Is it a Find!?

Dan, We have what we believe to be a hand-blown rolling pin. It is made of dark green almost black glass with white flecks. It measures 16 inches long, the circumference in the middle is 7 inches and tapers to 4.5 inches at the ends. This was found under the attic floorboards in a pre-revolutionary war house in western Massachusetts. Jenifer H. Hello Jenifer, What a really unique place to find an antique glass rolling pin. Interestingly your glass rolling pin, because of its white flecks was most likely manufactured in England in the late 18th to early 19th century. The English government imposed a tax on flint (mainly clear) glass, which was primarily used for tableware until 1845. They did not tax glass used for bottles and windows as it was inferior in quality to flint glass thus some manufacturers used this glass to produce items such as your rolling pin. They added speckles of white or other colored glass, which was sometimes pulled and "feathered" as a decorative touch to appeal to the consumer. A glass factory in Nailsea, England became famous for this style and other English glass companies followed suit mimicking their style. Glass bottles, decorative items, rolling pins, jugs and various other forms and shapes with these designs are called Nailsea Glass, as a blanketed term, even though it may not have been manufactured in Nailsea, but other parts of England. To a retail collector, your find could sell for upwards of $200. They are somewhat difficult to display and glass collectors often focus on bottle and decorative pieces. American glass factories did produce glass rolling pins at the time and they did lack the speckles and patterns found in the English examples. Thank you for taking the time to write in with your find and I would be interested in knowing what else you may have discovered in the house.