Why were Georgian Drinking Glasses so small?
To the unknowing observer, a valid question can be asked which is “Why were drinking glasses on average smaller in the past in contrast to today?” This short exposition will seek to address some of the core reasons.
Lead vs Soda:
In 1663 George Ravenscroft commercialised flint glass, a colourless and translucent glass with many desirable working properties, but often subject to Crizzling - A glass ‘disease’ which results in the glass being covered in what looks like crazy paving. Following Ravencrosfts patents expiration, Glass Sellers guilds addition of lead oxide resulted in lead glass. The outcome, revolutionary, adding weight to a previous soda-lime glass and turned British glass manufacturing overnight into a high-quality enterprise. The key difference between glass and lead being the colour, weight and clarity of lead glass over its murky and less clear cousin.
Manufacturing
To make lead glass, especially in the late 17th was a difficult affair. British glass manufacturing was in its infancy with failed experimentation a common occurance. The earliest Georgian drinking glasses being heavy balusters. Thick walled and intensely tactile glass which dominated Georgian drinking glass styles in the 1720. Although some surviving example may measure up to 14cm, most tend to be 7cm or smaller. The cause, difficulties in glass manufacturing along with significant demand in clear glass causing smaller drinking glasses over their modern descendents.
Drinking
Domestic duties written in 1825 mentions thats guests drank a combination of beverages such as malt liquors, port, cider, soda-water, ginger-beer, champaign, hock, burgundy, barsac, Rhenish, White wine and sherry. Within easy access to the sitter was a glass rinser and staff on hand to assist in the pouring of alcohols. Although one cannot say for certain, the size of the drinking glasses can also be partly explained by the pure volume of alcohol on offer and diversity of drink. Alcohol was often kept in a combination of undecanted bottles, corked and stoppered decanters.
Glass Tax
Another key factor influencing the small size of Georgian drinking glasses was the introduction of the Glass Tax in 1746, during the reign of George II. This tax targeted the raw materials used in glass production and later extended to finished glass products. As glass was sold by weight, manufacturers responded by creating smaller, lighter, and more decorative glassware to reduce tax liability. This led to the production of delicate pieces with features like hollow stems, often referred to today as "Excise glasses." The tax was financially crippling to the industry and encouraged some glassmakers to relocate to Ireland, where glass production remained untaxed. The result for consumers in Britain was that drinking vessels stayed small, both due to manufacturing economics and government taxation policy, until the eventual abolition of the tax in 1845.
Conclusion
In summary, the modest size of Georgian drinking glasses was shaped by a blend of technological limitations, manufacturing challenges, social drinking customs, and government taxation policies. The difficulty in producing large, clear, flawless lead glass, combined with the widespread availability of multiple types of alcohol and the punitive Glass Tax, all contributed to this now charming historical feature of 18th and early 19th-century glassware. Today, these small glasses remain as tangible reminders of a time when craftsmanship, practicality, and economic pressures shaped even the size of a simple drink.