The Glass Cone_No.103 Summer-Autumn 2013

The Glass Cone

ISSUE NO.103

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Contents

1 Who Made That Glass? Thomas Walton – part 2
5 The Victoria & Albert Museum
and the William Bell Scott Windows

7 Gray-Stan Glass at the National Glass Fair

9 Glassmaking in Hungary – part 1
12 The Ian Robertson Collection of engraved glass: an overview

14 New Glass – Ancient Skill, Contemporary Artform

16 Country Seat Retirement Sale

18 National Glass Centre Revitalised

20 Members pages

21 What’s on

Chairman’s message

Editor: John Keightley editoroglassassociation.org.uk

Editorial Board
Charles Hajdamach, Mark Hill, Brian Clarke,

Gaby Marcon,Yvonne Cocking, Bob Wilcock

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Cone

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The opinions expressed in the
Glass Cone
are those

of the contributors. The aim of the Editorial Board is to
cover a range of interests, ideas and opinions, which

are not necessarily their own. The decision of the

Editorial Board is final.

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Summer: 21 May — publication 1 August

Autumn: 21 August — publication 1 November

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Published by The Glass Association

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Website: www.glassassociation.org.uk

Life President:
Charles Hajdamach

[email protected]

Chairman:
Dr Brian Clarke:

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Hon. Secretary:
Judith Gower

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Membership Secretary
Pauline Wimpory,150 Braemar Road, Sutton Goldfield,

West Midlands, B73 6LZ

[email protected]

Committee
Paul Bishop (Vice-Chairman); Jackie Fairburn;

Christina Glover; Alan Gower; Judith Gower; Mark Hill;

Jordana Learmonth; Gaby Marcon; John Keightley;

Kari Moodie; Rebecca Wallis; Maurice Wimpory
(Treasurer)

Membership and subscriptions
Individual: £25. Joint: £35. Student with NUS card: £15.

Institutions: UK £45. Overseas £35. Overseas

Institutions £55. Life: £350. Subscriptions due on

1 August (if joining May—July, subscriptions valid until
31 July, the following year)

Cover illustrations

Front: A
17th-century decanter from Hungary

(see page 11).

Back:
A pair of vases designed by Keith Murray

(1892-1981) in the mid 20th century and
produced by Royal Brierley of Stourbridge

before they closed in the 1980s.
THE committee warmly welcomes our new

editor, John Keightley, an academic and
collector whose knowledge and love of
glass has progressed whilst working in the

auction world. He has now enthusiastically

accepted the position of editor of
The Glass

Cone
and will be working together with the

Editorial Board, especially our past-editor,
Gaby Marcon. A big thank you to Gaby for
her work in producing a quality magazine

over the last few years.
Many thanks also to Attila Sik and his

partner Zsuzsanna Molnar, who at the 11th

hour and with additional help from our dear

member Maurice, took over from Gaby the
planning of the recent trip to Vienna and

Budapest. We have received numerous
congratulatory emails for the superb

organisation of the trip. Well done Attila and

Zsuzsanna. (Part 1 of their ‘Glassmaking in
Hungary’ starts on page 9).
Thanks and wishing a great future to

retiring committee members: Jackie Fairburn,
for contributing thoughts, advice and
organisation for so many years and to Roger

Dodsworth. Roger, an original member of

the Glass Association (GA), followed on
from Charles Hajdamach to become the

Keeper of Glass at the Broadfield House
Glass Museum (BHGM).
We are delighted to welcome to the GA

committee a dedicated group of younger,

energetic, glass enthusiasts including Kari
Moodie, who for many years was the ‘Glass

Interpretation Officer’ at BHGM, and has
now taken up the position of ‘Keeper of

Glass and Fine Art’ at the museum –
congratulations on accepting this important
post with probably the best 20th century

glass collection in the country. We are also
delighted to be joined by Rebecca Wallis

now at the V&A and passionately involved
with their glass collections.
Please look at our website and the

‘Members’ and ‘What’s on’ pages, for more

glass NEWS, including our AGM event this

year. Part 2 of Sally Haden’s article on

Thomas Walton is entertaining: we look
forward to more of her research on
glassmaking in Japan.
The envisaged trip to Catalunya, staying

in Barcelona will be revisited in 2015 – the

Glass Circle (GC) intending to offer a visit to
the USA next year. Both the GA and the GC

are looking forward towards an eventual

joining of activities; the discussions and

negotiations between us are ongoing
and we intend to keep you closely informed
of progress.
Our AGM this year is taking place on

Saturday 19 October (booking flyer enclosed)
at Ruskin Mill, with exciting lectures and in
particular a visit to the Webb Corbett works

below the function rooms. We hope to see

many of you on a very interesting day.

Brian Clarke

The Glass Cone

THE MAGAZINE OF THE GLASS ASSOCIATION

Issue No: 103 — Summer/Autumn 2013

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Who Made That Glass?

Identifying Victorian glass makers and manufacturers:
Thomas Walton (1833-1897)

PART TWO: 1874-1897

Sally Haden

IN the summer of 1874 a British
flint glass manufacturer, Thomas

Walton, left his family in Manchester
and embarked on a ship bound for
Japan. He had been engaged to

help the Japanese found their
country’s first Western-style glass
factory, advising as a manufacturer

and overseeing the construction and
operation of some furnaces.

This article forms the second half
of an account of Thomas’s life, the

first half having appeared in ‘Glass Cone 102’.

Part One described how he acquired his skills

working closely with his extensive glassmaking
family in their several glasshouses across Britain.

Part Two here discusses his work in Japan and the

manufacturing success he had with his brothers

once he returned home to Lancashire.

Further articles in later ‘Glass Cone’ editions will
continue the story of how modern glassmaking

evolved in Japan under British influence, through
Fig.1: The glassworks at

Shinagawa, Japan’s first
Western-style industrial

glass factory, beside Japan’s
first railway from Tokyo

to Yokohama. Sheet

glasshouse on right, flint

glasshouse back left.
Photograph taken about

1881.
Album or Collection of

Japanese Views, reprinted
courtesy of Ozawa Takeshi
accounts of the lives of the three

other British glassmakers who

went to work at the same factory.
Most glass collectors think of
Japan in terms of the great

influence that the country’s art and
culture had on the West, unaware
that influence flowed both ways.

While Christopher Dresser and
others were amazing the Victorians

with what they observed in Japan,
the Japanese were hungrily

making notes about everything they could find in the

West, from fashionable top hats to steam ships,
democratic institutions to cutlery, schools to glass

windows and tableware. They wanted it all; they

wanted to make these things themselves.

This series of articles about the four men who assisted
with the development of Japan’s modern glass
industry will shed light on how Western-style
glass manufacturing was first transmitted to

Japan between 1874 and 1883, at the invitation

of that country.

Fig.2: The traditional

Japanese window was a
shoji’— a sliding screen of

wood and paper.

Illustration from ‘Notes on
Shippo, a sequel to Japanese

enamels’ by J.L. Bowes, 1895

A Japanese industrial revolution

DURING the previous 200 years or so, while the

Industrial Revolution erupted in Britain and
the West was transforming itself in every way,
Japan had kept apart from the rest of the
world in self-imposed isolation. But when

foreign powers forced themselves upon the
Japanese in the 1850s the country quickly

resolved to modernise – a titanic effort
accomplished within only about 50 years.
Thomas Walton’s four-year term in the

country forms a good example of how this was

achieved. For such an independent and proud
people as the Japanese, it would have been

unthinkable to allow Western interests to take over

the country’s economy, as had happened in India

and China. Instead they sought individual skilled men

who would come to Japan, advise, teach and build,

and then return home. As an independent expert and
British, Thomas was typical of the thousands who
worked in Japan in the 1870s and 1880s, in manu-

facturing, education and engineering.
When the engines began to turn and the

infrastructure mushroomed in Japan, the people
wanted Western-style homes and public
buildings. But bricks and sheet glass were

unknown; wood was the principal building

material and windows were made of bamboo
and paper. The Japanese had long believed
that glass was too precious and fragile for

everyday items and so production had been
small-scale and high-value, typically beads and

ritual objects.
In 1873 two Japanese businessmen formed

a company for the manufacture of window glass.

When advice came from Britain that the project

as outlined would be unsustainable, they went ahead

anyway and began to build a factory at Shinagawa,

then on the fringe of their new capital, Tokyo, and
sought a Western expert to oversee its start-up.’

Hard work and a tragedy

ALTHOUGH it was still under construction when he

arrived in September 1874, Thomas must have been

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

John Walton b.1773

John

Richard
(Uncle)

Samuel

(`Uncle)

b.1800
b.1804

b.abt 1810

Thomas

(‘Tom
Snr’)

b.1802

sons
John George
b.1828

Thomas
b.1833

Samuel
b.1835

Richard
b.1836

George
b.1838

William
b.1848
son

Samuel
b.1838
(‘Cousin)

and

son-in-law
Daniel Yates
son

Richard
b.1837
(`Cousin)

and

brother-in-law

William Malpass

5 sons

excited by his first sight of the glassworks

and looking forward to the challenges ahead.
He had been engaged with wages around

five times higher than an experienced glass-

maker could earn in Britain at that date, with

his passages and basic accommodation

needs met. Moreover his wife and children
were to join him soon for the experience of

a lifetime.
He was amply qualified for the job. As

described in Part One of this article, Thomas

was experienced in all aspects of glass-

making thanks to the challenges his father
had set him and the wider family. He later
said of himself that his work in Japan was

to superintend the erection of some glass-
making furnaces; this presented him with

many difficulties, but like his father he thrived
on challenge and was very self-motivated.
However, nothing could have prepared

him for the news he received while waiting
for his wife and children to arrive. In February
1875 Jane Walton and their five children –

aged 4 to 14 – were aboard the ‘fast China

liner’
Hong Kong
on their way to join him.

The ship had passed through the Suez

Canal and was almost in the Indian Ocean
by 22 February, when at 5am it hit a sub-

merged rock. The passengers and crew
all scrambled into lifeboats but the
Hong

Kong
foundered so rapidly that one boat,

that of the Waltons, could not get away and

was dragged down with it. The bodies were

never recovered.
2

The tragedy must have deeply affected

Thomas but he stayed at his post, tackling
a host of glasshouse issues. The start of
glassmaking was seriously delayed while he

made adjustments to the flues and tunnels,
trying to get the sheet-glass furnace
operational. Far from home and the experts

he would normally have called upon for

help, and having to wait months for supplies
to arrive by ship, he would have been

thrown very much upon his own resources.
For instance, crucibles sent from England
Fig.3: The flint glasshouse

(the left of the two buildings)

constructed under the supervision
ofThomas Walton 1876-77.

Photographed 1962.
Reprinted by

courtesy of Meijimura Musuem, Japan

were damaged
en route

so he

had to begin training Japanese

men to make them.

Life cannot have been

comfortable. In the glasshouse

he would have needed inter-
preters to work with him, and

beside the furnace, the heat and humidity

of Tokyo’s summer must have been almost

unbearable. Out in the streets danger lurked,

for a few Japanese people still harboured
anger against the ‘hairy barbarians’ who

had ‘invaded’ their land. There had been
some violent murders.
But window glass had to be made; the

viability of the whole project depended on it.

When trial after trial with Japanese glass-
blowers, whom Thomas had been training,

produced nothing satisfactory and finances
were running out, the government had to

step in to prevent manufacturing collapse.

More hard work

AS part of a sweep by the government to

fast-forward key industries, the Shinagawa
glassworks was nationalised in 1876, and

required to establish a strong training

programme in all types of flint glassmaking.

This necessitated the construction of a new
and bigger glasshouse. The government
poured money into the project and offered

Thomas a second contract. He accepted.
He may have welcomed the opportunity

to stay on in Japan, perhaps not relishing

the thought of England now that his

immediate family situation had changed so
dramatically. Building a new glasshouse and

the problems with the first furnace, together
with the continual failure of sheet glass, all
gave Thomas something to concentrate on.
3

He was probably cheered by the overnight

doubling of his wages, pushing him into the

upper bracket of foreign experts’ salaries in

Japan and, now that he was a single man

again, giving him a chance to save up his

money for a future back home.
Flint glassmaking began in 1877.

Examples of glass from this early period

were not preserved, but training was started

and by the early 1880s a variety of simple

flint glass was being produced. The handful

of items which have survived will be

illustrated in the next article.

But for all his enjoyment of a challenge

and the high salary, Thomas must have

found his years in Japan very tough. No

amount of engagement with the glasshouse
could have really compensated for his loneli-

ness, although his compatriots probably did
their best to help him. Amongst Westerners
it was routine for any unattached man to be
strongly encouraged to take a temporary
Japanese ‘wife’, who might even bear the

man children. In the majority of cases all
association between them ceased when he
left the country.
4

Also, at work the bureau-

cracy that came with nationalisation would

have left him feeling frustrated.
Whatever Thomas’s experience, his day

of departure finally arrived. After four years of

hard work he left the Japanese to carry on
with their first modern glass factory and

arrived back in Lancashire in the autumn
of 1878. He had money in his pocket,

experience under his belt and perhaps a
plan or two under his hat.

Fig.4: Walton Family Tree, males. In bold, those who formed a close network

for Walton glassmaking in Lancashire.

In Thomas’s absence

MEANWHILE, back in Lancashire time had

not stood still. While Thomas was away the
three mainstays of Walton manufacturing

in and around Manchester – his father Tom

Senior and his two uncles Richard and

Samuel – had all died and with them had
gone their two glassworks, at Bolton and

Hulme. There the younger generation had

learned the various arts of flint glassmaking

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Fig.6: Walton flint glass made at Newton

–
le
–
Willows.

With thanks to Vicki Tipping, great grand daughter of George Walton. Author’s photograph.

from their elders and then begun to look

further afield.

Of that younger generation, which num-

bered eight, brothers Richard and George

migrated to Scotland in about 1864, their

brother Samuel went to work in Warrington

and, as we have seen, Thomas left for
Japan. In the mid-1870s just one was self-

employed, Thomas’s cousin Samuel. Upon

the 1873 sale of the Bolton factory which

his side of the family had owned, cousin
Samuel had opened a furnace in Newton-

le-Willows just to the west of Manchester;
in about 1877 this began to attract the

attention of Thomas and his brothers.
A leading influence amongst the Waltons

was now Thomas’s brother Richard, who

had always shown an interest in manage-

ment. For six years he had been in charge of
the prestigious Bathgate flint glassworks in

West Lothian, Scotland, and between about
1875 and 1877 he was in partnership with

E.H. Downs at Regent Road, Salford, where

he was probably manager.
5

A new factory

AT this point letters may have passed
across the seas between Richard and

Thomas, the former relating how cousin

Samuel in Newton-le-Willows was getting
on and the latter expressing some interest

in taking over the works upon his return.
Further research is needed to establish
details, but the events of the next few years

certainly suggest that Thomas with his

money from Japan, and Richard with an eye
to the future for the whole family (including

his own two sons), bought out their cousin.

Certainly by the time Thomas was back
home, the West Lancashire Flint Glass

Works — as they named it — was in full

production after an apparently shaky start,

Fig.5: Walton fern-engraved glass made at
Newton
–
le
–
Willows.
With thanks to Vicki Tipping, great

grand daughter of George Walton. Author’s photograph.
soon drawing all the other brothers and their

families into the town to pull together in a
thoroughly united Walton enterprise.
The factory was best known for lighting

shades, a speciality which cousin Samuel

had brought with him from Bolton. In 1882

they registered two designs, one for a
‘crimped gas shade’, the other for an

‘ornamental threaded design’, drawn on a

gas globe in the application. The latter was
`to be applied to ornament all kinds of

glassware’ and consisted of close, straight

horizontal threading applied to the upper
and lower thirds of the item with the middle
third left plain. Also, in common with many

Victorian flint glassworks the Waltons made
all kinds of tableware and ornaments, in
plain, coloured and cranberry glass, for

home and export markets.
Cousin Samuel developed a local dealer-

ship in lighting and oil, later becoming a

most successful undertaker. Amongst the

brothers, Richard, always ready to take
the lead, took charge of management while

George was the glass cutter and travelling

salesman. John George, the eldest and a

much-respected union member, made glass,
resolved internal labour problems and had

a local glass and china shop. Samuel and

William were skilled glassblowers.

Adjustment
BUT what of Thomas? What was his role

and how did he adapt to the relatively hum-
drum life of family and glassmaking in small-

town Lancashire, especially now that he
was unattached and had some money?

To everyone locally he must have seemed
part-tragic and part-heroic, someone they

could hardly understand, with experiences

which they could not begin to imagine.
Thomas took up his role in the community

as a partner in the factory, but Richard was

its public face, the manager. He probably
continued his interest in furnaces; indeed it

can be imagined that the first things Thomas

inspected at the factory when he arrived

home were the flues, caves and fuel-feeding
system to see if they were working efficiently.

But from time to time he may have sought
seclusion while he came to terms with the
past and adjusted to his new social status.

As other experts who were in Japan com-

mented: while there they had been
‘somebody’, once home they were ‘nobody’

and were expected to behave quite ordinarily

again.
6
How prosaic Newton-le-Willows may

have seemed to Thomas, at least for a while.

Fig.7: Ruby beaker, blown, thought to be Walton

glass. Handed down in the Spencer family of
Newton-le-Willows.

Photograph with thanks to Jen Fouts of Florida

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

–

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“.

P.
C
4
orrnr ty7v.
ec4cai

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A mortgage and a
marriage

IT is interesting that just as the glass trade in

Manchester began its gradual decline,

Newton-le-Willows flint glass began its rise.
By 1881 Richard was the employer of 87

men, women and children, some of whom
had come down with him from Bathgate
and Edinburgh. Three years later Richard and

Thomas were in a position to buy the
glassworks land and buildings, and to build

Legh Terrace, a double block of housing on

Crow Lane East beside the glassworks.

As the business grew, Thomas embarked

on a surprising renewal. Even if he was

inclined to be solitary at first, the 1881
census shows a woman living with him,
discreetly described as his ‘housekeeper’.

Mary Cheesebrough was young, certainly

young enough to bear him children, and he
was not yet 50, so nature took its course.

Within a short time his home was filled with
little ones, the ninth and last being born

Fig
–
.9: The house in Legh Terrace where Thomas,

Mary and their several children lived in the last
few years of his life.
Author’s photograph
Fig.8: Plan of theWalton

family glassworks in

Newton-le-Willows.
Drawn for Richard and
Thomas’s 1884 mortgage

application.

With thanks to D. Cropper

when he was 63. They

slipped up to Blackpool

to marry in the spring of

1893 and he retired from
the business two years

later. The remainder of

his days were spent with

Mary and their children

in the house shown in
fig.9,
a fortunate con-

clusion to a long and challenging life.

Thomas Walton died 30 September 1897,

age 64. Thanks to his generous provision for

them in his will, by 1901 Mary and the
children were living comfortably in a spacious

new terraced house on the outskirts of

Warrington, where she was a confectioner,

self-employed at home.
Richard, after being widowed around the

time of his brother’s death and having

tragically lost both his sons due to illness,
kept up the glassworks in a small way with

the help of his remaining brothers. But flint
glassmaking was a declining trade; nobody

in the family saw any future in it, so upon his
death in 1902 the factory was sold and the

last page in Walton glassmaking written.

Conclusion

THE story of Walton glass manufacturing is
that of a large, strong family who pulled

together all through the 19th century,

migrating and networking, sharing their skills,

adapting to economic circumstances and
taking risks. Their self-help approach was

typical of many Victorians, and their various

modest glassworks were probably like

many others across Britain in the second
half of the century – sometimes fleeting,
speculative events which failed, at other

times substantial and successful. After

learning from or partnering some of the best

names in the country at the time, such as
Joseph Price, Thomas Webb, James Couper

and the Turnbull family, the Waltons settled
into Lancashire’s glass industry from mid-
century, developing two lasting businesses.
It
was out of this solid background that

Thomas Walton, flint-glass manufacturer of
Manchester, emerged in the mid-1870s to

take on the considerable responsibility of

overseeing the start up of Japan’s first

industrial, Western-style glass factory. His
wide knowledge and experience, his entre-

preneurial family with all their connections,
and his independent spirit all made him

very suitable for the job. Then when his

contract was complete, he was able to

return with money, confidence and probably
valuable foreign contacts to found a new

Walton factory with his five brothers at

Newton-le-Willows. In his pioneering
outlook and strong character he was much

like his father who, had he survived to
witness it, would have been extremely

proud of such a positive conclusion to a

century of family glassmaking.

Author’s note: Only a minimum of references are
given because of space limitations. However the

author would be pleased to hear from anyone

who would like details, or who can offer further
information, at haden.sally@gmaiLcom or

www.hadenheritage.co.uk

Fig.10: Richard’s imposing front door in
Legh

Terrace. He was the principal partner at the

family glassworks.
Author’s photograph

ENDNOTES
1.
Sally Haden. ‘They went “to lam ’em”: British

glassmakers help to establish Japan’s first western-

style glassworks, 1874-1883′.
Glass Technology:

European Journal of Glass Science and Technology

A, February 2013, 54 (1), pp.25-30.

also
A. Inoue. ‘British influence on the Shinagawa

Glassworks – Japan’s first industrial glass factory’.

Ann. 16th Congr.,
AIHV, London 2003,
and
‘Kogyosha

and Shinagawa Glassworks (1) – The Establishment of

the First Western-style Glassworks in Japan’.
Glass,

J. Assoc. Glass Art Stud.,
2009, 52, pp.10-31.

2.
The Times,

27 February 1875.

3.
As sheet glass was so difficult and expensive to

make, Japan had no success with it until early in the
20th century.
4.
N. Pedlar.
The Imported Pioneers, Westerners who

helped build modern Japan,
Japan Library Ltd, 1990,

Folkstone, Kent. pp.60, 119.
5.
A partnership dissolution notice appeared in the

London Gazette,
7 September 1877. Directory entries

suggest that the Regent Road glassworks of John

Derbyshire was split into two parts and sublet during
the years of his bankruptcy.

6.
Pedlar, p.14.

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

The Victoria & Albert Museum and

the William Bell Scott Windows
Terry Bloxham

N the 1860s the Victoria & Albert

Museum, then known as the South

Kensington Museum, was extending

its buildings to the north and west

of its original site. The museum

officials wished to beautify these
buildings with painted walls and

ceilings, decorative tiling and stained

glass windows.
In 1867 William Bell Scott, artist

and poet, was asked by the then
director, Henry Cole, to create

windows for the first landing of the

Lecture Theatre and also windows
for the Ceramics Galleries (now the

Silver Galleries). It is likely that Cole
became acquainted with Bell Scott

through their mutual connections with
Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William
Morris. However, Bell Scott, when he
was master of the Newcastle School

of Design, had already been familiar
with Henry Cole. Upon hearing of

Cole’s appointment to the London

School of Design in 1852, Bell Scott
stated: ‘at last the School had a

man with a firm hand, a perceptive
judgment, naturally a leader and
organiser, as its head. Forthwith the
Pygmalion (sculpture), MulciberNulcan

(metalworking), Orpheus (music) and

Ceres (agriculture), the latter now
missing but described in the

museum’s archives. The Eastern
Landing windows illustrate scenes

from the lives of Giotto and Raphael

(fine art). Each of these ‘story’ panels
is accompanied by
(above)

geniuses

representing Science and Art, and

(below)
cherub/cupid-like figures with

implements of Science and Art.
Shortly after, Bell Scott designed

and executed windows for the
ceramic collections which were
displayed in the galleries below the

Lecture Theatre, now the Silver
Galleries. These windows illustrate the

history of the ceramic arts and ran
chronologically in conjunction with

the objects on display. Thus, fourteen

windows were created showing the

making of ceramics from the discovery
of kaolin in China through to 18th-
century English manufacture under

the guidance of Josiah Wedgwood.
The Lecture Theatre and the

Ceramic Galleries windows are
composed of clear glass, painted

Above:

The Mulciber Window in the Western Landing

ofthe Lecture Theatmirpresentingmetalworking.

Left:

The Genius of Painting in the Eastern Landing.

Right:

Giotto and Cirnabue in the Eastern Landing.

sky brightened and the sun began to

shine’. Undoubtedly, this support helped
to secure Bell Scott’s later commissions at

the South Kensington Museum!
William Bell Scott first created designs

for the four windows on the two staircase
landings outside the Lecture Theatre.

The windows were installed about 1871. The
subjects chosen for the Lecture Theatre
windows reflect the museum’s thematic

style — the Arts of Civilised Life and the

successful partnership between Science

and Art. The Western Landing windows
illustrate the mechanical arts with

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Left:

The Greek Window in the

Ceramics Galleries charting
the history of ceramics in

Ancient Greece.

Right

The MaiolicaWindow in
the Ceramics Galleries

showing the production
of Maiolica in

Renaissance Italy.

Below:

Conservation of the
Orpheus Window.

simply in dark pigment and silver stain. It does seem

an unusual choice given that other windows in the

museum were executed in more traditional leaded
coloured glass, but the decision was Bell Scott’s:

‘The windows are executed in a new manner, and

are the results of experiments undertaking
to produce decorative glass, without

modifying the light or materially decreasing
its amount … Regarding the style in
which the work is executed — colourless

and dingy interiors obscurely lit by the

intensest pot-metal, as glass coloured in
the making is called, is far from being an
excellent arrangement … it is now
generally felt that the daylight even in

churches should be preserved.’

A most unusual and most important

factor to note about the William Bell Scott
windows is that they are painted on

industrially-made glass — a type of glass
that was more usually used to roof the

new railway stations springing up all
around the country. This glass was
identified recently by Charles Brooking,

founder of the Charles Brooking Collection
of Architectural Detail, as ‘Hartley’s
Patented Rolled Plate’, patented by James Hartley

in 1847.

In 1909 the ceramic collections were relocated and

the decoration of its former galleries was considered

inappropriate for the new displays there. The then
director, Sir Cecil Smith, ordered the

removal of all the Bell Scott windows in

1912. The windows remained in non-
collection storage until the early 21st

century when it was decided to conserve

and reinstate the surviving Lecture Theatre

windows as part of the museum’s

FuturePlan. A public fundraising appeal was

launched and received generous support
which enabled the panels to be reinstalled

last Autumn. The windows were conserved
by Chapel Studio Stained Glass Ltd.

The V&A plans on reinstating other stained-
glass works made for the museum.
Until recently, William Bell Scott was not

known to have executed other paintings on
glass. We now know that he produced

about 13 brightly coloured painted
windows for the Royal Military Academy at

Woolwich in the early 1880s. Further
research on this interesting artist may turn

up other stained glass commissions.

THE GLASS CONE NO.103
SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Gray-Stan Glass

at the National Glass Fair
Basil Loveridge

Fig.5: Conical

cobalt blue vase,
with pulled-up

white enamel

swags, on folded

foot with octagonal,
moulded basal

knop.

Height 340mm.

first became interested in collecting

glass around 1980 but, as with

most beginners, it was in a rather

haphazard and indiscriminate way.

I initially collected Georgian glass –
anything pre-Georgian being beyond

my budget at the time – up to
contemporary studio glass.
My tastes gradually developed and

I found that English glass appealed
most, particularly from the 19th and
early 20th century.
It was after visiting the superb

1987 exhibition entitled ‘British Glass

Between the Wars’, held at the

Broadfield House Glass Museum,
that I became aware of this tremen-
dously creative period in glass design.

I was especially interested in pieces

by James Powell and Gray-Stan.
While there was a great deal of

interest in Powell glass in the 1980s,
particularly the 19th century pieces,

Gray-Stan was something of an
unexplored field and so provided a

fruitful area in which to collect.
In May this year I exhibited my

collection at the National Glass Fair.

In all, on show were 25 pieces in two
cabinets and this was the first time

such a large number had been
brought together in this way.
Although I haven’t exhibited at a

fair for a number of years, either
selling or otherwise, I found it a very

interesting experience and hopefully
the visitors enjoyed seeing the
display. I certainly enjoyed speaking

to them about the glass.
The venue for the fair, the Motor-

cycle Museum, is excellent, being

centrally situated near Birmingham

with motorway access. The

additional bonuses of free parking,
easy access to the halls, doors off the

car park and even a cafe on site

make this probably the best of its
kind in the country for selling glass.
Paul and Christina Bishop of

Specialist Glass Fairs work extremely
hard throughout the year to both
promote and arrange

the fair – nothing is too

much trouble. They ensure
everything runs smoothly,

from the provision of tables and
display cabinets for exhibitors,

to being on the spot to
answer any queries. This
positive and professional

attitude leads to a friendly and
welcoming atmosphere for all,

whether they are glass dealers,

collectors, experts, visitors with

intent or the simply curious!
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable

experience which we will be

repeating at the next sale in

November.

N Sheridan Morley’s biography of

Noel Coward, Morley relates how
as a child Coward attended stage

auditions with his mother and how
they would frequently bump into
another equally ambitious mother,

also anxious to launch her child’s

career on the stage.
That mother was Mrs Elizabeth

Graydon-Stannus and her daughter
was Edris, later to become Dame

Ninette de Valois, who founded the

Royal Ballet School among her other
achievements. Having successfully
dealt with her daughter’s career,

Mrs Graydon-Stannus then
turned to matters of
glass, and had some

success herself.
Born in Wicklow in

1876, Mrs Graydon-

Stannus’s forays into glass

appear to have begun as a dealer
in – as she claimed – ‘old Irish glass’.

She was soon advising collectors
on their purchases, as well as

making her own glass. This provided
a great temptation for a turnaround
of the old adage, perhaps, and

the change from gamekeeper to
poacher.
The Walter Harding

Collection, a fairly well-

documented

collection

which Mrs Graydon-Stannus

appears to have played a large
role in forming, includes
some very strange pieces –

exhibiting, for example, `nipt

diamond wais’, which were

late 17th-century embellish-

ments, with square-cut slab

feet. These would largely grace

vessels of the Regency period

over 100 years later. Rumours

of fakery and fraud abound,

particularly of Irish and Venetian

pieces.
Then we have the other side of

Graydon-Stannus production: namely,

her art glass. This began in 1926,
with premises in Battersea High

Street, where Mrs Graydon-Stannus
refused to allow machinery of any
sort to be used, stating her belief that

mechanism would stifle creativity and
that all of her glass should be

handmade. She gathered together
a small team of glassblowers

including a designer, A. Noel

Billinghurst, who also appears to have
been responsible for some engraving

on various pieces; their occurrence,

however, is extremely rare.
The main production was divided

into two types: Venetian-based
vases and bowls, and
vessels with marvered-
in mottled pastel
shades over an initial

mottled white layer.

Both types show a high

degree of glassblowing skill

in their execution and it is pertinent
to note that none other than

W.A. Thorpe rates one of Mrs
Graydon-Stannus’s gaffers – James
Manning – highly enough to carry a

quote of his, just after the title page

in Thorpe’s book,
English Glass:

`The gaffer has got to create his

own trade’.

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Fig.1: Vase, cylindrical with swelled base, red and blue patches

over white, cased in clear. Height 310mm.

Fig.2: Vase, of swelled base with cylindrical neck. Bands of
wrythen orange and yellow over white. Cased in clear glass.

Height 200mm.

Fig.3: Rib-moulded opalescent vase with applied amber tears,

on rib-moulded opalescent stem and foot. Height 260mm.

Fig.4: Cobalt blue vase, of swollen base and cylindrical neck,
with pulled-up aventurine swags. Height 190mm.

Illustrations courtesy of the author

The very distinctive Gray-

Stan shapes and colours were

enthusiastically received when

they appeared, as a new and

creative style of decorative

glassware after the unimaginative

mass-produced cut glass of the

time. ‘Death by a thousand cuts’

was how the traditional cut glass

came to be described by some

designers. The popularity of vessels

with marvered-in colours in pastel

shades was such that Gray-Stan
was just one of the factories at the

time which produced them. Green

was often used by Gray-Stan, but

there are examples in vivid reds,

blues, yellows and rich browns as
well as orange, purple and pink,

plus combinations of these. Similar
wares were produced by Moncrieff

in Perth, Nazeing in Hertfordshire,

Whitefriars in London and, on the
continent, WMF. Only Whitefriars,

however, matched the com-
petence of Gray-Stan.
The Venetian-style glass

owes something to the styles

of glassware made in Venice

from the 15th century onwards.

Tall vases, goblets with knopped

stems and ta77as were produced

with a variety of looped, trailed and

pulled-through enamel stringing,

usually in white on a dark green or
blue transparent body. Foot rims

were often folded up and over in the
continental style and tears were

applied to the goblets and vases. The
feet and knopped stems were given

moulded ribbing and the glass was
pincered and twisted with applied

coloured wings and handles.

Most Gray-Stan glass is signed

on the base either with an engraved

‘GrayStan’ or, later, ‘Gray-Stan’.

Sometimes there is the addition of
the word ‘BRITISH’, probably because
of the large proportion which was

exported to America.
With her well-attuned eye on the

markets, Mrs Graydon-Stannus and

her team successfully produced their
innovative styles for the next eleven

years, ceasing to trade in 1936

after the Wall Street crash and the
subsequent economic depression

of the 1930s.

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Glassmaking in Hungary

Part 1: up to the 18th century

HUNGARIAN glassmaking is an
alien subject for most foreign
glass experts. Although the

country was reduced to one
third of its original size after
the First World War (fig.1),

throughout history Hungary

was an important state that
shaped the rest of Europe and

its industry (including glass).

Unfortunately glass articles were not
favoured by Hungarian museums
until the middle of 19th century.
By the turn of the last century
Attila Sik and Zsuzsanna Molnar

Fig.1: Hungary at the end of 19th century (blue line) when it was
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The green line shows the
current border of Hungary Red dots are glass manufacturing

places, most of them are outside the current border.
Modified from

Laszlo Veres,
Hungarian glassware production in the 16th-19th centuries
however, the Hungarian National

Museum had acquired a large
stock of glass items that later

moved to the Museum of
Applied Arts, established in

1879, and public donations

enhanced the collection to its

current size.

The first part of this two-part article
tells the story of the Hungarian glass
industry from its beginning until the
18th century;
PART

will focus on

19th- and 20th-century glassmaking,
including contemporary glasses.

T
HE genesis and development of an

independent Hungarian glass industry

started after the establishment of

Hungary in
AD

896. In the Roman province,

Pannonia, which was located in the western
part of the Carpathian Basin, glass making

began only after the 1st century
AD.
Articles

for everyday use, such as cups, jugs and
bottles for storing oil were mainly found in
excavations in cities along the Amber road

and in Aquincum (now part of Budapest).

These glass factories were destroyed during
the Great Migrations and when the Roman

Empire collapsed. Thus no articles from the

factories have been found and there is only
indirect evidence of their existence from

fragments of personal articles found in
graves. In the era of migration and conquest

(around
AD
895) glass was used as jewellery;

glass beads and necklaces have been

found in graves during archaeological
excavations. Due to the high level of trading

activity which brought mainly Byzantine
objects — including glass — to the Carpathian
Basin, it is difficult to identify a truly

independent and domestic glass manu-

facturing industry in Hungary at this time.
After the foundation of the state and the

adoption of Christianity (10th-12th century

AD) church building started and monasteries
brought glassmaking technology into the

new country. From this period several arte-
facts surfaced when the excavation of the

former Benedictine monastery in Paszt6 was
started. Clues about the existence of glass-
works in monasteries were uncovered. The
building had two separate rooms housing

three glass-melting furnaces and kilns. The
building contained space for preparation of

raw material, drier and kilns. In Pilisszent-
kereszt, where the Pauline monastery and
glassworks existed in the 14-15th centuries,

more artefacts relating to glassmaking were
found. Other items were found in the eastern
part of the Bukk Mountain where the names

of places still reflect the heritage of the early
glass industry: Nagyhuta, Kishuta, Ropashuta.

Huta is the place where glass was manu-
factured. It is apparent from the excavations
that by the 12th-13th centuries the glass

factories in the area had begun to produce
sheet glass, although blown-glass production

of domestic items started and spread at a

later stage. Of course this does not mean
that the households did not use glass objects;

they were imported from neighbouring

countries. Glassworks in Matra Mountain

and in the Esztergom county also existed,

but the importance of these is not significant

and thus will not be discussed here.
The first written records about glass

manufacturing were found among TurOc
county’s magistrate documents showing

that in 1360 a glassmaster named Peter
Glaser applied for a glassmaking and timber
permit. Another source shows the donation

and later the sale of a glassworks in Teplice

(now called Sklene Teplice, Slovakia).
Teplice, like the rest of the Highlands area
was part of the Kingdom of Hungary until
1918
(fig.1).
The document, dated 2 January

1549, proves that the glassworks provided

glassware to store acid for gold extraction

from the gold and silver mines nearby for
more than 200 years. Thus, furnaces had
already worked in the 14th century and
were probably used in the manufacture of

glass vessels employed in the metal mines.

This fact is further supported by documents
from the 14th century and also by names of
towns such as ‘Glashutten-Bad’.

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Fig.4: Flask with

gilt top from
Transylvania,

1693.

Museum of Applied

Arts, Budapest,

Hungary

In the 15th century the Ottoman

(Turkish) Empire tried to occupy the
southern part of the country several

times. This was unsuccessful until

the 16th century, when in 1541, with the
capture of Buda (capital of Hungary),

the 150-year Ottoman occupation of

Hungary began. The owner of the
glassworks mentioned above sent a

request to King Ferdinand asking for
the king to redirect master workers to

his workshop because his masters

had dispersed and he did not know

much about the practicality of glass-

making. The history of this particular
glassworks ends here; further data is

not available.
Where did the masters of glass-

making go? The answer to this
interesting question is even more

fascinating. The Turks drove them into
Western Europe and, after wandering
around in Europe, a smaller group in

1556 ended up in Stourbridge,

settled down and established a
glassworks. This is still reflected by

the name of an area in Stourbridge
called Hungary Hill.
Glassworks in the 13th century

manufactured articles primarily for
use in the mining industry. Noble

families looking after the territory
were responsible for maintaining the
glassworks and providing wood for

the glass furnaces. Only in later times
can we talk about glassworks and

masters of the industry who could
produce everyday objects and

stained-glass windows.
During the Turkish occupation, the
country was divided into three parts.

The southern and central areas were
deserted. Here neither ecclesiastical

nor civil constructions could be built,
so there was no demand for glass

manufacturing. But in the western
part of the country, under Habsburg

power, and in the autonomous
Kingdom of Hungary (Transylvania),

the glass industry survived and
evolved. Mining areas in the North

continued to require glass objects.

To meet demand, mining societies
established local glassworks. Glass

masters were imported from the
Silesia region. One of the most
important glassworks was estab-

lished in Ojbanya (Nova Bela) in
1630. The centre produced bottles

used in the mining industry and also

provided glass discs for making

windows for the local area.

In addition to these glassworks,

so-called estate glassworks were also

established. These were founded by

the nobility, primarily to meet the

needs of their manors. But at the same

time they saw a great investment
opportunity in this business. The

court in Vienna and of course the

mining society running their own
glassworks did not like the new

establishment of private glassworks.

The barons long tried to explain with
extensive correspondences that this
behaviour was ‘inappropriate for

nobles’. One of the main arguments
of the nobles was that they create

articles only to amuse themselves.
Of course it was only partly true –
glass production was also intended

for trading.

According to archaeological

evidence and scarce contemporary
descriptions, these 16th-century

glassworks resembled the following:

the glass factory was located in a
wooden building that contained

three kilns which had three different

functions: drying the raw materials,

manufacturing and cooling.

Glass items from the Medieval

period are very scarce. One example

is the impressive goblet of King

Matyas (Mathias, 1443-90) that

is now in the Hungarian National

Museum – a piece of Venetian glass

(fig.2).
The tip of the funnel-shaped

thick-walled cup (42.8cm tall) runs

into a node which is internally
decorated by white threads. The

base has been replaced with a

gilded silver foot decorated with small

turquoise-coloured stones. Accord-

ing to the verse engraved on the
surface of the silver base, the goblet
was of Venetian origin and was for
celebrating military victories. So it

clearly had a ceremonial function.
In the south-west of the country,

Bajcsavar (now Weitsch-war) was
one of the most important border

fortresses to protect against Turkish

attacks at the end of the 1500s. The
castle was mainly built with support

from the Styrian estates. Archaeo-

logical excavations of a pentagon-

Fig.2: Goblet of

King Mcityds.

Hungarian National

Museum, Budapest,

Hungary

Fig.3: Richly

engraved cellar

flask from 1666.

Hungarian National
Museum, Budapest,

Hungary

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

shaped fort have unearthed several

items of glassware in the Italian style,
which were intended for use in the

fortress. Footed drinking glasses with
white stems, cylindrical beer glasses

and conical twin-bodied brandy bottles
were found. They were produced in

the nearby Styrian workshops.
We have to mention the Transyl-

vanian glassworks where important
glass production took place from

about the 15th century. In the 16th
century manufacturing of window
glass, stained glass and trading

with glass articles were common-

place here. Later, in the 17th century

Transylvanian glass-window production
had considerably increased. The main
reason was that numerous natural

disasters — especially fire — struck

the region and the number of new

manor houses requiring more glass
windows increased. The technology

to produce plate glass was imported
from Vienna and according to

contemporary statements local
glassworks produced plate glass as

early as 1634.
As the Turkish occupation lasted

for 150 years, in the 17th century
Hungarian glass production was

mainly confined to the manufacture
of window glass with the develop-

ment of artistic glassmaking put on
hold. Glass objects for household
use were obtained from Bohemia-

Moravia, Poland and Vienna. The
only exception is the so-called ‘cellar

flasks’ which are mould-blown bottles
that fitted in a container. As the name

indicates a wooden case containing
usually six padded compartments

housed these bottles. These were
used to store and transport wine and
other household liquids. In the 16th

century these bottles were made of

colourless glass without decoration.

By the 17th century these became
‘independent’, left the container

and were decorated with various

engraved and enamelled motifs

(figs 3+4).
Obviously blown glass

manufacturing was not restricted to
cellar flasks; `klukflaske’ or Kuttrolf

(`kotyogos’ in Hungarian) were also

produced
(fig.5).
A third type of

vessel produced in this period was a

glass decanter with externally applied

glass trail decoration dividing the
bulbous body into six segments.

These parts were engraved with
peacock and grape motifs
(fig.6).

The shape, but not the decoration
is similar to Dutch decanters from

the same period, which are more
common. This type of flask can still
be found in secondhand and flea

markets and were made by German
glass blowers in Porumbak from
1650 to the present day, thus the

correct identification is not easy.
Only three glassworks are men-

tioned in written documents in the
southern part of Transylvania:

Rozsny6, Oltheviz and Talmacs.
Under the rule of Gabor Bethlen, lord
of Transylvania, several glassworks
were established (by invited Venetian
glass masters) alongside the Olt river
between his election in 1619 and his

early death in 1629. These masters

left Transylvania and returned to

Venice after the death of Bethlen.
Contemporary historian Georg Kraus

met the craftsmen in Venice who
previously worked in the glassworks

in Porumbak. After Bethlen’s death

they left because of economic
uncertainties and harsh treatment by

the local officials. However, this did

not lead to the closure of the kilns,
only temporary suspension of glass
production and in 1648 they

restarted the glass manufacturing
process. It was in this century that

tinted glass, i.e. cobalt blue glass,

appeared. Where to obtain the cobalt
was not a problem, since a significant

amount of cobalt was mined in

Transylvania. In fact, these mines

provided cobalt to most of Europe.

The main purpose of using colour
in glass manufacturing was to

mask the weaknesses and errors
which occurred during production.

This is also the period when opal
and milk glass appeared
(fig.7).
It is

interesting that the so called Haban

ceramics had a great impact on

Fig.5 above left:

Klukflaske, 17th
century.

Deri Museum,

Debrecen, Hungary

Fig.6 above:
Glass decanter
with externally

applied glass trail

decoration and
engraving late

17th century
(Transylvania,

Porumbak or

Komana).

From the collection
of the author

Fig.71eft: Small
jug with trail

decoration, 18th

century,
Transylvania.

From the collection

of the author

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

glassmaking. The ceramics made

by the Habans (German catholic

religious sect) had the following
characteristics: the tin-glazed body
was decorated in four basic colours:
purple, red, green, and yellow. Since

glassmaking and decorating work-

shops had insufficient equipment to
perform this sort of glass decoration,

glass pieces were decorated at the
Haban pottery. So the glass was

decorated using the methods of the

potteries resulting in the appearance

of milk glass, but in fact they were

tin-glazed
(fig.8).

From the second half of the 17th

century, with the emergence of Czech

crystal, the glassmaking craft has

evolved and separated into different
professions. From the mid-16th

century a new profession, the glass
decorators, had emerged. As the
documents of contemporary glass-

works did not include any tools used

in decoration, engraving or painting,
we can assume that the decoration

took place in a separate workshop as

an individual profession
(fig.9).

Overall, the historical events and

technological developments in the

13th-16th centuries paved the way
for the heyday of Hungarian glass-

making in the 19th-20th century
which will be covered in
PART
2.

Fig.8: Large jug

with tin-glazed

decoration made

by Habans, 1630,
Transylvania.

Museum of Applied

Arts, Budapest,
Hungary

Fig.9: Three

enamelled cellar

flasks from the

late 18th century.

Note that similar

flasks can be

found in many
European

countries
includingAustria,

Germany, Spain,

and Russia.

From the collection
of the author

1111
n
11111111
n
11
n
,

The Ian Robertson Collection of
engraved glass: an overview

Tim Osborne

4
Fig.1: A large and

finely-engraved

rummer with

inscribed

dimensions of
Sunderland

Bridge.
T

HE late Ian Robertson was

an assiduous collector of

many things, but his collection

of glass engraved in north-east
England, either in Newcastle upon

Tyne or Sunderland, was closest
to his heart. It was formed over

many years and contains some rare
and important glasses. Of particular

interest are the glasses he found
which were signed by the engraver.

Surprisingly, given the skill required,

this was rarely done. The collection

contains six signed glasses which are

particularly useful as they provide an

opportunity to study the detail of the

engraving and thereby make some

attributions to some of the unsigned
examples. The engravers in question

are John Williams, John Watson and

Thomas Hudson.
Most people with an interest in

English antique glass will be familiar
with the Sunderland Bridge rummer.

They were made in large quantities
and sold principally to visitors who

had come to see and marvel at the
bridge. Completed in 1796 it was

only the second iron bridge ever built,

the other being in Shropshire, which

was of a much smaller scale. The

new bridge over the Wear in Sunder-

land was high above the river and

had a span of 236ft. The quality of the
engraving does vary, but
fig.1
shows

a superb example. It is thought that

12
THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

the successful trade in these glasses

led the engravers to embark on other

subjects and by the first decade of

the 19th century a wide range was

available, many of which are repre-

sented in the collection. Castles were
popular with Alnwick, seat of the

Dukes of Northumberland, being fore-

most
(fig.2).
Others were Bamburgh,

Dunstanburgh and even the Tower of

London. There are examples of all
these in the collection. St Nicholas’s

Church in Newcastle, where many of
the glass engravers worshipped,

features as do others in the geo-

graphical area. It was an age of

invention and steam power was not
omitted from the glasses. It appears

in the form of locomotives
(fig.3)
and
paddle steamers as well as beam

engines which were increasingly

used in a wide variety of industrial
processes.

Horse racing was as popular then

as it is now and there were numerous

famous winners bred locally and
raced mostly in the North. The

collection has a good number of
glasses with named horses
(fig.3)

and a few with details of their
triumphs. Other subjects include

armorials
(fig.4)
both for local families

and for towns and cities as well as
livery companies.
Despite the variety of subjects

found on these glasses there are a
number of decorative motifs employed

by the engravers which were in such

common use that they can today be

regarded almost as hallmarks of this
local engraving tradition. Many glasses
were finished with a panel on the

reverse side in which a name or initials
could be inscribed. In many cases

these were surmounted by a basket

of fruit or flowers. Another hallmark
decorative motif was a simple linked

trefoil pattern which was used as a
border and as a frame for the subject.

Many of the glasses are decorated with
a shamrock, rose and thistle, normally
used as symbols of the 1800 Acts
of Union. Perhaps the proximity of

Scotland had some bearing on this.
The glasses in this collection date

from the last years of the 18th century

through to about 1860. Those
engraved in the first thirty to forty

years tend to be the most finely
executed with a gradual decline in

the skill towards the end of the
period. The last decades of the 19th

century saw the end of engraving in

the North East; other areas were
in the ascendancy, especially Stour-

bridge. The collection in many ways

tells a story of life in that period,
virtually a social commentary, which

makes it all the more fascinating
to study.

Tim
Osborne is Managing Director of

Delomosne & Son Ltd. ‘Engraved Glass
from North East England 1800-1860:

The Ian Robertson Collection’ is a selling
exhibition to be held at Delomosne

in North Wraxall from

12 until 19 October 2013.

Fig.2: Two glasses

showing views of

Alnwick Castle.

Fig.3: Tumbler

engraved with
the Racehorse

Ellington (left);
Tumbler engraved

with a locomotive

(right).

Fig.4: Two
rummers engraved

with arms:

Coopers’ Company

(left);

Curriers’ Company

(right).

Illustrations by
courtesy of

Delomosne

THE GLASS
CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

New Glass – Ancient Skill,

Contemporary Artform

A review of the Blackwell House Exhibition: 31 Januay -12 May 2013

John Westmoreland

Fell Landscape Study
by Stephen and Kate Gillies Jones.

Phantom Leg on Chair
by Michelle Maly Dawson.
LAKE Windermere in Cumbria formed the backdrop for

the second part of a two-year project titled Glass Skills,
put together by the Contemporary Glass Society with

the aim of increasing the awareness of contemporary
glass in the UK. The exhibition, sponsored by the Arts

Council England along with the CGS and Lakeland Arts

Trust, showcased the skills of 31 contemporary glass-
makers, all housed within the Arts and Crafts setting of

Blackwell House.
The House, designed at the turn of the last century by

Baillie-Scott for the Manchester brewery owner Sir

Edward Holt, contains an extensive collection of arts and
crafts furniture and decorative art by W.A.S. Benson,

Voysey, and Morris & Co. amongst others. The exhibition
placed the glassmakers’ works amongst the permanent

collection as well as within purpose-built display cabinets,
providing a contextual basis for their skills as well as

a historical reminder of the original intention of Blackwell

as a repository for contemporary design.
The artists represented included: Margaret Alston,

Linda Banks, Scott Benefield, Philippa Beveridge, Effie
Burns, Keith Cummings, Michelle-Mary Dawson, Carrie

Fertig, Heather Gillespie, Gillies Jones, Emilie Haman,
Max Jacquard, Angela Jarman, June Kingsbury, Alison

Lowry, James Maskrey, Caroline McGuigan, Rosa Nguyen,
Rachel O’Dell, Lisa Pettibone, Georgia Redpath, Michael

Ruh, Boris Shpeizman, Andrea Spencer, Nancy Sutcliffe,

Ayako Tani, Angela Thwaites, Deborah Timperley, Rowan
van der Holt, Andrea Walsh and Clare Wilson.
With thanks to Blackwell House for staging such an

exhibition of contemporary glass design and to the staff
of the museum for aiding with the photography.

Photos by John Westmoreland
Midwinter Landscape Study by Stephen

and Kate Gillies Jones.

Oyster Platter by Heather Gillespie.

Canopy by Lisa Pettibone.

Catkins (glass and silver) by Angela Jarman.

14
THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Albion by Scott Benefield.

Collection (Fishes egg-cases) by Andrea Spencer:
Chromatography by Rachel Odell.

Tessellation 11.1 by Angela Jarman.

Three Pate de Verre bowls by Margaret Alston.
Cube Boids (Spring is Spring) by Georgia Redpath.

One from the Hearth by Philippa Beveridge.

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Country Seat Retirement Sale

Sworders, Mountfitchet, 4 June 2013

Nigel Benson

M
ANY people in the glass

world first heard that Harvey

Ferry and Willie Clegg were

holding a retirement sale of their

well-known dealership, The Country

Seat, while at the National Glass
Fair in May. Although it was not

entirely a surprise, the timing had

not been predicted by anyone.
It did, however, begin a certain
amount of anticipation amongst

glass collectors who became aware

that about a third of The Country

Seat’s glass stock was to be
available at the forthcoming sale.

An oddity about the sale was

that all viewing was to be held

at the Huntercombe Manor Barn

base of the partnership near Henley-
on-Thames, though the sale was to

be held at the auctioneers in Essex

with no immediate pre-sale viewing.

This was explained by the proposed

use of the Internet as a bidding tool

for buyers – possibly an inspired use
of modern technology, yet time

would tell, especially since this

adds another 3% plus vat to the
hammer price.

Attendance at the auctioneers

was poor with about a dozen people
in attendance when I arrived. This

suggested that much online bidding

was to be expected with the

slowness in bidding that this can

involve. Yet initial bidding was
positive with furniture and general

items seeming to sell well. This

began to moderate with prices
appearing to stabilise at about

estimate or on reserve; however,

when it came to the first of the

two glass sections there appeared

to be some positive bidding, with
items selling generally around

the estimates, but with some of the
higher estimated items seeing

problems.
The glass was split into two

sections, the first dealing with

Powell from pre-1914, the second
from between the wars and post-
war to 1980.

There were few highlights. For

instance Lot 111, a dark green

ribbed carafe, was catalogued as
designed by Philip Webb; however it

appears in Harry Powell’s
Notebook

Drawings of Glasses with Histories.

The low estimate of 2120-150
seemed to reflect this, although it

realised an above estimate £190.

This was followed immediately by

a creditable mid-estimate success

for Lot 112, a metal-framed straw

opal carafe that achieved £820

hammer (the buyer’s premium being

another 20% + vat – making a total
Wyon and stamped on the edge

‘J Powell & Sons, Class XXXIV’,

which was won with a bid of £420.
The second section began with

some very lacklustre results for

mainly group lots of easily found
items from the 1920s and 1930s,
giving some people some very

reasonable purchases. The first

realistic success came with Lot 265,
an emerald green (dark green) vase
with bubbling and dated to 1938,

probably designed by William
Wilson, which received the bottom

estimate of £200.
Lot 273 was a good cloudy-green

vase to a design by Joseph Francis
which, although receiving £260

(2322.40 including premium and
vat) against a high 2300-400
estimate, was creditable in the

current market. This was followed

by more group lots, this time from
the Wuidart range, having mixed

success.

of 21,016). This was still generally

regarded as a fair buy that

translates as good value for money
41
.1111111111=111111111.1111111

for such a rare item.

The two blue opal pieces

were both suitably successful

with Lot 117, a flute vase

having a merese above a
pinched knop, being fought

from a low 2150-200 estimate

to a sensible £460. This was
effectively the highlight of this

part of the sale with many of the

following lots failing to achieve
sales and a number of very

reasonable purchases made by

lucky bidders. For instance Lot 136,

a clear goblet with a double-

knopped stem having gold foil

Apart from Lot 291, a 30th

decoration, received a bargain price anniversary millefiori paperweight for
bid of £130. Mention should be the founding of the State of Israel,

made of Lot 138, the 1851 official which took £220 against a

bronze prize medal made by William 2200-300 estimate, the commem-
orative section was unsuccessful.
The most fought over items were

the last two pieces of glass, both
window panels designed by Paul

Jeffries. Lot 299 was one panel in
ambers and browns from what

appeared to be a larger piece, given

the label saying ‘TOP’ then ‘LEFT

HAND’. This gained a large £260,
well above the 280-120 estimate.

Then came Lot 300, the large panel

The Bull of Minos
that originally

came out of a Greek restaurant, The

Golden Gull, in Eastbourne. It had

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Lot299

one replaced panel and some damages, but
came in at a mid-estimate £3,800 against the

expected £3,000-5,000.

Positive high results from subsequent terrestrial

sales certainly suggest that The Country Seat sale

was a downward blip that can easily be explained.
Having had time to absorb the rather patchy

results it seems that the business model used for

this sale needs a lot of work before it can expect
success. Not only did it ask the buyers to spend

a lot of their time — travelling to the viewing; either

travelling again to bid at the auction, or paying
an extra premium to bid online; then to travel

and collect within a timeframe, or else pay

extra moving and storage expenses — it also

passed unnecessary costs onto the buyer.

It appears (and has been confirmed) this created

a no show’ by many dealers and collectors.

Lot300

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

National Glass Centre Revitalised

T
HE National Glass Centre

opened its doors again on
29 June 2013, having been

closed for some time for a major

refurbishment now that the University
of Sunderland has become respon-
sible for the centre. £2.25m has been
spent on ‘major improvements to the

Centre’s gallery and learning spaces,
doubling the exhibition capacity, up-

grading and modernising the gallery

spaces, education and resource
rooms, [with the aim of] enabling the

Centre to better meet the needs of

the visitor, schools and groups’.
Has it succeeded? Well over 4,400

people visited the Centre over the
opening weekend, and according

to Chris Blade, Head of Enterprise,

Commissioning and the Studio,
when we visited at the end of July

visitor numbers throughout July were
significantly up on previous years,

and well above target. It is a very
good start. There were a goodly

number enjoying the family activities;
all the seats were taken for the formal

demonstrations, as they were with

visitors watching the makers at work

in between the demos. The shop

may not have been doing a roaring
trade, but the new brasserie was
packed at lunchtime, with all the

riverside tables outside taken — and
that was on a Wednesday. For the
glass-lover, the two opening

exhibitions were outstanding.
The first thing you notice on

entering is that the reception desk is

now centrally placed rather than at
the side. The ‘Stories of Glass in

Sunderland’, and the educational
displays, are now in the smaller area

on the left, the exhibition area moving

across to a large and inviting glass-
fronted room, which itself leads into

a secondary exhibition area behind.
Looking towards the riverside you

now see Luke Jerram’s six-metre high
chandelier, specially commissioned

for the re-opening and made at the

NGC. It is supported by smaller
chandeliers and, until October 2013,
by smaller works in his Microbiology

series of sculptures (vvww.lukejerram.com).
Looking down, the shop area and

restaurant are much as before, but
the restaurant is now a brasserie,

and flameworkers, Brian Jones and

Norman Veitch (Wearside Glass

Sculptures), have been moved to a
much superior location at the end of

the shop. With windows opening into

the shop they are able to give

Bob Wilcock

Above and right:
demonstrations

in the hot glass

studio.

Below:
Luke Jerram’s

chandeliers,

and right: the

entrance to

the ‘Glass in

Sunderland’

exhibition,

and the shop.

National
Glass Centre

Studio
Range

THE GLASS CONE NO.103 SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

Cate Watkinson’s

Sunderland wall
panels.

demonstrations with commentary

twice a day.
Moving them has made it possible

to completely change the layout of

the hot shop and make it much

more visible to visitors. The hot shop
boasts two new electric furnaces

made by Falorni in Italy. These have

more reliable temperature control
than the previous gas furnaces, as do

the glory holes but, surprisingly, the
glory holes lack fully-closing doors.

As well as traditional demonstrations
of glass-blowing there are also daily
demonstrations of a glass lathe.
The keystone exhibition for the

summer was a retrospective of the
glass and paintings of Erwin Eisch

‘Clouds have been my Foothold all

along’, and it was outstanding. It was

a superb selection of work, spacious

and well laid out – and well lit (not

always the case in the past at the
NGC). Accompanying the exhibition

was an attractive handbook and
biography by Julia Stephenson and

Kevin Petrie.

Behind the Erwin Eisch exhibition

was a smaller gallery devoted to

the Dan Klein and Alan J. Poole

Collection, a selection of contem-
porary pieces on loan from the
National Museum of Scotland. To any

collector of contemporary glass it is a

joy to behold, and includes some of

the iconic pieces that brought the
individual makers to public attention.

The free handbook includes the brief
story of ‘Dan and Alan, Champions of

Glass’, and reflections from some of
the artists who supported and
influenced their careers. It makes

fascinating reading. This exhibition is
open until 29 June 2014.
So what has gone? The displays

on the story of glassmaking and the

history of glass have been replaced
by more modern displays focussing

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