When you admire vintage stemware do you pay much attention to the stem itself? Of course the design on the stem is important, but do you really look at it? Or do you focus more on the bowl and the decoration? I know I look at the stem as part of the whole piece, but a so-so stem shape bothers me less than mediocre decoration.
Why is this important to know? If you are looking to identify or purchase stemware it may help you describe the shape. Be aware that glass makers often used multiple stem shapes on their most successful patterns; for example, Cambridge used over 6 different stem lines for Rose Point.
Here are a few of the more common stem shapes.
Lady Leg
This shape is curved like a person’s leg. The stems may have small wafers at the top or bottom, as this Morgantown Picardy sherbet appears to have, or it may have a knop, which is a ball or shaped bump in the stem. I think the lady leg stem is pretty common in older stem lines. I’ll show examples of various knops in future posts.
The Picardy sherbet has a fat stem while other lady leg stems are much thinner as in this Bryce etched goblet.
Straight Round Stem
The stem on this Central Glass sherbet has a slight flare at the top and by the foot – unlike some patterns which are perfectly straight – and from my experience this is possibly the second most common shape. This sherbet from Monongah shows the extreme straight version.
This Heisey Gayoso stem shows the variation where the stem is circular but flares at the top or base.
Geometric Stems
This is sort of a catch-all group, including this Fostoria Eilene cocktail in green. The stem is slightly faceted; it is line 5082.
This amber stem, line number 5093, also from Fostoria, has a stem that is very similar to the amber cocktail. Note the bowl is different shape, but there are subtle differences in the stem too. The very top and bottom of the stem are different, easiest to see on the base of the Eilene compared to the base of the amber.
Hexagonal Stems
I think this shape, six sides usually all the same width, is quite common in recent glass. For example, this nice quality cocktail with miter cuts has a hexagonal stem. I never did identify these.
Textured Stems
Some stem lines feature small grooves or ridges along the stem. This Fostoria Florentine goblet has vertical grooves and a textured top on the stem.
Some stems have grooves horizontally, sometimes even circling the stem. I wonder whether this would not be a point of failure, leading to breaking the stem.
Bubble Stems
Bubble stems are just that. They have a open space in the center of the glass stem. I’ve not seen too many of these.
This short discussion barely touches the tip of the stemware iceberg. I’ll cover, twist and other fun stems in future posts.