Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Late 20th Century Northern Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
Late 20th Century Northern Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
Late 20th Century Irish Belle Époque Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1980s Irish Modern Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal, Brass
1980s Irish Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
People Also Browsed
2010s French Louis Philippe Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
Late 20th Century Japanese Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
18th Century British George III Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Sterling Silver
Early 1900s English Neoclassical Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Gold Plate
1960s English Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Gold
1980s English Neoclassical Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Porcelain
1890s German Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Porcelain
Late 20th Century British Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Glass
Late 20th Century Irish Victorian Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1960s German Rococo Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Gold
1770s English Georgian Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Creamware
Late 18th Century English Georgian Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Mahogany
1940s American Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Irish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
18th Century Irish Georgian Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1780s English George III Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Porcelain
Recent Sales
Late 20th Century Great Britain (UK) Neoclassical Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Cut Glass
1980s Northern Irish Retro Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Late 20th Century North American Hollywood Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Brass
Mid-20th Century Irish Edwardian Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal, Sterling Silver
20th Century Northern Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal, Brass
Late 20th Century Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Glass
Late 20th Century Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal, Brass
1970s Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1970s Irish Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1970s Irish Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1960s Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Irish International Style Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Glass
Late 20th Century Northern Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1980s Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1980s Irish Edwardian Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Irish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal, Brass
1990s German Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
1970s Irish Regency Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal
20th Century Northern Irish Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
1990s Irish Beaux Arts Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Crystal, Silver Plate
20th Century Vintage Waterford Crystal Lismore
Glass
Waterford Crystal for sale on 1stDibs
Among glassware aficionados, the name Waterford has earned a place of eminence — both for antique crystal vases, glasses, chandeliers and serveware made by the original Irish company in the 18th and 19th centuries, and for new versions of the firm’s classic patterns produced after its rebirth in the 1940s. With either iteration, Waterford is a byword for traditional elegance.
Waterford crystal was born of a tax loophole. In 1783, business-minded brothers George and William Penrose founded the Waterford Glass House in southeastern Ireland because Irish glass was exempt from steep British import duties. The two wanted to make fine-quality wares and hired artisans from England, including master glassmaker John Hill. The factory’s flint glass — a precursor to lead crystal — soon won a clientele among British and continental aristocrats.
One of Hill’s aesthetic innovations was to polish glassware after a pattern was cut, to buff off the resulting frosted surface. The look became a Waterford trademark. Through the fame of its wine goblets, claret jugs and decanters, the firm continued to win honors at the many industrial expositions of the early Victorian era. But over those years, higher and higher luxury excise taxes were placed on fine crystal. Waterford products became prohibitively expensive, and the company closed in 1851.
The brand’s renown was still intact when it was revived in 1947 by a Czech glass manufacturer named Charles Bacik, who moved to Ireland after the Communist takeover of his country. For centuries, the region now called the Czech Republic had been the great glassware center of Middle Europe — the source of crystal to legendary Viennese glass design firms such as Lobmeyr and Bakalowits. So Bacik brought with him the master glassblower and designer Miroslav Havel.
In Dublin, Havel studied the old Waterford style book archives kept in the National Museum. He used these classic patterns as the basis for new ones such as Lismore, with its crosshatching and flame-like vertical cuts, and Alana, with its heavily textured diamond cuts. Past and present are thus linked at Waterford.
Introduced in 1991, the Marquis by Waterford range of vases, bowls and other wares were priced for everyday use and were intended for use in modern homes. It was the first new brand debuted by the company in what was then its more than two-century history.
As you will see on 1stDibs, antique or recently made, Waterford crystal is the essence of refinement.
Find Waterford crystal vases, serveware and other collectibles for sale on 1stDibs.