Mercury glass

Silver glass, also known as Farmer Silver is a silvery, sometimes golden shimmering glass. The term Bauernsilber is due to the fact that the rural population of the 19th century could not afford utensils of silver and therefore took to be content with the most affordable silver glass.

Production and history

The glass is double walled blown silvered and the resulting cavity by means of a silver nitrate-containing solution inside, similar to a glass jug. Outside the glass was often decorated with painted designs, etchings, engravings or glass applications. In vessels, the inside acts through a contract amalgam often golden. It was created primarily in the glass factories of Bohemia and Moravia (especially Wilhelm Hofmann in Prague, Hugo Wolf in Jihlava and Albert Scheinost in Haida ) in the second half of the 19th century, but was about the same time in England and the USA produced.

Use

Often made ​​of silver glass cup, confectionery trays and so-called Versehgarnituren were produced. The latter were in this way silver plated goblets, candlesticks and statues of saints, which were placed in rooms of dying for verses Hung.