Patrician Amber Plate with Inner Rim Roughness
Today we went to an antique mall that had a gorgeous green Royal Lace console bowl in a case. I didn’t ask to see it up close because there was obvious roughness on the inner rim even seeing it through the case.
What is inner rim roughness and why should you care?
The photo shows a close up of the inside edge of the flat rim on a Patrician plate. The plate has a sharp drop off where the rim turns into the main part of the plate and that sharp edge gets small dings and rough spots when people stacked the glass for storage. Royal Lace, Madrid, Florentine #1 are particularly susceptible to this damage.
Glass patterns with rounded inner rims are much less prone to inner rim roughness; Miss America has a wide flat rim but I’ve seen only a few pieces with damage on the inner rims.
There are different philosophies about damaged glass. After all, a bit of wear or tiny rough spots simply means that someone used the glass before you.
Or you might feel that this is inconsequential damage and if you intend to use your glass frequently or with children then you may be wise to purchase glass that has a few nicks. But if you prefer glass that’s in as good a condition as possible then you’ll want to learn how to check glass for inner rim roughness and when you buy online how to find glass that will come to you as described.
Tips to check for inner rim roughness:
- Look carefully at the glass and pay special attention to sharp corners.
- Run your fingers along the top edge of the inner rim. Check out any rough spots or discontinuities.
- Run your fingers along the side inside edge of the rim. You’ll feel most nicks here.
- If you are buying online ask your seller to do the same checks.
- If you are buying a pattern with sharp edges on the rim pay extra attention.
This is how I buy glass, and yes, I’ve missed damage even with this checking. That’s why I re-check when I list and then re-re-check when I wrap to ship to a buyer.