GLASS CIRCLE
NEWS
EDITORS
No. 13 ROUND AND ABOUT
David Watts
27 Raydean Road
Barnet, Herts. ENSlAN
Gabriella Gros
9 Harman Drive
London, N.w.2. 2EB
F-ebruary 1980.
This is our first “News” of the 1980
1s so we wish all our
Members a very happy New Year and a prosperous New Decade.
The last decade went out with a bang and 1979 certainly kept all
glass enthusiasts on their toes. We have seen a quite phenomenal increase in
the interest glass has provoked, ·not only in the collector’s field but also in
the application of modem glassmaking and glass art in current, everyday life.
You must have noticed the decline in popularity of the silver trophy cup, for
instance, and with the present trend of rising prices in precious metals,
it
could easily disappear entirely in the future. It has, however already been
gloriously replaced by the crystal cup or bowl, always very fineiy decorated by
one of our best engravers.
This again emphasizes the exceptionally fine work which is now
produced by Enalish glass artists, notably by members of the Glass Engravers
Guild, who have shown so• of their best achievements to the public in the now
regularly held exhibitions. We are proud that a number of the finest glass
engravers are also members of our Circle.
Also, in the modern theme, we must not neglect the great revival
of the stain~d glass window -mentioned before in these pages. Quite recently
a new window was installed at Singleton Parish Church, near Chichester, depicting
a aet of telephonist’s headphones and a church warden’s stave in memory of Miss
Patsy Wells who, obviously, was telephonist and church warden in Singleton.
On the industrial scene, it does seem as if finally the idea of a
glass “Bottle Bank” is beginning to pay dividends. What was initially a clean
ing-up campaign has turned into a permanent project. There are about~50 bottle
banks at present, “installed in conjuction with local authorities who provide
skips and storage areas and are paid for the cullet at index-linked prices”.
The Glass Manufacturers Federation states that p~ovided the authority is within
150 miles of a glass works and can collect one tonne of glass per week per skip
then it will not lose. If the supply of cullet is suficient and guaranteed,
glaasmakers could treble the amount of waste glass used in the furnace.
So• don’t throw
away your bottle -find out if there is a Bank in your vicinity.
Students of early
glass have seen some unique pieces appearing on
the market. There was the Verzelini Goblet last May, pought for
£100 000, and
the incredible Constable-Maxwell Roman cage cup (and what a marvellous Christmas
card
this made; on behalf of the Circle, thankyou Mr and Mrs Constable-Maxwell)
which
sold for the incredible amount of over half a million pounds sterling,
although the buyer has remained shrouded in mystery to date! This was one of
the most exciting glass sales to have been held at Sotheby’s, and although many
prices were high, there were a number of exquisite items within reach of the
average collectors purse. The first recorded example of Biedermeier Glass with
more than one portrait engraved by Dominik Biemann was sold at Sotheby’s in
December to a Gemian dealer for £8 500. It
is inscribed “Franzensbad 1849″ and
portrays three children on raised oval medallions. In that year, Lt.Col Henry
Eyre’s family was the only one from England visiting the Spa, and tt is suggested
that the portraits may be of his children. In December, too, Sotheby’s
Belgravia sold a Galle cameo glass lamp for £14 000 to a Japanese dealer. It
was in the form of
a pink water lily rising from bronze leaves and bulrushes.
4 the same sale an art deco vase by Bakalowitz Sohne, design~d by Josef Hoffman
(Vienna) and mounted in metal and wood, fetch~d £9 500.
The 8th Congress of the International Association for the History
of Glaas opened on a rainy September day (the 18th) and on this occasion the
Circle had the pleasure of an opening talk -delivered in French -by Professor
A.atone Gaaparetto of Venice and author of the notable book
1111 Yetro Murano”.
-z-
he main theme of Professor Gasparetto’s lectu e was the nfluence of certain
Brtti h busines men on the Italian glassmaking industry during the 17th C.,
ar icul rly in factories in Tuscany, such as p·sa and Florence. There was a
fruitful lia
on and trading into the 18th c., and it is interesting to note that
he anci
nt Mu eno traditions, l~ws and jealousies, privil ges and punishments
, re still &t • tly upheld in th slater period.
The r _ itself ~as ;• 11 attended with delegates from East and West.
Th progra.
1 ery full ~1e indeed and the topics, covered chronologically,
ranged
fro r 1 • , :..”‘ ry to con .r 1porary art glass and whether it should be so
named. Fr-· . of us who only readily understand english the multilingual
,resentatio, -he lecture theatre, often only poorly supported by slides,
required a f~i- gree of concentration and
it was a great pleasure later to
relax and en’,ythe numerous exhibitions and receptions laid on for the occasion.
The social e ening hosted by the trustees and Director of the Museum of London
and the Glass Circle (with significant assistance from the Cinzano Company, who
kept our glasses well-filled) helped set the seal on the national character of
this particular congress. What better place can there be to meet friends, old
and new, than a building designed to capture ~e spirit of London? And what a
pleasure to see those magnificent,-Garton balusters on display again; they are
surely much too fine to spend most of their 1 fe hidden away. Our particular
thanks go to Wendy Evans for her behind-the-scenes activities. Another memor
able event was the dinner at Trinity College, Oxford, magnificently served by
white-coat~~ first-year students in the feudal surroundings of the dining hall,
lit by dozens of silver table candelabra(e), enhanced by the gleam of the college
silver distributed along the polished refectory tables. For our treasurer, at
least, the words “stuffed pike” have taken on a new significance since this
event! Nor can’we omit mention of the hospitality of the British Museum with
its outstanding exhibition (and catalogue) of The Golden Age of Venetian Glass,
masterminded by Congress President, Hugh Tait, or the Victorian exuberance of the
Victoria and Albert Museum which hosted the last day of the London end of a very
successful congress and brought ua up to date with a noteworthy exhibition of
Modem Glass
c. 1900-1950.
And so we waved farewell to the lucky ones heading north, taking in
Bedford, Cheater and Liverpool for the last leg of the congress but we can
take
up the story again with the post-congress tour taking in Glasgow and thmEdinburgh.
0ne·remembers Pollok House, a marvellous 18th
C. Adam-designed building where
Brian
Blench, of the Glasgow Museum, acted as host; we admired the astonishing
collections of paintings at the Glasgow and Edinburgh Museums, the fascinating
nd well-arranged exhibition of modem glass by Scottish artists in the converted
wine cellars of
a demolished Victorian hotel, and the fine glass, in vast quantity,
p cially displazed and arranged for us in the Edinburgh Royal Scottish Museum by
Revell Oddy, whofwe also thank for his personal hospitality. The delegates will
recall the severe grandeur of Edinburgh Castle in the mellow autumn sunshine –
indeed~••
many locals maintained, the only sunshine worthy of mention in Edinburgh
th t year -and the walk along the Royal Mile with its busy, traditionally-stocked
shops. The special display of local glass associated with the Ford family and th e
Holyrood
Flint Glass Works was less well attended than it should have been,
probably because the heavy progranme was beginning to take its toll, but our
special thanks go to the staff of the Huntly House Museum who worked through
their lunch hour to get it ready for us, as will those of a wee local bairn who
wandered in by accident and found himself confronted by a alistenin& cut glass
eperane taller than himself -a truly memorable experience for anybody!
The journey back to London led through Northumberland and Yorkshire,• t
:p•
ping
at York to admire the stained glass of the Minster, then on to flat Nor:ol
country with its many beautiful churches scattered in splendid isolation,
•:i
listening to Hugh Tait’s admirable travelogue en route. We were sori ~ot mo:t
the Bowes Museum as time was too abort, but we did manage a glimpse O tt:wer and
interestiag of early cathedrals, Ely, with its unique octagonal lan~:X-:.re alao
the fascinating collection of stained glass which ia kept ther • Fitzwilliam
fortunate in being invited to in pect the al•• coll ction at th_
th ti to
Mu um in Cambrld& ……… , … ~.•• •tr•~~– 1
• e- 11 or ua
-3
hu~c i ul touT, nhanc d by marv llous Seo t sh
m ng impr s ion of how much good glass can b
um c ~inets, tockrooms· and priv
t collections,
rem in to be don in this fi ld.
MAY HAPPY TURNS
un ~in• and w th n
brought out from dusty
nd of how much r 4 arch
Katherine Worsley, founder member who has contributed so much to th~1
Circle, acting as treasurer and secretary for a number of years, celebra ed
her 80th birthday towards the end of 1979. As a token of our appreciat ~on
and affection she was presented with a hamper of goodies (from shh -you know
where) and we send her our sincere good wishes.
MUliNO UOPENS MUSEUM
The famous Museo Vetrario has been reopened on the island of Murano.
Sadly neglected in the past, it has now been rearranged and reconstructed by
the architect, Umberto Franzoi, in its splendid home, the
Palazzo Giusti ian,
and contains several new features such as a reconstructed 18th C. dining oom
incorporating the
use of glass both in decor and furniture. The museum
contents
highlights the great Venetian contribution to glass development, but
also contains notable specimens of Spanish, Bohemian and English glass, ad
covers glassmaking techniques from the Roman era to modern times. Presei~t
day Murano factories occasionally attempt to copy some of the early speci~ens,
and the techniques involved, including cameo, but thus far not very
success•
. fully, and at considerably high selling prices.
COUICTIONS! CORRECTIONS!
It would seem that the information passed on to us about The Nations
larly American Glass Club contained enough mistakes to run a competition.
Paul Hollister from
New York(I hope he doesn’t turn out to come from Buffs~lo!)
points out some errors in our No.11 G.C. News. The Club has about 1 400
members rather than 14 000. Also, they do not come from “nearly every stlate
in the Union” but from 18 out of the SO
states. There are 37 local chapbers
in these 18 states. President
holds office for two years. The present
president is Mrs P. Joel Davis. The eight chapters in Maryland stat~ als
put out a glass newsletter called “Gatherings”. We hope they don’t think urs
should be renamed “Wool Gatherings”! Our apologies to all concet”:1ed.
Not our
fault this time, Mr Hcgh Wakefield has pointed out that on pa e 88
of Glass Circle III the
trade mark of the firm of Henry Greener, S~nderlan~~, is
in~orrectly reversed. This may result
from the incorrect reversal of the
mark in hia own book “Nineteenth Century British Glass”
published in 1961. In
thie instance the error was copied from a late nineteenth century Greener
advertisement in the Pottery Gazette. The
mark will be correctly printed in
the second edition of his book, which is in an advanced state of preparati~n.
GLASS CIRCLE MEETINGS
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
at the Artworkers Guild, 16th October, 1979
This, as always, proved a popular and convivial occasion and, under
genial guidance of our President, official business was speedily dispatche.
We should particularly
r~cord here our continuing debt of gratitude to the
officers; Janet Benson, who keeps us all informed and makes light of a not
inconsiderable quantity of Circle paperwork, Philip Whatmoor, who keeps
t
Circle in financial balance and the subscription minimal in spite of the
inual erosion of inflation, and, of courtt9,
Robert Charleston who,in addit n
to his unmatched erudition in the chair or as speaker, never ceases his b ind
the-scenes activities on behalf of us all. To these three and all those wo
µ-eely give their time to proOlQte the continuing success of the Glass Cir le
w say a hearty thankyou. • •
Mr Charleston, together with Mrs Morris
and Mrs Bell then proceeded t
discuss a wide variety of glass specimens that both challenged
I
‘ I
1
@
t
B
A
l
p
D
1
-4- They ranged from the ancient to the modern although there was no Roman glas this
•ime. Notable
too is the fall off in 18th C. English glass ref ecting the fact
hat the rarer specimens
are pricing themselves out of the ordinary collectors
market. One, however,
with evenly spaced enamel threads running down through the
round funnel owl attracted some attention both as to date and provenance. Another
find
wa a signed glass painting of great beauty the story of which reflected the
apho·ism.that fortune favours the prepared mind. Mrs Morris provided yet another
exampl of how the 19th
c. engravers sought their inspiration in the currently
available classical drawings that, with patience and diligence, could be tracked
o their source. A crissled tazza turned up that had all the hallmarks of an
early Ravenscroft …. and many more contributions,each with its own interest. A
truly delightful evening. Thanks to our hosts, Mr and Mrs Holloway, Mr and Mrs
Miller and Mr John Scott.
FRENCH GLASS ~y Mr Charles Trueman at the Westminster Hospital, 15th November 1979.
Mr Trueman began by reviewing early accounts of French glass and the light they
shed on an early thriving industry. By the mid 18th C. there were some 300 glass
houses at work of which 250 have been identified. These produced mostly conmon glass
and no crystal. As the century advanced the demand for conman glass declined while
that for clear glass, such as was produced in northern France, increased.
This led
to both export, to Canada and Portugal in particular, and to imports of newly popular
yles. The revolution took its toll and many glasshouses went under, particularly
in Normandy.
Different authors offer different classifications of the qualities of 18th
c.
&lass but these seem to resolve into three or four sorts; verre fougere or verre
curette for the cheapest possible glass, an improved quality using Spanish soda, a
potash-lime crystal and a crystal with 23-327. lead. Opaque and red glass were also
produced. Styles o~ manufacture, originally inferred from paintings etc. have been
recently supported by excavations at sites in Canada with authenticated histories.
Finds show drinking.glasses of the thin hollow-steDllled type coamonly supporting round
funnel or
trumpet bowls, frequently with moulded decoration. Some imitated or parall
eled Inglish styles, particularly the Silesian steumed goblet, in a crissled metal.
In Canada, lead glass seems to have been reserved for the larger jugs and serving
vesaele, some with lids. The usual range of household items was produced. .
This intricate area of glaaamaking produced a lively discussion, particularly on
the question of where French glass ended and glass of the Low Countries begins?
The hosts weTe Mr and Mrs Montgomery, Miss Russell and Mr Riumer.
WELCOME TO NEW MINBERS
We are pleased to welcome our new membersi many of whom we met for the first time
at
the lntemation Congress for the History of Glass. They are,
Mr Jorge Alarcao (Inst. of Archaeology,Coimbra, Portugal); Mr 1. Burgoyne(Pilkington
Gla
a Musem, St Helens), Mrs M Cognioul-Thiry (Musee du Verre, Charleroi, Belgium),
Dr
C. Lattimore (Caxton, Cambridge), M. Claude Laydu (Paris), Mrs I.Loosen (Koln,
Germany), Mr and Mrs
F. Mawer (Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts.), Dr V.A. Michel (Amersham,
Bucks.), Mr D. Sanderson (School of Archaeological Sciences, Bradford), and Mrs
G. Wo~dsworth (London, W.l.)
To our overseas members in particular, please write and tell us about glass
exhibitions and other activities in your area
FAUW£1,L TO AN OLD FRIEND
We sadly record the death in a car accident of Mrs
J. Cadogan. She was• devoted
lover of old glass and staunchly supported the Glass Circle over
many year&.
CATALOGUE OF THE CONSTABLE MAXWELL COLLICTION OF ANCIENT GLASS
Maggs Bros. Ltd. of 50, Berkeley Square are now pleased to offer t~is :
0!:- to
memb r
O the Glass Circle only at the privilaged price of £16-00, .Po:t•I f £ 20 .oo
packing tl-05 extra. This is a special concession ori the ori&inalfprh~: :ff r.
and members are urged not to delay if they wish to take advant•&• 0 t
Please mark your letter for the attention of Mr T. Barley.
••• oOo •••