The History of Decanters
In the early 1600s, Renaissance Italy revived the manufacture of glass wine bottles. Around the same time, the French began to store wine in bottles with corks. European wine makers discovered that sediment built up in the bottles as the wine aged. It became apparent that the wine had to be transferred to a different container before serving, so as to remove the sediment. The solution was the decanter, which was created in the 18th century. Does this Spark an idea?
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Early History
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English glassmaker George Ravenscroft is credited for the 1676 discovery of how to make lead crystal. Most wine decanters were initially made of glass or lead crystal, both of which allowed the person who decanted the wine to see the sediment and avoid pouring it into the decanter. As the demand for bottled wine grew, so did a parallel industry for the manufacture of decanters. Whereas decanters had originally been used purely to serve a function, manufacturers began to create new and more sophisticated designs, as decanters were recognized for their decorative potential.
Classic Crystal Decanters
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Crystal decanters manufactured in England and Ireland during the period between 1760 and 1810 are considered among the finest of classic decanters. They were manufactured before the advent of machine production, and were hand-blown, hand-engraved and hand-cut, and therefore, each was a complete original. In the homes of the affluent, servants pouring spirits from sparkling, ornately carved and costly crystal decanters added to the prestige of the occasion and of the household.
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Crystal From the 1800s
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By the 19th century, crystal decanters were designed and made to create an impressive display, usually set on a silver tray in a stately drawing room. The removal of wine sediment was no longer of primary importance. As a general rule, the size of each type of decanter conformed to the standard volume of each bottle of spirits. In terms of design, crystal makers vied with one another to produce the most distinctive, hand-cut decanters. Today, makers like Bohemia Crystal in the Czech Republic are noted for their range of crystal decanters for various spirits. Bohemia Crystal owns the PK500 or Lace Cut designation, which represents "the highest quality crystal cut in the industry."
19th-Century Ceramics
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By the 19th century, pottery was a thriving industry in Britain, and ceramic decanters took their place alongside glass and lead crystal as popular and collectible containers. Some distillers of wines and spirits commissioned the manufacture of ceramic decanters as containers for their spirits. Others established in-house facilities to manufacture their own decanters. A well-known example is that of Rutherford & Co., of Edinburgh, Scotland, which was founded in 1834 as shippers of wines and ports and producers of whiskey. Rutherford has made a name for itself not only for its spirits, which are shipped globally, but as specialists in the production of ceramic whiskey flagons, decanters and miniatures (see Resources 1).
20th-Century Ceramics
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The evolution of ceramic decanters continued during the 20th century. For example, in 1920, Arthur Bell & Sons of Edinburgh, Scotland developed a specialist decanter made of blue glass, and named it Bell's. This decanter was manufactured of porcelain during the 1930s and 1940s, each one individually crafted by hand in self-colored pottery with gold hand lettering and with a clapper attached at the bottom. During the 1950s and 1960s, Royal Doulton assumed the manufacture of Bell's decanters, crafting a new series of brown and gold decanters. Bell's created an exclusive blend of whiskey, especially for this decanter, a reflection of the central role the collectible decanter now played in worldwide sales. Wade took over the decanter manufacturing in 1966, and introduced the miniature decanter in 1979. Bell's decanters, hand finished in 24-carat gold, are now manufactured for United Distillers & Vintners, which manages the brand (see Resources 2).
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Maureen Katemopoulos
