6 Coloured Spiral Stems
The next step, to coloured or “mixed” spirals, was obvious, but not very often taken at English glassworks: most of the red and white spiral stems now seen came from Holland or Liège. However, at Bristol red and white, and blue and white, spiral stems were made; they are known by the ruby red and the peculiar Bristol blue. Yellow and white, purple and white, and green and white spirals are known; rare indeed is a three-colour spiral. Coloured twist stems were only made in England about the end of the eighteenth century. An almost constant feature of tri-coloured stems made in Holland or at Liège is a wavy central tube of white, with coloured spirals around it, swelling or contracting to suit the usually bulbous shape of the stem.