THE ANTIQUE
Ale glasses
Harvest time is here, and the next production cycle of beer making begins as pickers gather inhop flowers and bines and barley seedheads to denote their purpose. To date a glass, as a rule, a raised pontil mark on the underside of the foot indicates that it was made before 1825, when all glasses were handmade. As mass-production techniques took off in the 19th century, glassmaking was mechanised and the pontil marks were polished off, leaving a tummy button-style dip instead. Rummers are probably the most affordable ale glasses to hunt for, starting at around £100 at auction, while rarer flutes and tankards can command several hundred pounds each. Bottoms up!
