A really interesting pair of thick and shallow glasses each with a very specific purpose for each.
The glass on the left in the first photo is a penny lick glass, this was a small glass for serving ice cream, used in England in the late nineteenth century. Street vendors would sell the ice cream in the glass for one penny. The glass was usually made with a thick glass base and a shallow depression in the deceptively thick glass top, in which the ice cream was placed. The customer would lick the glass clean and return it to the vendor, who would reuse it; they were expensive items that vendors did not want to lose. The 'lick' glasses were banned from public use in London in 1898 because of the fear of spread of disease - as the street vendors did not always clean them between customers.
The glass on the right has etched around the rim 'Benoit Serres Valence Agen Fruits'. This particular glass was produced in the 1920s period when the company diversified into producing whole prunes preserved in liqueur (Agen is famous for its prunes). This shallow glass would have been used in a bistro to serve one fruit with a little liqueur. The Benoît Serres Distillery, located in Valence-d'Agen 1870, was originally founded in 1841 Haut-Quercy. During its time in Valence-d'Agen, the distillery specialized in fruit liqueurs, spirits, syrups, and traditional triple secs.
It is also possible that the penny lick glass could have been used in exactly the same manner as the Benoit Serres glass once the penny lick had lost its use.
The glass was pressed and these are quite heavy with thick glass. I've tried to show the shallow inside bowl with the presence of the marble.
In good condition, complete with fabrication bubbles and lines, without chips or cracks. Please see all the photos.
