Bristol Blue Glass Finger Bowl

This blue glass finger bowl, dating from the early 19th century, was made in Bristol by Jacobs’ Glass. The company was founded in the late 18th century by Lazarus Jacobs and his son Isaac. Following his father’s death, Isaac became one of the most celebrated makers of Bristol blue glass and counted George III as one of his clients.

Lazarus was an important member of the early Bristol Jewish community, which was founded in the 1750s, and paid for the building of a synagogue in Temple Street. Although there had been an important community in Bristol during the medieval period, it was only following the readmission of the Jews to England in 1656 that communities again began to form throughout the country, including in a number of towns in the South West.