An impressive quite rare deep hand cut full lead Irish Crystal Circular Fruit Bowl or Centerpiece of generous size of circular outline, together with a similar dish of oval form with similar decoration. Both made by the Old Waterford Glass Company, County Tipperary in Ireland, first quarter of the Nineteenth Century.
Condition: Good untouched condition with no clouding inside possibly never used during its long lifetime, wonderful age wear underneath base, very small loss to tip of rim in the larger bowl, not easy to notice. Typically unmarked as these early pieces were not.
The history of Irish Hand Cut Crystal goes back to the late 17th century. George Ravenscroft started the tradition in 1676. The glassmaker added lead oxide to the silicates that make up the molten glass. The process achieved a softness that allowed the glass to be blown and carved while remaining hard and clear as it cooled. The first crystal factory in Ireland opened in County Tyrone in 1771.