Mysterious hand-made metal encased cobalt blue glass chalice. The Islamic pewter chalice is made of thick hand-tooled pewter (possibly German silver) and slumped cobalt blue glass. The glass was blown into the metal, slightly protruding out of the cut metal openings. Rim of base and bowl have “melded together” with age. The metal is not plated, and is “soft”, easily shaves off with a sharp knife.<\/p>\n
This is an antique. In 1884, Fritz Heckert of Germany patented this style of metal fused with glass. His metal-work designs are very similar to this chalice. In 1901, the Faulkner Bronze Co. of England duplicated Heckert’s methods, and the art form came into universal use. Glass factories in Bohemia, Italy and America called it “reticulated” glass.<\/p>\n
The Islamic pewter chalice is made to hold with both hands. The bowl is 4.25″ wide with a 14.5″ girth. It stands 3.5″ tall and weighs 1 lb.