Glass Society Glass Matters_No.15, Nov 2022

November 2022
Issue No. 15
ISSN2516-1555
THE MAGAZINE OF THE GLASS SOCIETYTHE MAGAZINE OF THE GLASS SOCIETY
Covers GM15.indd 2Covers GM15.indd 2 10/11/2022 11:0810/11/2022 11:08

Glass Matters Issue No.15 November 2022 2
Contents
ISSN 2516 !1555 Issue 15, November 2022Published by the Glass Society, ©Contributors and The Glass Society
Editor : Brian J Clarke [email protected]
Design & l ayout: Emma Nelly Morgan [email protected]
Pri nted by: Warners Midlands plc www.warners.co.uk
Nex t copy d ate: First week January 2023 E-mail news & events to [email protected]
“The Glass Society Committee do not bear any responsibility for the views expressed in this publication, which are those of the contributor in each case. Copyright is acknowledged for the photographs illustrating articles, though neither the Editor nor the committees are responsible for inadvertent infringements. All photographs are copyright the author unless otherwise credited.”

Charity Number 1185397
Website: www.theglasssociety.org
Honorary Presidents: Charles Hajdamach; [email protected] Simon Cottle; [email protected]
Honorar y Vice-President:Dwight Lanmon; [email protected]
Chairman:David Willars; [email protected]
Vice-Chairman:Paul Bishop; [email protected]
Membership Secretary & Treasurer:Maurice Wimpory; [email protected]
Meetings Organiser:Anne Lutyens-Stobbs; [email protected]
Publications Editor:Brian Clarke; [email protected]
Trustees of The Glass Society:Paul Bishop; Brian Clarke; Susan Newell; Jim Peake; David Willars (Chairman); Robert Wilcock; Maurice Wimpory
Committee Members:The above trustees, along with; Nigel Benson; Peter Cookson; Anne Lutyens- Stobbs
GLASS MATTERS EDITORIAL COMMITEE:Nigel Benson; Susan Newell; Simon Wain-Hobson; Bob (Robert) Wilcock; James Measell
FRONT COVER: A serpent-winged Facon de Venise goblet, made of lead glass, English, c1680-90. © Peter Adamson (see article)
BACK COVER: A selection of glass Piano Feet in various colourways. © The Upjohn collection (see article)
**
-.#&+/01%2+3*4+’) * * Robin Wilson
How old is this glass? Colin Brian
Leat heringsett Julia Poole
Piano Insulators Michael Upjohn
Sulphide Decanter Bill Millar
Koh-I-Noor diamond Peter Kaellgren
17th Century gift Peter Adamson
A Ri nse r? Peter Hen derson
Show & Tell Robin Wilson,
Peter Kaellgren,
Pamela Stephenson,
Lesley Pyke,
Brian Clarke
Glass Pattern Books Stourbridge Glass Museum
Glass queries Russ & Pam Philips
Bonhams Jim Peake
Masonic Rummer? Philip White
St Johns Windows Ian Philips
Bimini Raymond Berger
In Memoriam
Gö ran Whärff Andy McConnell
Pete r Beeb e David Willars
CC Editor
A
thank you to the many members who put pen to paper –

interesting articles, often ending with a request for information
from our readership, and a thank you to those who responded.
Many pieces of late Victorian and 20th century English and
Scottish glass have been widely collected, from ordinary pieces to
some fine examples from known designers. I am wondering why
there are not more contributors offering articles. To maintain
interest in Glass Matters for everyone, more are needed, particularly
of Stourbridge and Whitefriars glass. Please write in.
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Contents GM15.indd 2Contents GM15.indd 2 15/11/2022 14:1515/11/2022 14:15

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
3
Chairman’s Message
�7�L�P�H��W�R��5�H�?�H�F�W��D�Q�G��/�R�R�N��)�R�U�Z�D�U�G
Centenarian birthday boy, Peter Helm, with our chairman David Willars
Glass Matters Issue No.15 November 2022
O
ctober saw a Glass Society
gathering at the splendid
Castle Museum in Norwich.
The museum had been given a collec –
tion of mainly 18th century glass –
ware and apparently needed help
with its identification. It transpired
that the collector had made an assid –
uous record of each item, so in the
event the need for help evaporated.
Nevertheless, and post-pandem –
ic, it was a pleasure and privilege
to sit around a table and handle
unfamiliar glass in the company of
experts. I’m also reminded that for
many glass collectors the hunt to
find a particular piece often gives as
much of a thrill as ownership. The
Castle Museum is also home to a
wonderful collection of pictures by
local artists, including one of the
mid-twentieth-century greats, Sir
Alfred Munnings. Coincidently, the
next issue of Glass Matters includes
an article by Dwight Lanmon on
glass rummers that were engraved
by Munnings, possibly in settle –
ment of the bill for a good night’s
drinking! He would not have been
the first artist to have paid in kind.
The next event of this type will
be in late March next year, when
we meet in Oxford to study the col –
lections of glass at the Ashmolean
Museum as well as Christ Church,
B a l l i o l a n d M e r t o n c o l l e g e s .
Please contact us if you wish to
be part of this two-day event.
Recently, I attended a celebration
of 40 Years of Glass and Ceramics
at the University of Sunderland .
Sunderland is one of the older
glassmaking centres in the country
and it was gratifying to be in such
a vibrant, artistic glass community
in the surroundings of The National
Glass Centre. In his opening address
the Vice-Chancellor announced a
Glass Society bursary, to be awarded
in the new year to a student demon –
strating creativity with glass. While
this is a first for The Glass Society,
we are delighted to be supporting
creative and emerging talent and
to this end made three awards at
the recent Biennale in Stourbridge
– the artists and their entries will be
featured in the next issue of Glass
Matters . We are always looking
for opportunities to make bursa –
ries or bequests on glass- related
themes and if you would like to be
involved in identifying and devel –
oping ideas, please contact us.
It isn’t every day that we can pay
tribute to one of our members whose
100th birthday fell recently. Peter
Helm is a founder member of the
old Glass Association and, indeed,
for many years he filled the role of
treasurer. Today he lives just south
of Manchester surrounded by glass,
with particular emphasis on the local
company, Burtles Tate. Earlier this
year, a delicious late Victorian or
Edwardian lightshade in an unusual
straw-to-ruby colourway came up
for sale. From the style and colours,
Peter had identified this as being a
likely Burtles Tate piece, with the
additional, though hardly conclusive
factor of the vendor living in nearby
Salford. Undeterred by a price tag
that was way in excess of its val –
ue, Peter launched into dialogue,
emerging several months later as
the triumphant owner and at a much
lower price. The shade now sits on
his dining table alongside a large
epergne, another speculative piece
that was acquired with the refrain,
“David, this looks like a Burtles Tate
piece. It needs saving for the nation”.
Quite where or how he manages to
eat I’m not sure, but it clearly isn’t
from the dining table! There is, how –
ever, far more to Peter than acquir –
ing the next piece. Over the last few
years, he has developed a framework
to identify Burtles Tate celery vas –
es, becoming a discerning expert
on crimped feet along the way.
C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s , P e t e r :
a great northern collector.
As usual, we are deeply indebted
to Brian Clarke for pulling together
a magazine of such varied and inter –
esting articles. Noting the section
on Show and Tell, I’m reminded that
we will have our AGM in February
and likely to have a similar par –
ticipative session. Again, contact
us if you would like to take part.
Chairmen’s message GM15.indd 1Chairmen’s message GM15.indd 1 14/11/2022 12:1514/11/2022 12:15

R OBIN W ILSON writes
4 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
ANIMAL PERCHES
Fig. 1
Fig. 2 Fig. 3
I
n Glass Matters , Issue
11, June 2021, Pe ter
Kaellgren’s article on Glass
for the Writing Table drew my
attention. Three or four years
ago I acquired two examples of
glass pens but know nothing
about them (Figs.1 & 2). Both
examples have some weight
to them, they’re certainly not
featherweight. Fig.1 shows a
horse, saddled but unmounted,
above two hounds chasing a
fox. The upright stand with two
pens (Fig.2) also has a slightly
larger ring near the base which
I imagine would have held a
small inkwell – the birds are pos –
sibly parakeets or budgerigars. I
would be interested if any mem –
ber could throw light on other
examples and where and when
these would have been made.
[email protected]
Editor: Robin, the two pictures
you sent show pens that are char –
acteristic f lame-worked pieces
from William (Billy) Swingewood
at Stevens & Williams in the
1930s. He evidently enjoyed cre –
ating dogs, horses and birds. Many
readers will know the huntsman
series he created within a large
central hollow knop of rummer
stems. I’m also showing (Fig.3) a
piece of his work with three birds
– possibly cockatoos – resting
on a stand (Private collection).
Whitefriar Pens.indd 4Whitefriar Pens.indd 4 10/11/2022 10:3210/11/2022 10:32

5 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
OLD OR OLDER?
How old is this wine glass?
Fig. 1Goblet with an inverted baluster stem, folded foot
Colin Brain
T
he a ge o f a g l ass can b e
important to a collector in
a number of different ways.
For some, an antique wine glass is
a ‘window’ into the past. Knowing
when it was made can inform their
muse on what events it may have
‘seen’, or who might have drunk
from it. For others, age may be a
key determinant of the glass’s val –
ue to them. But how do we know
how old glasses are? Edward Dillon
writing in Glass in 1907 complained
that for early English glass, from the
period when there was documenta –
tion there was little or no surviving
glass, and that by the eighteenth
centur y when there was plenty of
glass, there was little or no surviv –
ing documentation. H.J. Powell in
Glass Making in England published
in 1923 thought that attempting
to date wine glasses was fruitless
because “
constructing a reliable record of the
provenance and succession of English
drinking glasses are so few, and, in
some cases, so uncertain. ” Were they
right? In this short article I want
to consider how good we are now at
dating drinking glasses from around
the beginning of the 18C, whether
we have progressed significantly
in the centur y or so since these
words were written, and what we
might do to improve the situation.
In this discussion on dating I will
deliberately ignore the related ques –
tion of fakes and reproductions, to
concentrate on estimating when
some original glasses were made.
I want to look first at what
Powell’s “ –
ing a reliable record of the … succession
of English drinking glasses ” might
actually consist of and how much is
available for the period in question.
Dillon singled out documentation
as his principal source. Written
documentation is essenti al for
establishing the history of glass in
general, but is rarely directly useful
for dating a specific glass. This is
because the meaning of words has
often changed subtly over the years
and also there was then no estab –
lished vocabulary for describing the
features of a glass. The exception
is where the documentation con –
tains illustrations, such as John
Greene’s letters preserved in Sloane
Manuscripts 857. These provide
an invaluable guide to dating glass
styles of the 1660s -1680s, but only
over this narrow period. Given how
important this source is, it is sur –
prising that it has not yet been pub –
lished in full. There are relatively
few English pictures that illustrate
glasses, compared with the many
Dutch paintings that include them,
and even those English ones that do
Colin Brian.indd 5Colin Brian.indd 5 10/11/2022 10:3610/11/2022 10:36

6 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
OLD OR OLDER?
Fig. 2Cordial glass with a light baluster stem, folded foot
exist do not seem to have been used
effectively to provide a reliable basis
for dating glasses. For example, to
my eye the style of the glasses in the
famous Kit-Kat club double portrait
is different from the type of glass
usually called a Kit-Kat glass by col –
lectors. However, by the mid-to-late
18th century the situation improves
with the greater availability of pic –
ture and illustrated trade cards.
After documentation, the next
source of dating evidence is that
from archaeological finds. Powell
was certainly interested in exca –
vated glasses, both as an historian
and as a glass designer. Is the sit –
uation any better here? The short
answer is not much. We can rarely
determine to within a 20-year peri –
od when most archaeological glass
finds were deposited and a glass
could have been relatively new to
perhaps 30 years old when it was
discarded. There are, however, a
few exceptions, such as the excava –
tions of the ruined city of Port Royal
in Jamaica, where even the approx –
imate time of deposition for many
glass fragments on the fateful 7th
June 1692 is known. This is because
the devastation was the result of an
earthquake and tidal wave. Port
Royal was then the largest British
colonial city and reputed to be the
wickedest. Many people at the time
apparently saw this devastation as
being divine retribution. Another
reason why archaeological data is
of limited value for dating glasses
is because of recycling. There are
hundreds of early 17C British glass
finds in museum stores. By the last
quar ter of the 17C the numbers
have dwindled to tens and by the
early 18C any excavated finds of
drinking glasses are rare and usually
only occur in ones or twos. Broken
glass was just not being thrown
away for future generations to find.
This is backed up by documentar y
evidence about poor people scraping
a living by collecting broken glass
to sell back to the makers. It also
lines up with evidence that late 17C
British glass fragments are signifi –
cantly more plentiful from overseas
expor t sites than from domestic
sites. Presumably, it would not
then have made economic sense
to ship back much recycled glass
to the factories. There is, howev –
er, a useful attribute to this recy –
cling, to which I will return later.
The data discussed so far mainly
helps to date the style of a glass,
particularly its stem type. There
are two other sources of data which
can also help in this: comparison
with dated non-glass objects with
similar styles, par ticularly those
made of silver, and dating a glass
by its seal, marks or engraved dec –
oration. These two approaches are
little better than the others when it
comes to supporting the date of ear –
ly 18C glasses. This is because the
growing popularity of glass and the
increasing reliance of their designs
on overall form and proportions
means that there are fewer of these
Colin Brian.indd 6Colin Brian.indd 6 10/11/2022 10:3610/11/2022 10:36

7 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
OLD OR OLDER?
non-glass analogues available with
which to compare. The heyday of
glass seals was the 1670s and few,
if any, makers’ marks are available
to g uide d ating considerations
into the 18C. A coin in the stem
of a glass reveals the earliest date
it could have been made, but there
often remains considerable doubt
whether all these glasses were con –
temporary with the minting of their
coins. Glass engravings can provide
much the same problem even if
dated. Thus any logical rationale
about dating a wine glass by style
or decoration must be one based
on the balance of probabilities,
with confidence coming from rely –
ing on a diverse range of compari –
sons, rather than one single factor.
The final source of data I want
to discuss is that derived from the
glass itself: the nature of the glass
metal from which it is made and
the marks left by the tools and
techniques used to make it. Some
of this information is amenable
to objective analysis, but there
must inevitably be a subjective
step involved of assigning techni –
cal parameters to ranges of dates.
For example, a study carried out by
English Heritage analysed a signif –
icant number of late 17th and early
18th century drinking glass frag –
ments. One of the author’s roles in
this was to ‘date’ all the fragments
that were to be sampled before the
analyses were carried out. This
subjective glass-dating information
then allowed objective analytical
measurements of lead content to
be assigned to approximate peri –
ods of currency. The study found
that there were distinct lead-glass
recipes that changed several times
during the 17C, but by the 18C,
British glass makers had largely
settled down to the use of a single
‘f lint glass’ recipe. This lines up
with a study on glass density report –
ed in Elville’s English Table Glass .
Changes of lead content result in
changes in the density of the glass,
so by measuring this one can esti –
mate the approximate date that
some late 17C glasses were made.
However there is only an approxi –
mate correspondence between lead
content and density because the
latter also depends on what form
the lead oxide is present in the glass.
Similarly, the iron content of some
glasses, and hence their tint, chang –
es significantly with date over the
late 17th and early 18th centuries
as demonstrated by the late David
Watts. This variation was almost
certainly the result of the extensive
rec ycling discussed earlier. T he
tools used for shaping and shear –
ing the glasses were all then made
of iron and these manufacturing
operations left iron residues on the
surface of the glass which then led
to a build-up in the iron content
over subsequent re-cycles. In due
course some wooden tools were
introduced to reduce this problem.
Based on these sources of data
let us have a look at three specific
examples, starting with the heavy
baluster goblet with an inver ted
baluster stem under a large funnel
bowl shown in Fig.1 . When bought
at auction the auctioneer dated it
to c.1730, but I guess auctioneers
probably err on the late side to
reduce the likelihood of comeback
from buyers. Barrington Haynes
in Glass Through the Ages has this
type of stem star ting in about
1685. I have records that over
six ty stems like this have been
excavated, more than half of them
from overseas export sites. Two of
these were from Port Royal from a
1692 context. Examples are also
known engraved ‘God Bless Queen
Anne ’, these presumably dating
from around her ascension to the
throne in 1702. The density of this
baluster glass suggests it contains
around 28% lead which is consis –
tent with its being made before
about 1695. It also has a brown
tint consistent with a slightly raised
level of iron in the glass without
the compensating addition of some
manganese to disguise the tint,
both of which are consistent with
the 1690s. Thus the evidence con –
sistently points to this glass being
made in about the 1690s, which
matches the conventional dating.
Turning now to the light baluster
cordial glass shown in Fig.2 : as with
the previous glass, this was dated
c1730 by the auctioneer, which fits
with Barrington-Haynes’ start date
for the group of 1725. However,
this is the only date that does fit
with the conventional dating. The
glass contains about 28% lead oxide,
the same as the baluster, suggesting
that this was also made before about
1695. Similarly, the green/brown
tint of the glass tells the same sto –
r y. The first mention of British
cordial glasses of which I am aware
goes back to 1663, so that does not
constrain us. So what about the
archaeology? Four glasses with sim –
ilar stem forms were excavated at
Port Royal, outnumbering the single
British example from an excavation
at Wells museum. Thus the evidence
points towards this glass predating
the supposed star t of this stem
type by around thirty-five years.
The last example I want to con –
sider here is the plain stem drawn
trumpet glass shown in Fig.3 . The
dealer from whom I bought this
dated it c1740, which fits in with
Barrington-Haynes’s date for the
start of this stem type. However,
once again this date is at odds with
the rest of the evidence. The lead
content is not a help here because it
is around 38%, suggesting this glass
was made after about 1688. The
slight green tint is, however, consis –
tent with this being a late 17C glass.
More of these stems have been
found in overseas excavations than
in English ones, including one from
Por t Royal. All the other overseas
finds of which I am aware were also
in assemblages that included more
numerous baluster stems. A similar
glass in the collection of Dorchester
Colin Brian.indd 7Colin Brian.indd 7 10/11/2022 10:3610/11/2022 10:36

8 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
OLD OR OLDER?
Fig. 3Goblet with an inverted baluster stem, folded foot
Museum is diamond-point engraved
“John Haynd Ex dono Jaicob Cox
1696”. Thus the evidence points to
this glass being roughly contempo –
rary with the previous two glasses
and perhaps fifty years earlier than
the supposed start of this stem type.
G i ve n t h e s e e x a m p l e s , i t i s
doubtful if we have pro gressed
significantly in our ability to date
British drinking glasses from the
early 18C during the century or so
since Dillon and Powell wrote their
books. I have been able to offer dat –
ing evidence for these three exam –
ples because they come from a time
which fortuitously has bequeathed
us suitable material from which to
work. Particularly important here
is the archaeological data from Port
Royal and historical information
on how the technical characteris –
tics of the glass varied with time.
The latter relies on the assump –
tion that all British glasshouses
making this kind of glass changed
recipes at roughly the same stage.
There are inevitable overlaps, but
in general it does appear to have
been the case. The most likely rea –
son is that there appears to have
been stiff competition between
manufacturers following the rapid
expansion of the industr y in the
1680s. All the identified changes
of recipe are consistent with reduc –
ing the cost of manufacture, so it
is credible that they would have
been quickly and widely embraced.
Is there any thing we should
be doing about this? How can we
change the situation if, as I suggest –
ed, knowing the approximate date
of a glass is important to some col –
lectors? The early 18C appears to
be the period where improvement
is most needed. A start would be to
collate the dating evidence available.
Many authors have suggested sub –
tly different dating for stem types,
but few, if any, give the rationale
for this. Another step would be to
develop better ways to analyse glass –
es. Clearly these have to be non-de –
structive but they might allow us
to identify more dateable aspects
associated with the technology of
the glass. Discussions are underway
to try to organise a cooperative proj –
ect. If it goes ahead I am sure it will
provide a suitable topic for another
article in Glass Matters in due course.
A dedicated member of various
glass groups, the histor y of glass has
been an absorbing hobby for Colin
Brain and has been for more than
fifty years. He has specialised in the
development of E nglish and Ir ish
crystal glass of the seventeenth cen –
tur y. This relatively short period was
one of rapid innovation, marking the
transition between the medieval and
the early modern. Consequently his
research has required an unusually
wide range of perspectives, includ –
ing: research into archaeological
finds, original documents, chemical
analysis, practical experimenta –
tion and computer simulation. This
paper is an up to date, in depth pre –
sentation of the arg uments Colin
first gave to the Glass Society in the
Zoom meeting of March this year.
Colin Brian.indd 8Colin Brian.indd 8 10/11/2022 10:3610/11/2022 10:36

9 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
A GLASS INVENTORY
Glass in an inventory of
Letheringsett Hall , Norfolk
Julia Poole
W
illiam Hardy (1732-
1 8 1 1 ) , a p r o s p e r o u s
f a r m e r, m a l t s t e r a n d
b re w e r, m a d e a n i nve n to r y o f
his house at Letheringsett on 12
and 13 September 1797. The list
includes a substantial amount of
glass, and a larger quantity of pot –
ter y and porcelain, which made
it seem worthwhile to draw it to
the attention of our members.
The inventor y was made when
Hardy was valuing his estate and
brewery in preparation for hand –
ing over the business to his son,
William (1770-1842). Hardy, and
his wife Mary (1733-1809), had ris –
en up the social ladder since their
marriage in 1765, when Yorkshire-
born William was an excise officer
at East Dereham. The first step
up had been taking the lease of a
70-acre farm, a house, and manage –
ment of a maltings and brewer y at
Coltishall where they lived from
1772 to 1781. William’s enter –
prising and successful expansion
of this business allowed him to
purchase a house, a 56-acre farm,
maltings and brewery in the small –
er village of L etheringsett, near
Holt. The brewing and distribution
business prospered, more land was
acquired, and after Mar y ’s death in
1809, their son added an impos –
ing Doric portico to the house. By
1822 the proper ty was described
by William Cobbett as ‘a very beau –
tiful estate of about 400 acres’. 1
Success stories of this kind are
not uncommon, but William and
Mar y Hardy ’s pro gress remains
extraordinar y, because of the day
by day account of it in Mary’s dia –
r y, kept from 1773 until two days
before her death. 2 From it we know
that despite their growing wealth,
this hard-working couple remained
unpretentious ‘middling ’ people,
who mixed with acquaintances in
many different walks of life. They
frequently enter tained business
clients, neighbours, and relatives,
which must have required ample
supplies of glass and crocker y in
addition to those for the use of their
small family during the 1790s. 3
The fullness of the 1797 inven –
tory allows us to envisage the com –
fortable home they had created at
Letheringsett. 4 T heir two main
living rooms were the ‘ keeping
parlour ’- a combined dining room
and sitting room which was used
for dinner and tea ever y day – and
the ‘parlour’ which was more for –
mal and used for tea par ties and
other social gatherings. Perhaps
for that reason it was the room
where much of their glass and chi –
na was kept. Unlike many people
of rising social status, the Hardys
continued to dine at midday like
their brewer y and farm workers,
rather than at a more fashionable
later hour during the afternoon.
C o n s e q u e n t l y t h e i r s o c i a l i z i n g
at home usually revolved around
tea and a late supper during the
evening , and often continued till
midnight. In addition to the tea
table and dining furniture, a pia –
no, and three family portraits, exe –
cuted in 1785 by Jacques Gabriel
Huquier (1725-1805), the ‘keeping
parlour ’ was provided with a large
looking glass, a weather glass, and
glass for drinking and lighting:
‘Bell & Cra ! [carafe]
20 G lass Bottles, Stone
[…] & a, Closet
Pickl e Jarr & Bottle Slides
2 0
5 0
10 0
T hese were accompanied by 5
teapots, 120 pieces of earthen –
ware ‘of various sor ts’, a pair of
car vers, 40 pairs of knives and
forks, and other equipment includ –
ing a chocolate mill, coffee kettle,
bread basket and cheese wagon.
The parlour’s contents reflect –
e d i t s s t at u s a s a ‘ b e s t ro o m ’.
It contained inter alia a n e w
K i d d e r m i n s t e r c a r p e t , a l a r g e
oval looking glass in a gilt frame,
a mahogany tea table, a tea urn
on a mahogany stand, a sofa, and
most highly valued, an organ pur –
chased in Nor wich. Most of the
glass was listed consecutively and
was for drinking or the dessert:
4 Quart, 8 Pints, 4 Goblets
& 4 Dozn wine Glass
A pair of Tum bler Glasses
3 Salver s
26 Syllabub Glasses
6 Custard Glasses
20 Wine Glasses
A Set of Fruit dishes
[perhaps glass]
A Wate r Craft [carafe]
& Tea Jar
3 Glas s dishes
A set of Casters, Silver tops
16 P ickle Bottles
7 7 0
2 0
8 0
6 6
2 0
10 6
17 0
2 0
6 0
1 11 6
8 0
50 Wine & other Glasses
5 De canters
4 Gla ss Candlesticks
12 B asons
[some perhaps glass]
Cel larett & Contents

1 10 0
8 0
6 0
5 0
1 11 6
Julia Poole.indd 9Julia Poole.indd 9 10/11/2022 10:4410/11/2022 10:44

10 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
A GLASS INVENTORY
Fig. 1Letheringsett Hall. Photograph, Margaret Bird, 2002
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11 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
A GLASS INVENTORY
T h e l a s t f o u r e n t r i e s w e r e
s p a c e d o u t b e t w e e n ‘A S e t o f
China’ valued at £3, ‘A Set of China
C himney Ornaments’ at 10s.0d.,
and 117 pieces of crocker y, many
a l s o d e s i g n a t e d a s ‘C h i n a ’. O f
the identified items, 57 were for
taking tea and coffee (counting
c u p s a n d s a u c e r s a s o n e ) , a n d
the others probably for desser t
o r s u p p e r, a s t h e y i nc l ud e d 2 4
China plates and 5 dishes, 12 fruit
plates, 6 butter boats, 5 tar t pans,
a pickle tray, and a punch basin.
It might be thought that in this
rural area of Norfolk high quali –
ty glass and ceramics would have
been acquired by placing orders
w ith china and g l ass dealers in
No r w i c h , o r m a k i n g p u rc h a s e s
on occasional visits to the city. 5
But that does not seem to have
been the case here. Glass is rarely
mentioned in Mar y Hardy ’s diar y,
but from occasional references
to shopping , it seems likely that
w h i l e l i v i n g i n L e t h e r i n g s e t t ,
g l ass could have b e en ob taine d
at grocers or other shops in the
nearby market town of Holt. T he
Hardys also often went to auctions
in Coltishall and L ether ingsett ,
and acquired a good deal of their
household furnishings in this way.
On 21 December 1781, just over
nine months since their arrival at
Letheringsett, Mar y recorded that
she and her husband had attended
the sale of the household effects
of Nicholas Downing , a deceased
mercer, grocer and draper at Holt,
and bought amongst other items,
‘a Small L o ok ing Gl ass at 6s , 2
China Sauce Boats 2s, 5 Rummer
Glasses 3s, 2 Glass Decanters 2s,
A parcel of ods [odds; perhaps odd
glasses] 1s. . . .’. 6 Increasing wealth
did not change their habits. On 5
October 1808, their son, William,
went to the posthumous sale of the
Misses Fisher at Holt and bought
‘14 Glass Tar t pans [pattipans], 9
sweetmeats & 2 small Salvers’. 7
S o m e g l a s s , h o w e v e r, c a m e
from fur ther afield. T he pint and
q u a r t d e c a n t e r s a n d d r i n k i n g
glasses in the first entr y in the list
above seem to have been regarded
as a distinct group, estimated at
seven guineas (double the annu –
al wage of Mar y Hardy ’s maids).
T hey might therefore perhaps be
identified as ‘
G l a s s e s & D e c a n te rs f ro m N [ e w ]
Castle ’ which Mary Hardy record –
ed in her diar y as brought home
from Wells -nex t- the- S e a on 20
July 1791 by William L amb, their
drayman. 8 W i l l i a m H a rd y h a d
trading contacts with Newcastle,
a n d m ad e a voya g e to t h e c i t y
by sea from Wells in May 1791
w i th a v ie w to inc re a sing s ales
o f f lo u r, a nd m a r ke t i n g p or te r
and probably malting-barley. 9
It therefore seems possible that
he could have ordered a suite of
glass at that time, perhaps from
Airey Cookson & Co, or the more
recently founded Northumberland
Glasshouse. 10 Even if we cannot be
certain that the glass in the inven –
tor y was the Newcastle set , the
record in the diar y is evidence for
the expor t of drinking glass from
that city to one of the flourish –
ing ports on the Norfolk coast. 11
T he salvers listed nex t would
probably have been used placed
o n e o n t o p o f t h e o t h e r w i t h
the syllabub and custard glasses
a r ra n g e d o n t h e m . R e c i p e s fo r
lemon jelly, solid syllabubs and
y e l l o w f l u m m e r y w e r e a m o n g
the collection in a bound exercise
b o o k b e l o n g i n g to t h e Ha rd y ’s
d a u g h t e r, M a r y A n n , e n t i t l e d
‘Arithmetic, Gardening , Receipts
for Cooking’. 12 T h e p r e s e n c e
o f t h e s e d e s s e r t g l a s s e s i n t h e
‘ p a r l o u r ’ ra t h e r t h a n w i t h t h e
e ver yd ay c ro cker y and g l a ss in
t h e ‘ k e e p i n g p a r l o u r ’ p ro b a b l y
ref lects the labour-intensive pro –
duction of jellies and sy ll abubs
which made them sweetmeats
for special occasions, particular –
ly in a hous ehold where one o f
two female servants doubled as
cook and d air ymaid. T he listing
of fr uit dishes immediately after
the syllabubs and custard glass –
es sug gests that they too mig ht
have been g lass. T hey may have
b e en for the dess er t , but could
have been used at tea in summer
when, on at least two occasions,
the diarist describes provid –
ing guests with strawberries. 13
In the kitchen among pew ter,
brass and copper equipment there
was just one ‘small glass’ valued at
1s.0d., possibly used as a measure,
or for pressing out circles of pas –
tr y. A nearby storeroom housed a
mahogany dining table and about
275 pieces of blue and white, white
and other ear thenware and china,
but no glass apar t from a couple
of bottles. 14 T he large numbers
of plates and dishes of low val –
ue and seven gotches (ver y large
jugs) sug gest that these could have
been used when the Hardys enter –
tained their workforce to a dinner
of roast meats and plum pudding ,
usually two or three times a year.
T here were thre e more g l a ss
bottles in the bakehouse, and 123
in the dair y, probably for sale of
sur plus milk . A larger number of
bottles were in the well- stocked
wine cellar and vault which sup –
ported the family ’s convivial social
l i fe . T h e y h o u s e d 3 1 7 b o t t l e s
mainly of por t , brandy, g in, and
tent (a red wine from Alicante), 2
of r um, 29 of ale and por ter, and
79 of home-made liquors: mead,
g ra p e , c h e r r y, w h i te a n d b l a c k
currant wines. T here were also 4
pickle bottles filled with gooseber –
ries. A bag of corks was to be found
in the ‘counting house ’, William
Hardy’s office on the ground f loor.
Their ownership of large quanti –
ties of bottles can also be inferred
f r o m t h e p o r t a n d r e d w i n e
acquired by the pipe periodically
by Hardy, and drawn off into bot –
tles for his own cellar, and those
o f t wo o r t h re e o t h e r p e rs o n s ,
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12 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
A GLASS INVENTORY
who probably provided their own
bottles. 14 Although bottled ale and
porter are mentioned in the inven –
tor y there are ver y few mentions
o f t he s e b o t t le s i n t he d i a r ie s ,
probably because most of Hardy ’s
trade was in cask s and bar rels .
On 23 March 1774 at Coltishall,
he bottled ‘3 dozen and 3’ bottles
of ale for the rector, and 4 dozen
for himself, and on 21 April in the
same year, he and his wife collect –
e d 7 doz en g l a ss b o tt les , s ome
c o n t a i n i n g b e e r f ro m B u x t o n ,
near Coltishall, sold 2 ” d oz e n
more for 5s.0d. to a Mr L ane, and
left a dozen and some f lasks at the
Black Lion inn. 15 Unfor tunately,
the diar ies do not mention how
either beer, porter, or wine bot –
tles were acquired, but it seems
l i k e l y t h a t n e w b o t t l e s w o u l d
have come by sea from Newcastle
or London to one of the por ts on
the Nor folk coast. A quick search
throu g h sale adver tisements in
the Nor folk Chronicle during the
second half of the century indi –
cates that large numbers of empty
wine and porter bottles were recy –
cled by changing hands in sales
of inns and domestic proper ties.
W hen thinking about glass and
ceramics in use in the eighteenth
centur y we tend to envisage tables
set for dining à la française, the
desser t, or drinking after dinner
with equipment in the style of a
par ticular era, as they might have
been in a wealthy and fashionable
household. However, the inven –
tor y of L ether ingsett Hall g ives
the impression that for everyday
meals, a mix ture of old and new
g l a ss and ceramics o f dif ferent
kinds were in use. Unfor tunately,
apar t from a dozen ‘Delf plates ’
m e n t i o n s o f w h i te o r b l ue a nd
white plates in the inventor y, we
have no evidence for their appear –
ance, but acquisitions over some
thir ty years must have differed
in style. It was not till September
1 8 0 7 t h at M a r y Ha rd y m ad e a
memorandum in the front of her
di ar y re cording the acquisi t ion
of ‘16 Best Set of Dishes’, and in
October added a dinner ser vice
of 150 pieces, including 96 large
p l a t e s ‘ t o M a t c h ’. Po s s i b l y i t s
acquisition was an indication that
William Hardy junior wished his
ageing parents to dine in an up-to-
d ate s t y le more a p pro pr i ate to
the wealth they had achieved. 16
Julia Poole was former –
l y K e e p e r o f A p p l i e d A r t i n t h e
F i t z w i l l i a m M u s e u m , a n d s i n c e
retirement has served in an advi –
s or y ca pa cit y a s Honorar y K eeper
o f We s t e r n C e r a m i c s . S h e h a s
been a contr ibutor to Gla ss C ircle
N e w s a n d i s n o w i n t e r e s t e d i n
t h e s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c h i s t o r y
of glass, its marketing and use.
REFERENCES
1. Cobbett, William, Rural
Rides , ed. Pitt Cobbett, 1893,
vol. I, pp. 59-61.
2. Transcribed and ed. Bird,
Margaret, T he Diar y of Mar y
Hardy 1773-1809 , 4 vols,
Kingston upon Thames 2013.
I am grateful to Margaret
Bird for permission to quote
from these, and for the
image of Letheringsett Hall.
See also her four volume
companion to the diar y,
Mar y Hardy and her World
1773-1809 , Kingston upon
Thames, 2020.
3. The Hardys had three
children, of whom the eldest,
R aven, died in 1787. From
1792-1800 a nephew, Henr y
R aven, lived with them, and
was apprenticed to his uncle
between 1794-99.
4. Bird, 2013, vol. 2, Appendix
D2.C, pp. 411-23. Bird, 2020,
vol. I, pp. 474-507.
5. For Nor wich glass dealers,
see Smith, Sheenah, ‘Glasses
in 18th centur y Nor wich’,
T he Glass Circle, 2 (1975), pp.
49-59.
6. Bird, 2013, vol. 2, p. 43.
Several earlier purchases of
ceramics and furniture at
sales were recorded during the
family ’s residence in Coltishall
during the 1770s, Bird, 2013,
vol. 1, pp. 155, 252. Visits to
Coltishall by itinerant earth –
enware and china vendors
were also recorded, pp. 193,
206, 232, 256
7. Bird, 2013, vol. 4, p. 409. For
illustrations, see Darling ,
Trevor, ‘ Take Six Small tar t
Pans’, ECCT , 19, Par t 1 (2005),
p. 113-14, figs. 10 and 11; text
p. 114.
8. Bird, 2013, vol. 2, p. 341.
9. Bird, 2013, vol. 2, p. 316, 21
September, 1790; p. 336, 8
May1791, and n. 1 for Hardy ’s
journey.
10. A third f lint glasshouse was
established in 1791 at South
Shields, but seems unlikely to
have been the provider of this
order. See Ross, Catherine,
‘ The Flint Glass Houses on the
Rivers Tyne and Wear during
the Eighteenth Centur y ’,
, 5 (1986),
pp. 75-85.
11. I have been unable to find
a copy of the catalogue of
the sale of the contents of
Letheringsett Hall on 29 April
1976 to ascer tain if it included
any eighteenth- centur y glass
which might have sur vived
there.
12. Bird, 2020, vol. 1, pp. 703-7,
especially p. 706.
13. Bird, 2013, vol. 2, p. 281, 3
July 1789, and vol. 4, p. 303
26 July 1805.
14. e.g. Bird, 2013, vol. 4, p. 84, 4
December, 1801. A pipe of red
wine was 126 gal., and a pipe
of port, 138 gal.
15. Bird, 2013, vol. I, p. 24
and p. 32.
16. Bird, 2013, vol. 4, p. 422.
Julia Poole.indd 12Julia Poole.indd 12 10/11/2022 10:4410/11/2022 10:44

13 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
GLASS PIANO FEET
The Piano Insulator: Lost jewels of Manchester
Michael Upjohn
Fig. 1Top row: Rd 263314, Rd 357730, Rd 316413, Rd 87149Bottom row: Rd 119975, Rd 120613, Rd 273178, Rd 282260 M
y first encounter with a
piano insulator was while
rummaging around in a
cupboard of no-longer-displayed
items at my parents’ house when
I came across one heavy, cylindri –
cal green piece of glass with ribbed
sides, similar to a paperweight in size
and weight. My interest in uranium
glass meant I quickly tested it under
an ultraviolet light: it glowed like a
beacon. My parents’ records iden –
tified it as a Percival Vickers piano
insulator, registered design 357730
from 1880. To this day, I’ve never
found another like-for-like compar –
ison in colour, although I have now
collected a few other colours of the
registration. This was the start of my
interest in collecting piano insulators.
National archives show that
there are in the region of ten reg –
istered designs for piano insula –
tors. However, this is by no means
definitive. Many more designs were
unregistered, only to be found in
catalogues and advertisements. My
collection consists of eight of the ten
registered designs and many unregis –
tered, which I will discuss in this arti –
cle. I will also refer to other designs
which are not in my collection.
As a general guide, piano insula –
tors are paperweight size, weighing
from as low as 250 g increasing all
the way up to 750 g. They are usual –
ly wider at the bottom, reducing in
size towards the top, with a round
recess or cup for a castor to sit in – a
bit like shallow volcano. They’re often
confused with large heavy Victorian
open master salts, furniture riser
castor cups or, even more frequent –
ly, modern-day tea-light holders!
Records show they were first cre –
ated in the early Victorian era. One
of the earliest references to them
was in an advertisement from the
Nottinghamshire Guardian on the
15th August 1850. James Barlow,
inventor and manufacturer, claimed
that his new invention helped to
improve weak-toned instruments
by means of obtaining a perfect
vibration. Further advertisements
of the time show a rapid increase in
popularity for these new inventions
found in British and many European
catalogues of the late Victorian era.
Although the original purpose of
a piano insulator was to enhance the
tones of the piano, it soon became
apparent that there were other ben –
efits too. Piano insulators helped to
protect flooring from the weight of
heavy instruments and also helped
protect the piano itself by prevent –
ing damp ingress. Popularity of
piano insulators increased and their
patterns became ever more decora –
tive and colourful. One of the first,
Rd 102545, a design registered by
Samuel Harraden, on 12 November
1855 in London, can be found
online at the Glass Message Board’s
glass gallery website – https://www.
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14 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
GLASS PIANO FEET
Fig. 2Some designs of Richard Handley !omas
Fig. 3Derbyshire Frosted Green Paw, Rd 282260
glassmessages.com. It was of a
swirl design and bore a close resem –
blance to a decorative salt bowl.
O ne of the nex t re g istered
designs is Rd 119975, registered
20.05.1859 by Davis, Greathead &
Green, Stourbridge and shown in
Fig.1 (bottom row, first left)
of a shallower design, with a vertical
rib pattern. Known colours include
clear flint, canary yellow, uranium
green, clear blue and dark amethyst.
This design differed from many as
it did not feature a solid base rim.
Instead, the rim was comprised
of individual small, raised studs,
making it more prone to damage.
Design Rd 120613, July 1859
(Fig.1, bottom row, second left) , is
an unusual example as it was made
and registered by Percival, Yates, &
Vickers of Manchester, on behalf of
Thomas Dawkins of 4 Little Warner
Street, Clerkenwell, London: an
impor ter and manufacturer of
musical instruments. This shape
was known as the “finger” pattern.
It became very popular and despite
the design being registered it was
widely copied by other manufactur –
ers, albeit with very small differences.
An early unregistered plain cylin –
drical shape unusually has its maker’s
name imprinted on the top rim – “R.H
Thomas Inventor Kidsgrove” – making
it easy to identify. Richard Handley
Thomas was an engineer and inven –
tor. Examples of this design include
the smaller and more common aqua
(a greeny/blue) and two taller and
wider rare bronze examples (Fig.2)
is design Rd 263314, a rare insulator
registered in 11.06.1872 by Percival
Vickers and Co, Manchester (
row, first left) –
pered cylindrical shape with a decora –
tive zigzag side pattern, is in canary
yellow. I have only ever seen one other
example of this, but in clear glass.
Another rare design in my col –
lection is an unmarked piece in
canary yellow, seen in Fig.1 (bot –
tom row, second right)
National Archives illustration, it is
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15 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
GLASS PIANO FEET
Fig. 4Derbyshire Bull’s Head, Rd 309902 (of !e British Glass Foundation and Dudley Museum Service)
Fig. 5Above, a Percival Vickers green septigon and large blue cogwheel; below, a Molineaux Webb canary octagon and a cobalt blue disc
Fig. 6Unregistered Sowerby designs in canary, number 318; green number 698 with the Prince of Wales Feathers design in the cup; and a tall canary number 2049
believed to be Rd 273178 registered
27.05.1973 by Ker Webb and Co,
Manchester: a decorative design
with vertical gadrooning ribs with
small pimples. Other known colours
include opaque blue and clear flint.
There is an element of doubt, how –
ever, as a very similar pattern can
be found in a freehand illustration
from Molineaux Webb and Co.
R d 2 7 5 7 5 6 r e g i s t e r e d i n
02.09.1873 by John Derbyshire,
Manchester is one that’s not in
my collection and I do not have a
picture of it, though a copy of the
design can be found on the Glass
Messages for um. T he design is
unusual as the multi-fingered sides
curve sinuously down to the base
and it has a shallow volcano-style
recess to hold the piano castors.
From 1874 onwards designs took
a different direction. No longer the
geometric shapes with patterns,
instead there were more flamboyant
designs. One of the most eccentric
designs, Rd 282260 Paw, was regis –
tered by John Derbyshire – also well
known for his eclectic paperweight
figurines – on the 12.05.1874 (Fig.1,
bottom row, first right – in yellow, and
Fig.3 – in green) –
bles a lion’s paw or a mammoth’s foot.
It came in two sizes, not only with a
lozenge and anchor trade mark in the
cup but also on the base rim. Many of
the registered designs only have the
date lozenge in the cup, which are
then susceptible to being worn away
by the piano castor. Colours in my col –
lection consist of clear flint, canary
yellow and a rare frosted green colour.
The third registered design from
John Derbyshire is Rd 309902 Bull’s
Head, registered 04.05.1877, Fig.4 .
This is an exceptionally rare insu –
lator with few known examples.
The pattern is of three bulls’ heads
alternating between pairs of hooves.
Although not in my collection, I was
lucky enough to see this example
on a visit to Himley Hall, Dudley.
The design that sparked off my
collection, Rd 357730 registered
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16 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
GLASS PIANO FEET
Fig. 7!e Percival Vickers Ram with three faces, unregistered design
Fig. 8George Davidson’s Old Bearded Man, unregistered design
05.11.1880 by Percival Vickers
and Co is shown in Fi g.1(top
row, second left)
include amber, green, lime green,
blue, cobalt blue, and clear flint.
The following design, Rd 87149
(Fig.1, top row, first right) , was regis –
tered on 16.11.1887, again by Thomas
Dawkins, the musical instrument
manufacturer and importer. Unlike
their first registration, this design
was not copied and has an alternating
geometric pattern of lines and curves
resembling the more traditional ‘vol –
cano-style’ insulator. It is unclear who
manufactured this pattern but it has
several similarities with Rd 316413
registered 24.03.1898 by Burtles Tate
and Co, Manchester (Fig.1, top row,
second right)
a spiralling pattern they are remark –
ably similar in colour, raised font,
subtle uranium glow and base stamp.
Numerous unregistered designs
can be found on various internet
sites such as Worthpoint, eBay and
searching through the messages
forum of the Glass Message Board.
Many of these unregistered designs
i m i t ate vo l c a no e s , co g w h e e l s ,
octagonal bolt heads, septagons,
simple round discs and stars (Fig.5) .
Designs come in a variety of colours
and sometimes two sizes. Moulds
also changed hands through the
Victorian and the early 20th centu –
ry eras making attribution difficult.
The North East manufacturers
of Sowerby, George Davidson and
Edward Moore also show examples
of unregistered designs without
trademarks in their catalogues. Fig.6
shows two patterns found in the 1885
Sowerby catalogue including a canary
yellow, number 318 and another large
canary insulator from a later 1898
catalogue, number 2049. The round
green insulator with a stamp featur –
ing the Prince of Wales feathers was
not featured in the catalogue but is
very similar in design to a featured
paperweight, catalogue number 698.
Along with the Derbyshire mam –
moth foot, the most fascinating
designs are found with faces; these
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17 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
GLASS PIANO FEET
Fig. 9Gargoyle or Devil, with three faces and alternating shield. Unattributed. (Courtesy of David Willars)
Chinese Dragon with three faces and alternating shell pattern. Unattributed
include intricate protruding noses,
ears, tongues and horns, all being
very susceptible to damage. Due to
their vulnerability, they are the rarest
to collect. Of the five known designs,
three can be attributed. One is the reg –
istered design from John Derbyshire,
Rd 309902 Bull’s Head (Fig.4) , as
mentioned previously. The other two,
which I have in my collection, are The
Ram, an unregistered design which
has three rams’ faces (Fig.7) and can
be found in Percival Vickers’ illustra –
tions, and an unregistered design of
an old, bearded man (Fig.8) that can
be found in George Davidson’s 1880
catalogue. This is different from the
other designs as there is only one
face as opposed to three. One of the
two unattributed examples is the
Gargoyle or Devil’s face that has three
faces with an alternating shield pat –
tern (Fig.9) — this has similarities with
both the Ram and Bull’s Head. Finally,
from my collection, an unknown
insulator in canary yellow of either a
Chinese dragon – 1880 was the year of
the dragon – or some other mythical
creature (Fig.10) . This has three faces
with tongues hanging out, alternating
with what appear to be clam shells or
a fan pattern. Whilst visiting Himley
Hall I compared the Derbyshire
Bull’s head with my Chinese drag –
on/mythical creature. I was hoping
that the basic mould shape would
match but unfortunately it was
not the same, so it’s still a mystery.

REFERENCES
The Piano Insulator resources I use
are a very informative and interest –
ing article found on the Heartofglass.
uk website, Worthpoint.com and
the gallery and forum on the Glass
Message Board, where you can find
illustrations of the registered designs.
It would be great to hear from
anyone who has different fac –
es; please send me a message at
[email protected]
E-mail from John Morris
20/08/2022
I found the Michael Upjohn article
on his father’s collection of Victorian
Pressed Glass (Glass Matters June
2022 No14) was like a breath of
fresh air. Pressed glass has fallen out
of vogue of late and in the last few
years we have lost many glass fairs
which were our hunting grounds
for pressed glass. They were also
a social occasion when collectors
could meet dealers and collector
friends. I have also seen that arti –
cles on pressed glass have become
scarce since the merger of The Glass
Association with The Glass Circle
to create The Glass Society and the
magazine becoming Glass Matters .
Let’s hope that Michael Upjohn’s
articles will create more interest in
British pressed glass. As a collec –
tor of Victorian Sowerby Pressed
Glass, a collection started with my
late partner over 30 years ago, I
look forward to Michael Upjohn’s
future promised articles and more
photographs of his superb collection.
Dear John. This is one of many to
come. Thank you for your email. (Editor)
Piano Feet.indd 17Piano Feet.indd 17 10/11/2022 10:4910/11/2022 10:49

D ECANTER WITH A S ULPHIDE
18 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
ARMORIAL SULPHIDE
Bill Millar
I
n the last issue of Glass Matters
in the article “Glasses of the City
of London Craft and Merchant
Guilds”, I effectively made the point
that researching the back story of
an armorial glass could be more ful –
filling than finding a rarity. The back
story of the heavy, cut decanter at
Fig.1 illustrates this point. It was
missing its stopper when I bought it,
but given the rarity of inexpensive
decanters with an armorial sulphide,
I was delighted with my purchase.
A close examination of the armo –
rial at Fig.2 , revealed a most peculiar
crest which looked like a pancake with
a pyramid of bells suspended from it
on either side of the arms. With the
help of a glass, the pancake was seen
to be some sort of hat, perhaps a straw
hat, but the bells remained a mystery.
The arms show a ship under a disc
with 2 stars. The motto was mostly
legible as “PAX VO?IS”; the missing
letter looked like it could be “M”. A
check of Pax Vomis on Google came
back with the surprising result that it
is what taxi drivers fear most when a
drunk gets in their cab! Fortunately, it
offered PAX VOBIS as an alternative
which translates as “Peace be with
you”, which was Christ’s greeting to
his Apostles after his resurrection.
After another search using “Whose
motto was “PAX VOBIS?”, the first
answer produced on Heraldry-Wiki
was a list of 8 names. The first name
was a cardinal but with different arms;
the second a bishop, again with dif –
ferent arms. Finally, the third name
was a second cardinal, Pierre Giraud,
and it was his coat of arms. There was
no need to check the last 5 names.
Pierre Giraud was born in France
on 11th August 1791 and ordained in
1815. He was made Bishop of Rodez in
1830, Archbishop of Cambrai in 1841,
Fig. 1A decanter, h 23.3cm, c1850, possibly Baccarat, with a sulphide of the arms of Cardinal Pierre Giraud
Bill Millar Sulphide.indd 18Bill Millar Sulphide.indd 18 10/11/2022 10:5010/11/2022 10:50

19 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
ARMORIAL SULPHIDE
Fig. 2Detail of the decanter showing the sulphide, h 3.3cm
elevated to cardinal in 1847 and died
on 17th April 1850. With the help of
Google it was then easy to make sense
of the arms. The ecclesiastical hat is
in fact a galero and the “bells” are the
tassels which hang from the ties of
the hat. Each tie has 15 tassels, which
is correct for a cardinal. Archbishops
have 10 tassels and bishops 6. Given
that cardinals cannot admit to a direct
descendent, and his arms, as seen in
the sulphide, have 15 tassels, they
could only have been current from
1847 until 1850. Unless he predicted
his elevation, the decanter must date
from this 3-year period. The arms show
a barque, which may be a reference to
St Peter and the concept of steering
the church to salvation, and 2 stars in
a circle. The Wiki page which displayed
his arms includes a photograph of the
handle of a fork or spoon engraved
with his arms, showing 10 tassels
on each side of the galero. Clearly, as
an archbishop he enjoyed displaying
his arms, so it should be no surprise
that he took the opportunity to have
glassware with his arms as a cardinal.
The internet yielded much informa –
tion about the good cardinal. In 1848
there was a revolution in France. King
Louis Philippe was unpopular, the
economic situation was dire, there
was serious deprivation and a lack
of representation. In February there
was a 3-day uprising in Paris which
culminated in the abdication of the
king and an interim government was
formed. The revolution had a seismic
effect across Europe but only the effect
in Italy is pertinent to this article. At
this time Italy comprised a number of
separate states and there was a gener –
al uprising seeking more liberal gov –
ernment and the unification of Italy.
The northern states were under the
control of the Austrian government
and an effort was made by a combi –
nation of states to force the Austrians
out of Italy. Pope Pius IX as Head of
the Papal States provided 10,000
troops to the combined army but later
tried to withdraw them. The people
of Rome then rebelled against Pius’s
government and the Pope fled the
Papal States to the safety of Gaeta and
the protection of the King of Naples. It
was at this point that Cardinal Giraud
became a player in these great events.
The interim French government
felt that if they could induce Pope Pius
to accept the hospitality of France
it would bolster their credibility for
impending elections. Cardinal Giraud
was invited to undertake a secret mis –
sion and travel to Gaeta to encourage
Pope Pius to move to France. He set
off in January 1849 and returned
to Cambrai on 15 April. It is record –
ed in Cardinal Giraud’s biography
that he gave the Pope monies which
would be worth over £150,000
today – brave man travelling with
so much money. In the event the
Pope did not accept the invitation
to decamp to France. However, the
French Government’s objective was
achieved in July 1849 when their
army entered Italy and reinstated
the Pope in Rome, where he ruled
with French protection until 1870.
Motto apart, the detail of the
sulphide is surprisingly good consid –
ering it is only 3.3cms high. If you look
closely you will see a medal suspended
beneath the centre of the arms. It is
normal for the recipient of honours
to append them to their arms. There
is no mention in his biography of any
awards but the same medal is shown
with his arms in the frontispiece of the
book. The medal is almost certainly
that of the Légion d’honneur. He may
have been invested with the honour
following his mission to Gaeta. If
so, this would date the decanter to a
one-year period between April 1849
and his death in April 1850. I have
no experience of mid-19th century
French decanters with sulphides but
the glass company Baccarat springs
to mind as a possible maker. If you
have knowledge of such decanters
or sulphides I would appreciate your
thoughts at [email protected]
I thought the decanter a great
find when I bought it. Researching
the stor y of its one-time owner
was great fun and has added enor –
mously to my pleasure in owning it.
Bill Millar Sulphide.indd 19Bill Millar Sulphide.indd 19 10/11/2022 10:5010/11/2022 10:50

Koh-i-Noor Diamonds: Real and Replica
20 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
ROYAL DIAMOND
Peter Kaellgren Ph. D
Fig. 1 & 2
W
i t h t h e h i s t o r y o f
the C rown Je wel s of
England being brought
into focus again following the sad
death of Queen Elizabeth II and the
crowns to be used once more to cele-
brate the coronation of King Charles
III to gether with Q ueen Consor t
Camilla, it seems timely to look at the
provenance of the jewels in the crowns,
particularly the Koh-i-Noor diamond,
with regard to the current discussion
amon g museums on repatr iatin g
‘plundered’ or ‘stolen’ items. Editor .
REPLICA
Peter Kaellgren wrote to The Glass
Society Journal and our former joint
chairman, Susan Newell, in March
2020: “In the paper published by
Susan Newell on early glass collecting
by The Museum of Practical Geology
in the mid-1800s and how their col-
lection ended up coming to the V&A
Museum about 1901, Susan referred
to glass replicas of famous diamonds
from India that had been presented
to Queen Victoria. !These diamonds
included the Koh-i-Noor and two
other large stones. !The glass repli-
cas were produced by Apsley Pellatt’s
Falcon Glasshouse in London and
exhibited at the Great Exhibition of
1851 where their maker was awarded
a medal. !Susan said in her paper that
she wondered where examples of
these replicas !survived. ! I wrote to tell
her that the European Department
of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
had acquired one of these sets of
glass replicas in 2007. !The accession
number is 2007.54.1.1-.4. !These
replicas were acquired by the ROM
partly because they documented
the state of the crudely cut stones
as they were in about 1850. !!In the
late 1800s, they were cut and fac-
eted to become part of the British
chairman, Susan Newell, in March
2020: “In the paper published by
Susan Newell on early glass collecting
by The Museum of Practical Geology
in the mid-1800s and how their col-
lection ended up coming to the V&A
Museum about 1901, Susan referred
to glass replicas of famous diamonds
from India that had been presented
to Queen Victoria. !These diamonds
included the Koh-i-Noor and two
other large stones. !The glass repli-
cas were produced by Apsley Pellatt’s
Falcon Glasshouse in London and
exhibited at the Great Exhibition of
1851 where their maker was awarded
a medal. !Susan said in her paper that
Crown Jewels. ROM Mineralog y
is interested in documenting the
histor y of the diamonds; they
already had glass replicas of the
recut stones but none showing their
original state. !This acquisition was
of interest for both the European
a n d M i n e ra l o g y d e p a r t m e n t s .
Jennifer Kinnaird, the Technician
in the European Department, was
kind enough to send me these
images of the Apsley Pellatt repli-
ca stones displayed at the Great
Exhibition. !Looking at the outside
of the leather-covered box, it is inter-
esting to note that this was a regis-
tered (copyrighted) design as can
be seen from the diamond-shaped
Registration Mark (Figs.1, 2, 3) .”
Peter K aellg ren, Ph.D.
Curator Emeritus (European
Decorative Arts)
Peter Kaellgren.indd 20Peter Kaellgren.indd 20 10/11/2022 10:5110/11/2022 10:51

21 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
ROYAL DIAMOND
Fig. 3
REAL
The following section has been collated
from a number of websites. Apologies
in advance for any inaccuracies. Editor.
In 1526 the Turco-Mongol leader
came from Central Asia through the
Khyber Pass to invade India, estab –
lishing the Islamic Mughal dynasty
and a new era of infatuation with
gemstones. The Mughals would
rule northern India for another 330
years. The written records show that
in 1628, Mughal ruler Shah Jahan
commissioned a magnificent, gem –
stone-encrusted throne – !The Peacock
Throne (said to have cost more than
the Taj Mahal). Among the many pre –
cious stones that adorned the throne
were two particularly enormous gems
that would, in time, become the most
valued of all: the Timur Ruby and the
Koh-i-Noor diamond. The diamond
was lodged at the very top of the
throne, in the head of a glistening
gemstone peacock. In 1739, Persian
ruler Nader Shah invaded India, took
the Peacock Throne (back to the coun –
try that would become Afghanistan)
and removed the Timur Ruby and the
Koh-i-Noor diamond to wear on an
armband. The Koh-i-Noor remained
away from India for 70 years as part
of his treasure. After decades of
fighting, the diamond was returned
to India and came into the hands
of Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh in 1813.
Meantime, At the turn of the
19th century, the British East India
Company expanded its territorial con –
trol from coastal cities to the interior
of the Indian subcontinent, the British
also had their eye on that piece of price –
less treasure, the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
Following Ranjit Singh’s death
in 1839, the Punjabi throne passed
through four different rulers over
four violent years. Left in line for the
throne was a 10-year-old boy, Duleep
Singh, and his mother, Rani Jindan.
Later, in 1849, after imprisoning
Jindan, the British forced Duleep
to sign a legal document amending
the Treaty of Lahore: this required
Duleep to give away the Koh-i-Noor
and all claim to sovereignty (Fig.4) .
On 3 July 1850, !Queen Victoria
was visited by two members of the
British East India Company. They
presented her with the jewel recent –
ly taken from Duleep Singh, the boy
maharaja of Lahore. It is recorded
that she said, “
me with a short speech, the celebrated
Koh-i-Noor, the largest diamond in the
world, unfortunately it is not set ‘à jour’,
and badly cut, which spoils the effect .”
In 1851, it went on display at
the !Great Exhibition !in London, but
the lacklustre cut failed to impress
viewers: in June, The Times wrote
‘Many people find a difficulty in bringing
themselves to believe, from its external
appearance, that it is anything but a piece
of common glass .’ G i ve n i t s d i s a p p o i n t –
ing reception, Prince Albert had the
stone re-cut and polished as an oval
brilliant by !Coster Diamonds, when it
was regarded as ‘ .’ Though by
modern standards, the culet – point at
the bottom of a gemstone – is unusu –
ally broad, giving the impression of a
black hole when the stone is viewed
head-on. The earliest confirmed
weight of the original stone is 186 old
carats – 191 metric carats or 38.2 !g.
The cutting process reduced its size by
nearly half, down to 105.6 metric car –
ats – 21.12 !g, but made the light refract
more brilliantly from its surface.
Queen Victoria wore the diamond
as a brooch before it eventually became
part of the Crown Jewels: first in the
crown of Queen Alexandra, the wife
of Edward VII and then in the crown
of Queen Mary, the wife of George
V. T h e d i a m o n d c a m e t o i t s c u r r e n t
place in 1937, at the front of the crown
worn by the Queen Mother, wife of
George VI and mother of Elizabeth
II. The crown made its last public
appearance in 2002, !resting on top
of the coffin of the Queen Mother.
Fig. 4
Peter Kaellgren.indd 21Peter Kaellgren.indd 21 10/11/2022 10:5110/11/2022 10:51

A chance marriage
22 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
GIFTED GLASS
Peter Henderson writes in from Australia
M
any collectors and dealers
of 17th and 18th centur y
glass, English and con –
tinental, would have me t A l an
Milford, often trading from his
bag on a stall in Portobello Market.
Alan had recommended many of
the glasses in the well-known A
C Hubbard collection, which was
later sold by Bonhams in 2011.
Peter Adamson had str uck up a
close friendship with Alan, and in
2021 Alan gifted two early goblets
to Peter in his will. One of those
goblets is shown on the front cover
of this issue of Glass Matters : a ser –
pent-winged Facon de Venise gob –
let, made of lead glass – so made
in England, c1680-90, perhaps for
export? The second glass, a large
funnel-bowled baluster goblet, with
a quatrefoil knop between two mere –
ses, also c1680-90, is shown here
(Fig.1) . Later, a baluster goblet lid
was found in a box of Alan’s effects
by David Fileman – Peter placed it
onto his goblet: not only did it fit,
but the style was correct and the
metal was the same colour. Goblet
and lid were together again (Fig.2) .
I
recently came across this curi –
ous glass, which I believe is
18th centur y, though I have
no idea what it is for. Initi ally
I thoug ht it was a crazy r inser,
though I wonder whether it might
have been a measure of some kind
or perhaps a mixing glass. Are there
any members who know what it
is? The glass is 123mm high !and
t h e b o w l i s 1 1 0 m m a c r o s s .
P l e a s e c o n t a c t m e o n
[email protected]
Editor: I ’d c a l l t h i s a
small rinser, though not usu –
al to find one on a knopped stem.
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
Gifted Glass.indd 22Gifted Glass.indd 22 10/11/2022 10:5110/11/2022 10:51

S HOW AND T ELL : Glass Society AGM
23 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
Robin Wilson
T
o enliven our Glass Society AGM on 24/02/2022, held online with Zoom as concerns over Covid-19 were still so
fresh in our minds, David Willars suggested a Show & Tell format for the evening. It went very well, bringing in
live questions and comments. The four revised presentations, from Robin Wilson, Peter Kaellgren, Lesley Pyke
and Brian Clarke, are presented along with additional information that was offered from Richard & Hilary Stephenson.
A soda glass: English or Dutch
D
espite it looking very plain,
the glass I’m showing this
evening is interesting. It
is of soda metal with a brownish
colour and dates to around 1670 to
1680. It stands 13.5cm in height.
The glass is illustrated in E M
Elville’s English Table Glass , plate
9, and also in the Apollo annu –
al of 1948, in an article writ –
ten by Major Fergus Graham.
The question is this: is it English or
Dutch? There is a reasonable possibil –
ity that it is English and that it comes
from the Duke of Buckingham’s
glasshouse. Major Graham in his
article in the Apollo annual says that
there are only a few glasses from
the period immediately preceding
Ravenscroft; I quote: “At the moment
there are just a few soda glasses of this
decade that can with some confidence
be put forward as possibly British…”
others that appear together in the
illustration included in his article.
The glass has been in the Captain
Horridge, Major Fergus Graham
and Professor Plesch collections.
So, I’m asking everyone, if you
know of any more recent literature
or thoughts on this period which
throw more light on the subject,
I should be interested to hear it!
Robin Wilson can be contact –
ed at [email protected]
Editor
Robin, your 17thC goblet was an
interesting introduction to Show
& Te l l a t t h e F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 2
AG M o f t h e G l a s s S o c i e t y. T h at
b o w l s h a p e i s v e r y 1 7 t h C , a n d
w i th a p parent l y no le ad content
a n d a s t r a i g h t s t e m , i t w o u l d
s u g g e s t b e i n g m a d e i n t h e l o w
c o u n t r i e s , t h e e a r l y E n g l i s h
g l a ss es tending to de velop from
t h e o l d e r Ve n e t i a n – s t y l e s te m s .
Though with the increased cur –
re n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e ro l e
o f m i g ra n t g l a s s w o r k e r s i n t h e
diss emin at ion o f g l a ss for mul ae
a n d s t y l e s , at t r i b u t i o n b e co m e s
even more uncertain. A s you’ ve
shown it before, you know that there
are diverging opinions. See the arti –
cle by Colin Brain, in this issue .
ShowandTell.indd 23ShowandTell.indd 23 10/11/2022 10:5910/11/2022 10:59

24 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
Peter Kaellgren
Drinking Glass or Spa Glass
P
ersonal drinking glasses that
people car r ied with them
were a feature of European
society from the Middle Ages to the
nineteenth century. ! Possibly the
earliest known surviving example
is the so-called “Luck of Edenhall”
(Accession C.1 to B-1959). !! This
is an enamelled glass beaker pro –
duced in Egypt or Syria about 1350
CE which survives intact with its
fitted tooled leather case made in
England or France within a cen –
tury of its arrival. ! Later examples
were usually less ornate and have
been largely ignored by collectors.
Several years ago, I acquired this
travelling beaker from a dealer in
Ontario, Canada (Figs.1a,b,c,d)
!years earlier, I had seen three
similar examples on display at the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. ! All
were coloured glass and at least one
retained its original fitted cardboard
carrying case. ! The size and form of
the case suggests that it could pos –
sibly fit into an inside jacket pock –
et. !So I was pretty certain what the
form was, though my beaker was by
far the most interesting and ornate.
The tumbler is 9.8 cm tall with a
maximum width and depth of 6.7
x 4 cm. ! The body is a thick, heavy
opaque white glass with an outer cas –
ing of rich cobalt blue glass. ! It would
appear to be a heavy and very early
version of overlay glass, blown in a
dip mould. ! It was custom decorated
in gold with the name Martin Fuente-
taja who was likely the original owner
or recipient. ! Although the gilding is
worn, it is still possible to see the lau –
rel border and pattern of small sprigs
with two berries and scattered flying
birds. ! Surface irregularities on the
bottom and sides suggest that the
hot glass may have been blown into
a wooden dip mould. !! The pontil was
carefully polished smooth, which is
characteristic of finer quality glass.
B a s e d o n t h e s t y l e o f t h e
hand-painted gold decoration, the
tumbler looks to date any time
between the 1820s and 1840s. ! I re c a l l
that the examples at the Montreal
Museum of Fine Arts were dated to
the 1830s or perhaps a bit later. ! I
have not been able to trace Martin
Fuente-taja but the name suggests
that the tumbler was sold and per –
haps made in Spain. !! One of the
possible candidates for its produc –
tion is La Granja de San Ildefonso,
the Spanish Royal Glasshouse,
which employed Bohemian workers. !
However, it may be safer to consider
the tumbler as being of Bohemian or
Central European manufacture with
Fig. 1a and bTravelling beaker or Spa glass, 1a front, 1b back. Photos with thanks to John Alexander
ShowandTell.indd 24ShowandTell.indd 24 10/11/2022 10:5910/11/2022 10:59

25 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
Richard & Hilary Stephenson responding to Peter Kaellgren
Fig. 1c and dTravelling beaker or Spa glass, 1c base, 1d inside. Photos with thanks to John Alexander
the custom decoration likely being
applied in some sophisticated or
urban retail setting. !! Participants in
the AGM on February 24 suggested
that it was likely !a spa glass. !! This
sounds logical as there were medicinal
springs in Europe which were popu –
lar destinations where hotels were
built in the 1800s and the rich and
famous gathered ‘to take the waters’. !
Examples of some of the most elabo –
rate Bohemian-style glasses were sold
as souvenirs at these destinations. ! I
want to thank the other members
for their comments at the AGM and
would welcome any further insights,
which you may send to me at:

Peter K aellg ren, Curator Emeritus
(European Decorative Arts), Royal
Ontario Museum [email protected]
O
ur spa glass is quite small
being just 104 mm high, the
top rim being 72 x 37mm. As
can be seen (Figs.1,2 & 3) it is of white
glass overlaying clear. There are five
printies down each side which fit the
fingers beautifully, so you don’t drop
your glass when you drink the ‘orri –
ble spa water! The cartouche, Fig.4 ,
shows the entrance to the rocks at
Adersbach and is labelled “Eingang in
dir Felgra zu Adersbach”. Adersbach
is the German name for Adrspach
which is in the Hradec Kralove
region of NE Bohemia ver y close
to the Polish border. The picture is
of the Gothic Gate at the Adrspach-
Teplice rocks, now a National Nature
Reser ve, and was built in 1839 to
check tickets, presently bookable
online. I can’t find any references to
this being a spa in itself, but there
are many spas around the area.
We have another spa glass which
is moulded, cut and engraved and
one which has red flashing on clear
glass, engraved and in the form of
a mini tankard. How much they
were really used and how much they
were souvenir-ware I don’t know,
but they are generally quite small. I
pointed out that we think the shape
is meant to fit into the pocket – it
is rather precarious when stood
up. The f lower on the back looks
much like a tulip but we wondered
if it was meant to be a gentian.
Further reply from Peter
Kaellgren
Dear Hilary and Richard,
Thank you very much for providing
such good photos of your spa glass. !!
I would date it to sometime between
c. 1845 and 1870 based on the cos –
tumes of the people who are about
to buy their tickets: the ladies do not
have bustles nor are they wearing
hoop skirts – they actually look clos –
er to a young Queen Victoria. !The
other reason for my date is the style
and quality of the hand-painted
enamel decoration. !Towards 1870,
decoration on Continental sou –
venir items, even ones of better
quality, might be done in part or
in total using a transfer print. !This
appears to be all hand-painted and
the quality and attention to detail
is really fine. !The gilding is also
really rich as you would find on
earlier examples of overlay glass.
One of my reasons for suggest –
ing that these smaller spa glasses,
designed to be held in the hand,
could be put into a gentleman’s inside
jacket pocket, is the size and the
existence of cigar cases of about the
same size, which were popular with
wealthy smokers at the time – the
length corresponding to the length
of the cigars. !They could be made of
silver, silver plate, metal covered in
fine leather or perhaps even tortoise –
shell and usually held at least three
cigars. !I don’t believe that ladies had
anything larger than a small purse
or reticule into which they could put
small glass items like a smelling salts
or scent bottle. The f lower on the
back is too stylized to be precisely
interpreted. !!My guess is that it is
intended to more or less represent
a tulip, very popular in folk designs.
Something “folksy” like a tulip
would be oddly appropriate for a spa
located in the German countryside. !
ShowandTell.indd 25ShowandTell.indd 25 10/11/2022 10:5910/11/2022 10:59

26 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
Fig. 1
Fig. 3 Fig. 4
Fig. 2
I par ticularly like overlay g lass
and think that your piece is quite
wonderful. It is ver y possible that
the scene painted on the side was
copied from a contemporary !print. !
One always needs to investigate
this possibility. ! T he g lass may
have been decorated in a work –
shop far away from where it was
sold. ! Prints and engravings (for
this period wood cuts and litho –
graphs) were often copied for dec –
orating pieces and for producing
popular consumer decorative arts
like Staffordshire figurines. !I t
may be worth searching the inter –
n e t fo r a p r i n t w i t h t h e s a m e
title as is found below the image. !
Sometimes I have been amazed to
discover the original print sourc –
es for Victorian decorative arts.
ShowandTell.indd 26ShowandTell.indd 26 10/11/2022 10:5910/11/2022 10:59

27 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
Lesley Pyke
Cullet: Memories of Covid-19
W
hen we began our first
lockdown, with all the
bewilderment that came
along, I found I needed to distract
myself from a pretty frightening
time. I’d brought home a car load
of glass and my spare drill so that I
could set up a workshop and carr y
on working , especially my online
teaching with its videos. Among the
glass was one of my cullets, bought
from a gentleman many years ago –
all covered in dried old mud, as he’d
had a large number of them dotted
around his garden for 30 years,
used for decoration. He had bought
t h e m a s a n n e a l e d c u l l e t f ro m
W hitefriars when it closed down
and only sold them when becom –
ing a dog owner, as he didn’t want
the dog to hur t his paws on the
sharp facets. I have engraved sev –
eral of them to date, but I do enjoy
their beauty unengraved as well.
So, the ne ws was an endless
f low of ne w words , names and
phrases, strange new memories, !
and I star ted writing them down
as they seemed very import –
ant for histor y : “2 metres ”, “20
seconds”, !“Thursday clapping”,
“ Wuhan”, “Save the NHS ”, “Capt.
To m ”, to n a m e a fe w. !! I k n e w i m m e –
diately what I wanted to do with
them. It was a rare creative moment
for me, as I am normally engraving
for my clients and don’t have time
to think about engraving for myself.
I decided to leave the cullet raw
edged: all the facets ’ edges are
shar p and unpolished so that it
has a potentially dangerous feel to
it. The serifs of the simple letters
ref lect the Covid-19 spike protein,
as I had been intrigued by the car –
toon versions of this beast. Once
I had all the words I was prepared
to use, I wrote them on the cullet
with a permanent marker – stop –
ping just before the word “bubble”
g ro u p t h at wa s a l l o we d to g e t
together (Fig.1) . I didn’t have any
trouble spreading them out even –
ly over all the facets, leaving the
base blank. I then hand engraved
them in single basic strokes with
a mid-sized diamond bur. The cul –
let, being full lead crystal, was, as
always, like butter to engrave, lux –
uriously soft. The results brilliant
and the reflections so clear, deli –
cate and watery, yet lethal (Fig.2) .
Fig. 1!e cullet with ‘lockdown’ words marked in blue
Fig. 2!e completed cullet artwork
ShowandTell.indd 27ShowandTell.indd 27 10/11/2022 10:5910/11/2022 10:59

28 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
Brian Clarke
Glass for the Levitts:
Fig. 1An egg shaped contemporary glass sculpture, made by Gino Cenedese & Son, Murano, in 1985
A
piece of Italian glass from
Murano, unrelated to
my collection – but I saw
it, was taken by it and bought it.
It is an unusually large and
weighty egg-shaped contemporary
glass sculpture on a cylindrical base
(Fig.1) . The highly polished shape
is in clear glass, with a sommerso
inclusion in blue, a spiral trailing in
green and an internal design formed
by trapped air (Fig.2) . The cylindrical
base is in clear glass and supports
the sculpture at an angle. At 38 cm
tall and weighing 15.35 kg, it’s too
heavy to move around very often.
In July 2007, we were visiting a
ceramics craft fair in the grounds of
a country home. I hadn’t expected
to see glass objects, especially one
of this size and with a ‘science fic –
tion’ look to it. The piece drew me
in from afar. A discussion with the
seller introduced me to the mak –
er and its history -both of interest
– and a deal was made . The base
of the cylinder is engraved with
the maker and purchaser: ‘
Cenedese 1985 Murano M A DE
FOR THE LEVITTS’ (Fig.3) . Gino
Cenedese and Son glassworks are on
Murano; the seller told me that the
Levitt family were from New York.
William Levitt was born in 1907,
which would have made him 78 on
purchase of this sculpture – but at
the time, I had no confirmation
linking the glass with the Levitts.
William sold his property company
when in his 60s and lived on Long
Island. I compared the Cenedese sig –
nature on the glass with the known
signature on other glass made by
Gino Cenedese and Son (Figs.4 &
5), including pieces with an original
Cenedese label fixed to them and
they corresponded, confirming that
the signature on my piece is genuine.
Gino Cene des e , w ho ’d b e en
tutored by various glass masters,
opened a glassworks on the island
of Murano in 1946, after World War
II. He was joined at times by other
names that have become famous:
Ermano Toso, Archimedes Seguso
and Alfredo Barbini. They creat –
ed solid glass pieces, with internal
spirals and linked by the sommerso
technique. Cenedese became a leader
of innovation in the 1950s, ’60s and
’70s. The introduction of gas fur –
naces and torches suddenly allowed
maestros to work at consistently
higher temperatures and to create
ever more sculptural pieces of glass.
Among these were the “sommerso”
who came to work with Cenedese .
These pieces appear to be a compos –
ite of two, three or more vases of dif –
ferent colours — one inside the other
— fused into an outer vessel of clear
ShowandTell.indd 28ShowandTell.indd 28 10/11/2022 10:5910/11/2022 10:59

29 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SHOW & TELL
LEFT (TOP) Fig. 2A detail, showing the colour and air inclusions
LEFT (BOTTOM) Fig. 3!e base, engraved with the maker’s signature and the LEVITT’S name
Fig. 4Cenedese signature: online and with thanks to 20th century forum.com
Fig. 5Cenedese signature, on a vase by Antonio Da Ros; online and with thanks to collectorsweekly.com
glass. Gino Cenedese died in 1973, so
I thought it possible that this piece
was made by Antonio Da Ros, whose
work is sought after by collectors of
mid-century design. Today, Murano’s
main streets are packed with the show –
rooms of the well-known manufactur –
ers, such as Seguso, Venini, Barovier
& Toso, Mazzega and Cenedese
themselves, selling a wildly diverse
array of objects to suit every purse.
Response from John Newgas and
further enquiries.
John suggested that I look at ‘Ars
Cenedese Murano’, the company
that followed on from Gino Cenedese
and Son, as he’d seen pieces similar
to mine. Although I’d visited the Ars
website, I hadn’t seen the section
they’d called their Decorative Art –
and there they were: several modern
representations, egg-shaped and sim –
ilar to mine, though to my eyes not as
stylistically unique. I contacted Ars
Cenedese and they kindly wrote back,
informing me that my piece was prob –
ably made by master glassmaker Fabio
Tosi, who’d learnt the sommerso and
inclusion techniques from Antonio Da
Ros – thus continuing a ‘house style’.
They had a note that it was shipped
to Mr Levitt in America in 1985.
ShowandTell.indd 29ShowandTell.indd 29 10/11/2022 11:0010/11/2022 11:00

The Saving of H ISTORIC G LASS P ATTERN B OOKS
30 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
SAVING HISTORY
Fig. 1Description Book 8 Fig. 2Description Book 61
Fig. 3Description Book 16. 1892-1893 Fig. 4Description Book 13. 1889-1890
I
n January 2020, one of the last
months before Covid lockdown
restricted our lives, Stourbridge
News reported this item. A £25,000
g rant was awarded from T he
National Manuscripts Conservation
Trust (NMCT) to the British Glass
Foundation (BGF) to help preserve
historic glass pattern books from
the Stourbridge glassmaking facto-
ries. These 19th and 20th century
pattern books are the only known
complete surviving records of the
glasses that were made by: Stevens
& Williams (later known as Royal
Brierley Cr ystal); Thomas Webb
& Sons; WH, B and J Richardson;
Boulton & Mills; John Northwood &
Co and Smart Brothers. The designs
were entered into the books as each
glass was finished, with its own unique
pattern number; further details about
cutters, engravers, weights and costs
were also included. Their significance
as a unique record of the some of the
world’s most important glass factories
of that era is acknowledged nationally
and internationally. Researchers often
request permission to view the 75
spring-back volumes featuring intri-
cate sketches: comprising 8 Pattern
Books and 67 Description Books
running from 1851 through to 1945.
After years of handling, some of these
volumes were falling into disrepair,
so a specialist condition survey was
arranged: 32 volumes were identified
as unusable as they were so fragile and
damaged that they would suffer if han-
dled further; 18 others were in such a
poor state that further use would be
likely to cause irreparable damage.
Following the grant, it was decided to
display the books at The Stourbridge
Glass Museum and their contents
digitised to be made accessible to glass
historians, collectors, museum cura-
tors, designers, auctioneers, publish-
ers and glassmakers across the world.
Graham Fisher MBE, one of the BGF’s
trustees, thanked the NMCT for one
of the largest grants they had given
and David Williams-Thomas, a former
trustee of the BGF and the last chair-
man and managing director of Royal
Brierley Crystal said, ‘These books are a
crucial record of the achievements of the
skilled glassmakers of the Stourbridge dis-
trict. They were used daily in the firm for
125 years and record the designs of titans
such as John Northwood and Fred Carder
and the breadth of glassmaking skills of
the accomplished glassmakers and cut-
ters of the area. It is marvellous that they
are being preserved for posterity’
examples of the damaged volumes and
their pages are illustrated. More infor-
mation and progress on their preserva-
tion will be presented in a future issue.
Fig. 3Fig. 3
Glass Pattern Book2.indd 30Glass Pattern Book2.indd 30 15/11/2022 16:2815/11/2022 16:28

WHAT ARE THESE?
31 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
Glass Queries
F
ollowing my request to talk
a b o u t yo u r col le c t ion s or
submit questions on glass,
Pam and Russ Philips have pre –
sented a few of the glasses in their
collection, around which they ’d
like to know more. I’m antici –
pating that your combined wis –
dom will come up with answers.
They ask about Fig.1 : “Could
we be right in thinking that this
glass is an early dram, as described
in English Glass for the Collector
1660-1860 by G Bernard Hughes,
L u t te r wo r t h P re s s , 1 9 5 8 ? T h e
glass is 4.5” h, the metal is dark –
ish and well seeded and the stem
f o r m w o u l d s u g g e s t a n e a r l y
date, viz: L .M. Bicker ton, 1987,
image 73, page 69, and the bowl
is that of !‘thimble capacity.’”
Editor: An unusual glass, which
could be called a dram, though some
may call it a gin glass; not compara –
ble to Bickerton image 73 – though
he has many images of dram glass –
es in his book . Could be compared
with firing glasses, cordials, small
wines, light balusters. Thoughts?
Then in Fig.2 , there are two
delightful oil lamps, but could the
vessel on the left have been used
to fill the oil lamps? The fine spout
would sug gest easy pouring and
Pam & Russ have confirmed that
there is a hole in the neck at the
base of the drip tray (Fig.3) that
could be used for filling the vessel,
and the tray for collecting drips
after filling oil lamps. Is this an oil
lamp filler? Thoughts and dates?
T h e t h i r d g l a s s a r o u n d
which they raise a quer y, is this
well-propor tioned, tr ue-baluster
cordial glass (Fig.4) ; it has a slight –
ly deeper bowl than that shown
in O ld E n g li sh D r inkin g G la ss es
by Grant R. Francis as plate XLV
image 266, and they ask, “are there
other recorded early examples?”.
P l e a s e r e p l y t o t h e E d i t o r
o r t o R u s s & P a m P h i l i p s
at [email protected]
Fig. 3 Fig. 2
Fig. 1 Fig. 4
Glass Q.indd 31Glass Q.indd 31 14/11/2022 20:3814/11/2022 20:38

Bonhams Fine Glass and Paperweights sale
32 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
BONHAMS
Knightsbridge, 21 June 2022
T
he core of this 180-lot sale came
from three outstanding private
collections. While each collector
had predominantly concentrated on
English glass from the 18th century,
they had focussed on different aspects
of glass. David Burton will be known to
many as the author of Antique Sealed
Bottles 1640-1900 and the families that
owned them (2014), now the standard
reference work on the subject; having
bought and researched early bottles
since the 1970s, the sale included 17
lots of sealed bottles from his own
collection, spanning the 17th to 19th
centuries. The second portion of the
collection of Patrick and Mavis Walker,
spread across 54 lots, provided anoth –
er opportunity to acquire yet more
early balusters and fine engraved glass.
Then the collection of the late Darell
Thompson-Schwab, who had focussed
exclusively on enamelled glass from
the Beilby workshop at Amen Corner
in Newcastle-upon-Tyne offered
some of the rarest Beilby enam –
elled glass ever to come to auction.
Vernacular sealed wine bottles from
the David Burton Collection were the
first and earliest of the English glass to
go under the hammer, the largest col –
lection to have been offered since that
of Thomas A Gray in 2014. In 1636 a
law was passed by Parliament which
prohibited the sale of single bottles of
wine. This law was not relaxed until
the Grocers’ Licensing Act of 1860,
so many people had private bottles
made, carrying their own seals, which
they then took to a wine merchant
who filled them by the measure from
a cask. ‘Shaft and Globe’ wine bottles
are the earliest sealed bottle shape: a
rare London example, circa 1660-65,
bearing a seal of a Goose on a Gridiron
(Fig.1:Lot 15) , was sold just below the
low estimate for £3,825. Recovered
from the Thames near Wapping, it was
heavily corroded and fractured, but is
one of only four recorded with this seal.
Patrick and Mavis Walker began
collecting in the 1970s and concen –
trated primarily on English baluster
glass in fine condition. Some of their
better balusters were acquired by indi –
viduals who just wished to own one or
two exceptional examples – perhaps
reflecting the changing landscape of
modern collecting habits, which focus
more on the context of glass within
the wider decorative arts rather than
as an isolated field. Pedestal-stem
glasses have been an affordable and
apparently slightly neglected field of
glass collecting in recent years (Glass
Matters 14, p.10)
surprising, as they were produced
for far longer than most other stem
types and enjoyed great popularity on
the Continent as well as in England.
The rare and unusual examples gen –
erate much interest, so a fine and
rare pedestal moulded-stem flute,
circa 1725-35 (Fig.2:Lot 61)
in the collection of Graham Vivian,
nearly doubled its lower estimate
selling for £3,570. Traditionally,
Fig. 1Early ‘Shaft and Globe’ wine bottle
Fig. 3Rare Nelson commemorative ‘Hollands’ decanter
Fig. 2Rare ‘Pedestal moulded-stem’ wine !ute
Fig. 4″e #nely engraved ‘Bacchus Goblet’
Jim Peake
Jim Peake Bonhams.indd 32Jim Peake Bonhams.indd 32 15/11/2022 16:2515/11/2022 16:25

33 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
BONHAMS
rare flutes were thought to have been
used for ale or beer, but it has been
suggested that they may have been
designed for champagne, or used
for wine. Of the later engraved glass
from the Walker Collection, a high –
light was a rare Nelson commemora –
tive ‘Hollands’ decanter dated 1805
(Fig.3:Lot 93) , which doubled the
upper estimate, selling for £6,375.
The star of the sale was undoubt –
edly the so-called ‘Bacchus Goblet’,
an exceptional ceremonial goblet,
circa 1730-40, finely engraved with
a scene of Bacchus seated astride a
barrel (Fig.4:Lot 68) . This celebrated
goblet has been widely published and
exhibited over the years and carried
a long pedigree, having been in the
collections of W H P Leslie, Hamilton
Clements and William Randolph
Hearst. The scene is paralleled by
similar depictions of Bacchus astride
a barrel on several glasses and goblets
thought to have been engraved by a
Continental hand, perhaps German or
Dutch. The goblet sold for an impres –
sive £41,880, more than four times
the lower pre-sale estimate, and has a
new permanent home in the Nelson-
Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.
Beilby enamelled glass has been
a strong field of collecting for many
decades, particularly since the pub –
lication of James Rush’s two stan –
dard reference works on the subject.
The world-record price for a piece of
Beilby enamelled glass is still held by
the Prince William V Goblet sold by
Bonhams as part of the A C Hubbard
Collection for a staggering £109,250
in 2011. The late Darell Thompson-
Schwab collection offering of 28 glass –
es represents perhaps the largest and
one of the most historically important
collections of Beilby enamelled glass to
ever come to auction. Started by his
mother, Darell continued to add many
exceptional pieces to this remark –
able collection during his lifetime.
The highlight of the collection was
the Thompson Wine Glass, a highly
important Beilby enamelled crested
wine glass painted with the crest of the
Thompson family in purple, white and
yellow enamels (Fig.5:Lot 109) , former –
ly in the collection of Peter Lazarus of
Cinzano fame. The present glass would
appear to be the only recorded example
bearing the Thompson crest. It reached
its upper estimate when it sold for
£19,125, a significant increase in val –
ue relative to the £14,400 it had made
when last sold by Bonhams in 2010.
A most interesting piece was a pre –
viously unrecorded Masonic tumbler
enamelled with the initials ‘I M’ and
the date 1779 (Fig.6:Lot 121)
sold well above estimate for £7,012.
William Beilby is known to have still
been living in Newcastle in 1778 and
we know for certain that he had moved
to London by 1779, together with his
sister Mary. A tumbler of similar size
and form, inscribed and dated ‘M
BELL 1778’ in Corning Museum of
Glass (inv. no.79.2.71) was thought
to be the latest datable piece of glass
from the Beilby workshop. If William
Beilby made the move to London early
in 1779, when he is first recorded in
Battersea, this tumbler currently rep –
resents the latest dated piece of glass
attributable to the Beilby workshop.
Lot 132 was an unusual and unre –
corded Dutch airtwist goblet in soda
glass, dating to circa 1760, stipple-en –
graved with a tavern scene partially
outlined in diamond-point (Fig.7:Lot
132) , which sold just within estimate
for £8,287. The characteristic style of
the decoration was attributable to the
little-known Dutch engraver J Wolff.
Prior to this discovery, only twenty
of his engraved glasses were known,
and only two are signed. The iden –
tity of J Wolff is unknown, but if he
was a relative of the renowned mas –
ter engraver David Wolff, it can only
be his brother Jacob, born in 1742.
The next sale of Fine Glass and
British Ceramics will take place at
Bonhams in Knightsbridge on 30
November 2022 and will include
further rare 18th century glasses.
Fig. 5″e Beilby crested enamelled “ompson wine glass Fig. 6Beilby ‘Masonic Tumbler’ dated 1779
Fig. 7Diamond-point and stipple engraved Dutch airtwist Goblet
Jim Peake Bonhams.indd 33Jim Peake Bonhams.indd 33 15/11/2022 16:2515/11/2022 16:25

A Rummer with Possible Connections to
Hestercombe House & Gardens
34 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
MEMENTO MORI
P
hilip White MBE, a fellow glass
collector, with 18th centu –
ry cut glass being his area of
interest, is also the chief executive of
the Hestercombe Gardens Trust in
Taunton. W hile s p ending time !trawl –
ing through old books on glass,
researching his field from c.1720 to
c.1780, he came across this rummer
which features in English, Scottish
& Irish Table Glass by G Bernard
Hughes, published in 1955, where it
is described as a Masonic toddy rummer
(Fig.1) . At that time it was in the Royal
Collection and its !image was repro –
duced by gracious permission of Her
Majesty the Queen. Philip wonders if
any of our readers might know the cur –
rent whereabouts of this rummer? His
reason for asking is that the building
shown !on the right of the glass with
two piers and a central obelisk is very
similar in design to the mausoleum
at Hestercombe Gardens and he’d
be very interested to discover more
about the glass and in particular !the
origins of the design. He’s attached
a recent photograph of Bampfylde’s
mausoleum (© Christopher Lacey on
behalf of the trust), Fig.2 . With the pic –
ture of the mausoleum in front of you,
you can see why the query has arisen.
The wording MEMENTO MORI
is intriguing: the words go back to
the ancient Greeks and appear in
funerary art and architecture from
the medieval period onward. They
express the idea of something kept
as a reminder of the inevitability of
death, or simply “Remember, you
must die”. And whose initials are ‘H
A’ in the door way of the mausoleum?
Philip has been restoring the
Georgian Landscape Garden for over
thirty years. !The building described as
the mausoleum was first recorded in
1761 and was designed by the garden’s
owner, Coplestone Warre Bampfylde;
it was possibly inf luenced by the
Grotto at Stowe designed by William
Kent. Dating from the mid-1750s
it was probably the first of thirteen
buildings created in the garden by
Bampfylde and was never intended as
a mausoleum but as a gothic summer –
house with views over the Pear Pond.
The garden was completely derelict
when first discovered by Philip and
the mausoleum almost destroyed as
a result of a tree having been felled
across it when the Crown Estate clear-
felled !the !eighteenth-century land –
scape in the early !1960s. The building
was first restored in 1996 and then,
following a detailed review, further
work was undertaken in 2008 with
the benefit of a Heritage Lottery Fund
grant. Hestercombe’s Edwardian for –
mal terraced garden is considered to be
the finest example of the partnership
between Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude
Jekyll, which together with the recent –
ly!restored !early 17th century Water
Garden and Victorian Terrace !laid
out by 1st Viscount !Portman in 1875
has created on one site a unique
assemblage !of four complete peri –
od gardens owned and managed by
the Hestercombe Gardens Trust.
I would be grateful for any help
members may be able to give on
the rummer glass; please e-mail me
at [email protected]
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
Rummer Hestercombe.indd 34Rummer Hestercombe.indd 34 10/11/2022 11:0510/11/2022 11:05

HB&B IN FACIT
35 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
The Windows of Heaton Butler and Bayne:
A family memorial
Fig. 1
Fig. 3
Fig. 2
Fig. 4
Ian Philips
Following further research by his sis –
ter, Ian Philips continues the stor y
of the stained glass windows of St
John, in Facit, Whitworth, north of
Rochdale. Glass Matters 11 June 2021.
I
n the Facit Par ish Magazine
of July 1898, details are giv –
e n o f t h e p ro p o s a l fo r t h e
baptistr y windows produced by
Heaton Butler and Bayne; these
include two of the windows actu –
a l l y p ro d u ce d a n d a t h i rd n o t
originally mentioned. They quote
a price of “thirty guineas each”. !
Interestingly, the ar ticle also
says that the Church already had
“several specimens” of the work of
Heaton Butler and Bayne. T hese
must be three of the four nave win –
dows, Figs.1,2 & 3 . Half of Fig.1 was
published in GM11 – the memorial
for John W hitworth, who died in
1887, age 27, the window gifted by
his parents. The window of Fig.2
remembers William W hitwor th,
who died in 1888, g ifted by his
widow – thus making William the
father of the family. The window
of Fig.3 remembers George Edward
Whitworth, who died in 1896, age
31, the g ift of his mother. T he
fourth window, Fig.4 is identified in
the Facit Church´s Diamond Jubilee
Souvenir Handbook of 1931 as a
1930 HB&B window in memor y of
“Mother, Sister and Brothers” gift –
ed by Miss E Whitworth, strange –
ly with no mention of her father.
Mrs W hitworth had sur vived the
death of her husband, two sons
and a daughter. The wealthy fam –
ily is now remembered in stained
glass. Thank you for your inter –
est in what I believe to ver y good
examples of the work of HB&B.
St Johns Windows.indd 35St Johns Windows.indd 35 10/11/2022 11:0610/11/2022 11:06

B IMINI G LASS and the Politics of Survival
36 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
BIMINI REVIEWED
Angela Bowey and Raymond Berger
ABOVE Fig. 1Pressed glass horse’s head, Orplid glass
BELOW Fig. 2Some remaining stock of Orplid Glass brooches, assorted and unmounted, stored in a cabinet drawer
B
imini Glass and the Politics of
Survival gives a good up to date
account of Bimini, its origins
and involvement with the tides of
history; published in 2019, it updates
the Bimini story from its beginnings
in Vienna in 1923, through the 1930s
and 40s to its conclusion in 1955
when the originator of the firm, Fritz
Lampl, died in London. Fritz and his
wife Hilde, an accomplished coutu-
rier, were forced to flee from Austria
when the Nazis swept in, bringing
with them race hatred and intolerance.
Being Jewish, Lampl was barred from
running his own business. The couple
fled to England bringing with them
Hilde’s father Simon Berger, a retired
clerk in his eighties. Lampl also had the
foresight to bring with him examples
of the work of Bimini Glass, now an
iconic name in European blown glass.
The success of Bimini in Vienna
had been prodigious, but a certain
amateurishness meant that they had
failed to stamp the little Bimini flow-
erpot logo on many of the lamp-blown
glass objects that were made. Labels
that were glued on soon fell off, so it
became difficult to identify genuine
Bimini glass and much of what now
passes for Bimini glass is of dubious
provenance. 1 I receive daily notices
of what claim to be Bimini Glass and
the objects, though not unpleasant,
might be found in any jumble sale.
An extensive account of the Bimini
enterprise exists in the book Bimini
by the Austrian academic Waltraud
Neuwirth, her book extending to
the time Lampl had to leave Vienna
in 1938. She curated the substantial
Viennese exhibition of Bimini Glass in
1992, which filled several large rooms.
Like many creative people who
were forced to leave their homelands
due to the accident of their births –
the thorny topic of race and religion
– Lampl and his contemporary eager
young artists and designers made
ABOVE Fig. 1ABOVE Fig. 1
Bimini.indd 36Bimini.indd 36 15/11/2022 16:2615/11/2022 16:26

37 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
BIMINI REVIEWED
BELOW Fig. 3 Glass bubble for a pendant
RIGHT Fig. 4 Display tray with assorted decorative items
LEFT Fig. 5Gilded glass brooch from a museum coin impression
RIGHT Fig. 6Detail from drawer with assorted Orplid Glass animal broochesGlass animal broochesGlass animal brooches
LEFT Fig. 5LEFT Fig. 5Gilded glass brooch Gilded glass brooch from a museum coin from a museum coin impressionimpression
RIGHT Fig. 6RIGHT Fig. 6Detail from drawer Detail from drawer with assorted Orplid with assorted Orplid Glass animal broochesGlass animal brooches
LEFT Fig. 5LEFT Fig. 5Gilded glass brooch Gilded glass brooch from a museum coin from a museum coin impressionimpression
RIGHT Fig. 6RIGHT Fig. 6Detail from drawer Detail from drawer with assorted Orplid with assorted Orplid Glass animal broochesGlass animal brooches
Display tray with assorted decorative itemsDisplay tray with assorted decorative items
significant contributions to this coun-
try in both the sciences and the arts.
So Lampl, his wife Hilde and
his brother-in-law Joseph Berger,
an architect who had designed
showrooms for Bimini in Vienna,
accompanied by his wife, the artist
Margarete Hamerschlag, started out
again in England – a strange country.
Though this book focuses on Lampl,
and the glass atelier Bimini, which
later became Orplid, reference is also
made to the fortunes of these artis-
tic people: Hilde’s sister Fritzi was
in New York working in the fashion
industr y; Joseph’s brother Artur
became an art director in Russia.
How and why he emigrated and sur-
vived in Stalinist Russia is a saga in
its own right. Lampl, however, lived
out the rest of his life in England.
The work Bimini/Orplid produced
in London was elegant and beauti-
ful but restricted to the shapes that
passed the test of ‘everyday essentials’
the war years in Britain. There were
many articles written at the time in
magazines and journals praising the
work of the London Bimini work-
shops. Lampl took advantage of
severe shortages caused when the UK
government banned imports from
‘enemy countries’ in Europe, notably
Czechoslovakia, Italy and Germany.
The items made in numbers were
brooches, hatpins and buttons, creat-
ed from hand- blown and decorated
glass bubbles and blown shapes: many
of these, in a remarkable variety of
shapes and designs still exist. By this
stage Bimini/Orplid marked their cre-
ations with the company’s name and/
or the little flowerpot logo, examples
of which can be seen in the book.
Angela Bowey felt that this study
of Bimini/Orplid should include the
group of creative people who were
associated with the atelier and with the
unfolding of its rather sad conclusion.
We both felt it was important to
record this factory, as the Victoria and
Albert Museum insist on calling it,
while memories and sources are still
active. Recently the last person I knew
who actually worked at the Bimini
Showrooms in Grosvenor Square died
at the age of 96. Angela has written
extensively on modern glass, includ-
ing among others, Bagley Glass and
Pirelli Glass. Raymond Berger is the
inheritor of many brooches, some
perfume bottles with cupids inside
them, as well as more conventional
glasses and some joint Bimini/Lucie
Rie pieces with glass fronts attached
to ceramic backs. The photographs
show examples from the collection.
REFERENCE
1. This was something I covered in Glass
Matters 6 ; The Glass Cone, 58 and 108;
and the article I wrote for Glass.co.nz,
the site set up by Angela Bowey.
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38 Glass Matters Issue no.15 November 2022
IN MEMORIAM
Göran Wärff (1933 – 2022)
LEFT Fig. 1Göran Wär ! portrait
ABOVE Fig. 2Money Horses. Pukeberg 1957
Fig. 3Pegasus. Pukeberg 1957
Andy McConnell
O
ver a career spanning 55 years
at a drawing board [1957-
2012], Göran Wärff (Fig.1)
poetic and self-effacing contributors to
Swedish glass. I liked him and loved his
designs; he died on May 17 this year,
aged 88. His work is arguably the ‘glass –
iest’ of all his contemporaries, relying
almost entirely on the principles of line
and light, with minimal use of colour
and ‘fireworks’. Wärff was born, raised
and lived until his death on the Baltic
island of Gotland, ancestral home of
the Swedish Vikings. Being bearded,
heavy set, standing at six-foot-three
and possessing a slow, resonant voice,
his friends often referred to him as a
reincarnated Viking. From his service
days in the Swedish Navy, the seafar –
ing link remained strong. He sailed
on the Baltic until his final years, and
the sea always echoed in his work
and in his titles: Pacific, Atlantic and
Sails. Starting with Pukeberg glass
in 1957, and especially after joining
Kosta in 1964, much of his output
appears to have been created as much
by wind, rain and current as through
human inter vention. Naturally,
blue has always been his preferred
colour. As his wife Lena puts it, “Once
a navy man, always a navy man!”
Unlike many ar tists, Göran
appeared comfortable within himself.
Unselfconscious, his stated objective
was to create pleasing, functional and
artistic objects, by uniting his heart,
mind and soul. Yet, according to him,
he never achieved perfection. Though
modestly proud of his achievements,
he used to say, “One day I hope that
I will make something really good.”
Many afternoons were spent
together when I was researching
my book on ‘Swedish Glass Design’
of his work, I showed them to him in
turn to record his recollections – very
slowly and deliberately spoken, he had
excellent command of English. Seeing
the scan of Money Horses (Fig.2) and
Pegasus (Fig.3)
1957, he recounted: ‘I made the horse
for an exhibition in a bank near Lund;
instead of making a savings pig I made
a “savings horse” with a slit for the
coins, and we made a few Pegasus at
the same time by adding blue wings,
maybe a hundred.’ He then sighed, ‘I
have not seen them since we made
them. I am very fond of them – they
are rather like my missing children.’
in neighbouring Oskarshamn when I
spotted a Money Horse ! I bought it and
gave it to Goran – he glowed and said,
‘Oh, you have found one! Thank you
– wonderful.’ Later the same week, I
found a much rarer Pegasus and left it
on Göran’s draughting-table at Kosta,
and received a charming thank-you
letter. The Tropic range (Fig.4) , made
from 1959, was another success from
In Memoriam Goran.indd 38In Memoriam Goran.indd 38 14/11/2022 18:4514/11/2022 18:45

39 Glass Matters Issue No.15 November 2022
IN MEMORIAM
Peter Beebe
Martin Mortimer MBE
(1928-2022)
Fig. 4Tropic range. Pukeberg 1959 Fig. 5Sails. Kosta Boda, Crystal collection. 1980
David Willars
Gorän for Pukeberg. A move was made
to Kosta Glasbruk in 1964; he became
an institution, an ambassador and
the creator of many of its best-selling
lines, including the revolutionary
Par t y in1971, and Snowball in 1973
with sales of over 10m. Then he creat –
ed more artful sculptural pieces, from
Sails (Fig.5)
challenging Zoom in 1984 and the
curved Mirage series from 1998. By
2012, Göran Wärff had been a design –
er at Kosta Glasbruk for 48 years, but
in the shrinking world of fine glass, not
every one of Kosta’s new owners appre –
ciated the benefits of Wärff ’s presence
– in his Kosta studio in May of that
year, ashen-faced from a meeting with
new OKB director, Ann Gustafsson,
he slumped into a soft chair and
groaned, ‘I have just been fired. I have
just been offered a very lousy way of being
a freelance, being told: “We need a carafe,
and we will give you 12 hours to draw it.”
to Swedish glass and to world glass.
Domestically, his designs and ambas –
sadorship helped to sustain Kosta at
a time of fading fortunes, while his
dedication to craftsmanship provided
a beacon as the emphasis shifted from
quality to cost control. Specifically, his
‘cast & sink’ technique, invented and
developed at Pukeberg from 1960, not
only generated major sales but become
a standard international production
method. Ironically, in doing so, it
became an intrinsic part of the glob –
al shift away from craft and towards
automation. More importantly, Wärff
managed to fuse his gentility of spirit
and idiosyncratic poetic vision with
a passion for his medium, to create
both practical objects and ethereal art.
Margareta Ar téus Thor, who
worked with Wärff as a PR consul –
tant for decades, considers him to
be among ‘The Greats’: “He designed
important production pieces but he is also
a marvellous artist with a unique feeling
for glass, he feels for it in a Freudian sort
of way: we understand ourselves a little
better through appreciating his work.”
membership on 8th November,
informing us that ‘Peter Beebe had
died earlier today. He was 87yrs old.’
had deteriorated over the last cou –
ple of weeks, in a broader context he
never really recovered from a fall two
and a half years ago. For many years
he had been a stalwart member of The
Glass Association. Peter was a kind,
unassuming and humble person.
Beneath a gentle manner, howev –
er, his intimate knowledge of the
Manchester glass industry, as well
as his vast collection, stand trib –
ute to his memor y. Our thoughts
are now with his daughters, Susan
and Jane, and the family.’
will be writing a memor y of Peter
for a future issue of Glass Matters.
Sally Hayden added
In visiting Peter at home, it was a
pleasure to see how much he enjoyed
showing his collection and explaining
very specific differences in detail. We
had great fun the first time I used
the bathroom before leaving – Peter
hadn’t warned me beforehand – what
a surprise to see more and more
glass covering the walls! He enjoyed
the joke. He was one of this world’s
sweetest, most kind gentlemen.
M
ar tin Mor timer died on 1
October 2022, aged 94. When
just 19 and professing an interest
in antiques, he joined the ceramics
and glass dealing firm Delomosne
and Sons Ltd in 1948, engaged at
a starting salar y of £3 per week.
Staying with Delomosne for over
sixty years, he became a world lead –
ing authority on English glass chan –
deliers and an acknowledged expert
on antique glass. Andy McConnell
played a part in his achievements
being recognised by the award of an
MBE in the late Queen’s birthday
honours list of 2003, her Golden
Jubilee year, ‘for services to antique
glass’. Andy describes Martin as hav –
ing been an exceptional man, who
‘took me seriously when I was a new –
bie on the glass block’. Tim and Vicky
Osborne, themselves well known to the
antique glass world, the present-day –
directors of Delomosne are writing on
Martin Mortimer and his ‘life in glass’
In Memoriam Goran.indd 37In Memoriam Goran.indd 37 14/11/2022 18:4514/11/2022 18:45

PROMOTING THE UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF GLASS
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