VASELINE OPALESCENT BUGLE, whimsey or Frigger from Stourbridge region, England

Description	:	We call them WHIMSIES in the US. The Brits call them FRIGGERS. These are glass items made during the spare time by glass workers. These took on the form of Witch balls, canes, flasks, swans, pigs, pipes, glass chains, bugles, and other shapes. This particular bugle was made with a lot of skill. The glass is vaseline crystal of the finest quality. When I was removing it from the box that was used to deliver it, the bell of the bugle rubbed along the top flap of the cardboard box. The piece acted like a fine crystal goblet that had been flicked at the rim, 'singing' for a full 5 seconds! The fine 'twist' that runs the length of the piece is called WRYTHEN DECORATION. This is the fine ripple, not the large oval of the bugle. There is slight opalescent treatment at the mouthpiece, where it was reheated to flare out the mouthpiece. Yes, it functions quite nicely as a bugle. It can also be used as a single flower bud vase for a rose when stood upright, as water will catch in the large loop. Glass bugles were used in parades and celebrations during the 17th & 18th centuries. The glass workers would make various novelty friggers and either wear or carry the pieces during parades. A description in BRITISH GLASS 1800-1914 (by Hajdamach, pg. 383), recounting a parade on 9/28/1823: "A glass bugle, which sounded the 'halts' and played several marches, was much admired for its sweetness and correctness of tone" My bugle is 9 3/4" tall. It appears on the back cover of my book, VASELINE GLASS: CANARY TO CONTEMPORARY. Photo Donated To Gallery By Mr. Vaseline Glass (Dave Peterson)