These late 19th-century souvenir glasses from the Edinburgh International Exhibition of 1890 are now very rare and much sought after.
These would have been purchased by visitors to the site - and some were also engraved with the names of buyers or their friends on the back. They are of a regular shape and measure about 3 1/2 inches in height.
This exhibition was held at the Meggetland - and was staged to celebrate the opening of the Forth Rail Bridge - the year before. Hence the images of the bridge on two of these glasses. The exhibition was not so well attended and it actually made a loss - not many people attended the show - and therefore these souvenirs are now very rare items. The engraving on the two illustrated glasses is exceptional and very attractive. You will have to look long and hard to find other examples of this glass outside museums or specialist collections.
The glass is quite fine - and the decoration is an applied white opaque transfer image showing the showground and the Forth Rail Bridge Two have the same pattern with the bridge - and the third has text only giving details of the show.
Given that these rather delicate tumblers are nearly 135 years old it is remarkable that they have survived at all. Many have been broken over the century and they are now exceptionally hard to find - especially like my ones - which have no chips or cracks - and the images are all still intact.
I am pricing them at just under £40 each glass for two illustrated glasses (these are really historic museum pieces) and the one with just the text at £25 - these are historic items. This is a fair price - and your postage will only be £4.95 with Royal Mail Recorded Delivery Probably UK posting only - as they are quite fragile items to ship further afield.
Taken photographs for your inspection. They are Code D selection - the ones in the photographs are the ones that will be sent to you.