Cobalt blue Bristol glass rolling pin

Sale 1998 - Lot 43

Price Realized: $ 3,220

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

ANTI-SLAVERY BRISTOL GLASS ROLLING PIN Cobalt blue Bristol glass rolling pin, 13x2 inches, hand-blown with gelatin transfers in gold, with hand-painted highlights in red and green, with a centerpiece reading "Remember Me," flanked by a slave-ship on one side and an anti-slavery poem on the other. Bristol, circa 1840-50

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Additional Details

Glass rolling pins were quite popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Those from the port city of Bristol (well-known port for slave ships) are probably the best known and most desirable. These were usually parting gifts to wives and sweethearts from sailors about to go to sea. "Remember Me" is a common phrase found on these rather uncommon vehicles for amatory verse. The anti-slavery content of the present example is highly unusual. It may have been given by a sailor on a slave-ship headed for Africa. The poem reads, "Health to the sick / Honour to the brave / Success to the lover / And freedom to the slave."