This vintage crystal glass barbell (or dumb bell) type knife rest has an alternating tiny diamond cut and faceted starburst (star burst) design together with serrated lines across the six center edges of the bar, which creates a six sided star on the ends, to hold your knife off the tablecloth.
Knife Rests have been used for longer than most people think. In the early 18th Century and possibly the late 17th century the gentry and the ruling classes sat down to a meal that could have had anything up to 12 courses and apart from their hands probably only had one knife and fork per person. To save soiling the table, the knife and fork and tablecloth, if there was one, the utensils had to be put down onto something that kept them off the table. It was probably initially just a piece of wood in the times of Henry the eighth but from the eighteenth century we know that some enterprising person started to design what we now consider proper knife rests in pairs, sets of 4,6,12 and probably more.
Like most other major inventions the Victorians took everything a stage further by making knife rests in almost any material you could imagine and in any shape, size and configuration they considered to be acceptable to the ultimate buyer. As we now know every and all metals including silver and gold were used together with pottery, glass, mother of pearl, ivory, horn and all and every combinations of each.
The French were also particularly good at producing knife rests which they call "porte couteau" via Lalique and O.Gallia as were the Germans under the WMF mark and the Russians under the famous Faberge label. In England Davenport, Wedgwood and Coalport were amongst the best Knife Rests made in pottery and some survive to this day. The continual use of knife rests petered out in Europe in the 1950's-60's and knife rests have now become a collectors item. http://www.knife-rests.co.uk/knife_rest_history.php
This fine vintage cut glass knife rest is in excellent condition, with no chips, cracks or other damage to note. The cut glass knife rest measures 4.25" long by 1.5"in diameter at the ends and weighs 5.3 ounces.
A1691 - Vintage Crystal Glass KNIFE REST Diamonds & Facet Starburst Design
$75.00
