold by Bonhams, London, The A.C. Hubbard Collection of Important English and Dutch Glass, Lot 2 (sold for £25,000) with closely related engraving of laurel branches and lettering, inscribed 'GOD SAVE THE QVEEN' which originated from Hall Estate, Barnstaple, Devon, the seat of the Chichester family. Interestingly senior members of the Chichester family held the title of Earl of Donegall, Ireland and the current Parliament House in Dublin is built on the site of the former Chichester House named after Sir Arthur Chichester (1606-1675), 1st Earl of Donegall.
In the late 17th century Rathfarnham castle was owned by the Viscounts of Loftus and interestingly Lady Jane Chichester (1682-1716), grand daughter of the 1st Earl of Donegall married Dacre Barrett whose mother was Anne Loftus grandaughter of Adam Loftus (1568-1643), 1st Viscount Loftus of Ely, Ireland.
The former owners of the goblet had a box specially fitted and velvet lined to house the glass as the foot of the glass had been broken.


Andrew Rudebeck collection.



Condition - The foot is broken and large sections are lacking. A museum style fitted perspex base has been made so that the goblet can be displayed standing up. There are visible striations to the glass bowl and some impurities in the stem, otherwise in good condition.


Descriptions provided in both printed and on-line catalogue formats do not include condition reports. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Interested bidders are strongly encouraged to request a condition report on any lots upon which they intend to bid, prior to placing a bid. All transactions are governed by Gorringes Conditions of Sale.

Sold for £9,500