Art Deco Pink Pressed Glass Dessert Service, Serving Bowl and Four Dishes

This coral pink dessert service is Art Deco glass at its most cheerful. It comprises a large scalloped serving bowl and four matching individual dishes, each raised on a stepped square pedestal foot with a fluted, petal edged bowl above. The soft pink glass glows when the light passes through it, and the ribbed moulding catches and scatters that light across a table.

The little dishes are the charm of the set, lifted up on their pedestal feet so they sit like small footed goblets. The serving bowl measures 21 x 8 cm and the sundae dishes 11 x 8 cm each, a practical size for ice cream, trifle, fruit or a summer posset. Pink pressed glass like this was made in England through the 1930s by glassworks such as Sowerby, Bagley and Davidson, produced for everyday homes yet designed with real Art Deco flair, which is why it has become so collectable.

Condition is good throughout, with bright, clear colour and crisp moulding, all shown closely in the photographs. Small variations and tiny bubbles within the glass are natural to pressed glass of this age and part of its character.

A set like this is very useful as well as pretty. Bring it out for a dinner party where the pink will flatter any pudding, or display the dishes stacked with the bowl alongside for a hit of vintage colour in a dresser or a glass cabinet. It mixes beautifully with other coloured glass, and a group of pink and amber together looks wonderful with the sun behind it. A complete matching service is far harder to find than odd survivors, which makes this one worth keeping together.