Cobalt blue glass rolling pin

Sale 2068 - Lot 93

Unsold

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500

ANTI-SLAVERY BRISTOL GLASS ROLLING PIN Cobalt blue glass rolling pin, 16x21/2 inches, blown glass with gelatin transfers in gold, with hand-painted high-lights in red and green of Sunderland Bridge on one side and a three-masted schooner (slave-ship?) on the other; centerpiece gelatin transfer of an anti-slavery poem. [Bristol, England, circa 1840-50]

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"Health to the Sick / Honour to the Brave / Success to the Lover / And Freedom to the Slave."
Glass rolling pins were quite popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Those from the port city of Bristol (well-known port of departure for whalers and 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. The anti-slavery verse on the present example is uncommon. A slightly smaller one bearing a different transfer sold in these rooms in our sale # 1998, lot 43.