Heading : An Opque Twist Stem Wine Glass With Lynn Rings
Period : George II- George III c1760
Origin : England 
Colour : Clear 
Bowl : Ogee with five lynn rings
Stem : two pairs of spiral threads outside a pair of corkscrew tapes
Foot : Conical
Pontil : Snapped
Glass Type : Lead 
Size :  15.0cm height,  5.3cm diameter bowl, 5.9cm diameter foot 
Condition : Excellent, no chips or cracks There is a bubble in the bowl, it has not burst
Restoration : None 
Weight:  137grams 

Kings Lynn's ( or Lynne Regis as it was known) glassmaking commerce was restricted to just one or two production facilities operating from the very late 17th century under the auspices of Messrs Jackson and Straw, following on from Isaac Harrison’s earlier bottle glass house. There are several depositions on record from these gentlemen to their local MP’s appealing for a reduction in glass tax, as the consequent price rises of their products restricted sales and threatened the viability of the operation, which provided a significant source of employment for the townsfolk. These remonstrations fell on deaf ears, and the trade remained hampered by the imposition of the taxation for its entire duration, something which also mitigated against the broader expansion of the glassmaking business in the area.

The reason for the initial establishment of the, albeit small, trade in the area brings us to the origins of the name in its current usage. Industry has always sought to locate itself favourably, and in this instance it was the presence of extremely high quality glassmaking sand that prompted its foundation. Easily found just to the east of Lynne, near Dersingham, the sand was noted as being one of the town’s most significant exports – most significantly in the quite splendidly entitled Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; Vol 13-14 (1838) which includes a lengthy piece about every aspect of Lynne, it's topography, industries and so on, making specific reference to the export of fine sand - but with no mention at all of a locally based manufacturing industry, something which would undoubtedly have been documented had it been extant.

The high quality of Lynn sand is often commented upon in contemporary writing, with records of it being exported far and wide, to Newcastle, Leith (Edinburgh) and even to France where it was evidently as highly prized as it was on home soil. In conclusion, then, we are left with little option other than to fully concur with Nathaniel Whittock, writing The Decorative Painters' and Glaziers' Guide (I T Hinton 1828) who asserts, fairly unequivocally, that:

The sand most fit for making white, transparent glass is that brought from Lynn in Norfolk, by the name of which place it is distinguished.

And there you have it – contemporary affirmation that Lynn glass was a term applied to any wares manufactured using the sand from the area, entirely regardless of where the pieces may have actually been produced. The commonality of the banded decorations is clearly based on little more than its application being a popular and straightforward way in which to augment the high quality Lynn-sand glassware, which might have been a more appropriate name for the pieces and avoided the later misconception as to its source.

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Code:           22041907