Stemware is drinking glassware in which the bowl is raised on a stem above a foot, a form that includes wine glasses, champagne flutes and coupes, sherry and port glasses, cordials and goblets. The stem keeps the hand away from the bowl and allows the drink to be appreciated without being warmed.
English stemware is particularly well studied because of the development of lead glass by George Ravenscroft in the 1670s, which produced a heavy, brilliant metal suited to cutting and engraving. Eighteenth-century glasses are classified largely by their stems: baluster, plain straight, air twist, opaque twist, colour twist and facet-cut stems succeeded one another as fashions and taxes changed. Bowl shapes, foot forms and the presence of a pontil mark help with dating. Victorian and Edwardian manufacturers produced extensive table suites of matching glasses in many sizes, often cut or engraved. Collectors look for clarity of metal, crisp decoration, an absence of chips to the rim and foot, and no sign of grinding to remove damage. Complete or near-complete suites of antique stemware are in demand for formal dining, and mixed sets of period glasses are increasingly used for a relaxed, collected look.
