19th century Bristol Glass vase in very pale blue with hand-painted flowers and leaves. 

11” x 4”

‘Moonlit’ is how Bristol Glass is often described, as the specked and opaline glass seems to absorb light and own it more than it reflects any light that is foreign. Bristol, a port in southern England, manufactured richly colored glass, often touched with gilt, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Few pieces are signed and most retain their pontil mark, a cracked dimple on the underside left when glass is broken off a blowpipe. Martha Stewart wrote that the glass “will look subtly foggy, yet dazzling in a window.”