L
I
5 1
B
No. 17 Fe ruary
Compilations invite statist· al analysis and the new 2–pa
‘st of memb rs provides fruitful
material or stud,. For example of th
members approximately half have profes ·onal connections with m~ eums ;r
ficial collections and these account for he majority of our overseas member.
he net
largest group are the Doctors who, medical and scientific, account for
me 10 per cent of the member hip, and to hese may be added the select su po
f five professors. There are also four litary and tw other titles. ·her
re 32 married couple so that although gl s colle ting freqJently seems
0 ver the house an actlve interest in ou·r h 1 by is less widely shared betw en
usband and wife than perhaps one might im ine. At the present tim uppo
rom the religious order is conspicuously acking. As with any such
inr sti –
tion you may draw f~om these ob ervations xactly hat conclusi ns you lik
might even be tempted to have a go you lf foT
it is an ea y w~y to d
vast body of useless informat on :.n -1h 1’h the • orld so d 1i ht nowada • .
It is not uncommon no
provide an insight to the history and techn
most recent of these of interest to glass c
Museum of British
Beer. It was opened in
the southern approach to Tower Bridge and,
iamedlate success in terms of interest and
has emasculated the once handsome profits o
that Courage Eastern have found it necessar
nine months later. The result is that the
a new home and new sponsors. In the meant
mural activities such as brewery tours, nat
workshops and other functions will continue
lile to support any or all of these activit
the
Museum Director, Tarant Hobbs, at 19 At
(Tel. 03743 65405).
or industri to support mu
logy of the”r rads. On
llectors ·as thew rid
anuary l 80 in a prime posi ion on
lthough small in size, proved an
opularity. But, alas:
the r c
the brewing industry with th r
to withdraw their support a bare
museum is now desparately look n fr
me
an e. tensiYe prograrnmE of ·tra
onal pub tours, beer tastings, craft
through 1 81. Anybody who
woul
es can get furth r information £:r. m
erstone Road, Canvey Island, Ess .•.
Trying to appear knowledgeab e about a subje
t bout hich, in
realitY, you know very little is a sure reci e for getting mud n your face,
of no subject is this more true than glass ollectin. In the Yebruary
i u
of Homes and Gardens Jenny Greene in an art cle offering advice 6n s lling
antiques starts off by writing “There are m re mistakes made abeut glass th
almost anything else.” and then proceeds to illustrate this point by packi
more schoolgirl howlers into four column in hes than one could b lieve p s
For your enjoyment the best of these are ‘
1P ntal mark -a small mark w ere
glass was cut”, “later glasses are identifi d
by a folded foot”, “cut gl s
smooth to the touch”. However, Jenny s con ludin suggestion that th
should consult an experienced dealer at lea her off th blowing
We look forward to the March issueijs articl on glass
(a
by a Venetian goblet and cover) with consum
Following the closure of the
Middlesex, members will be pleased to le rn
acquired the archive~ and tools. Wendy Ev
mount of material the documentation nd an
si nificantly to our knowledge of l tr En
Finally, co-editor G bri~lla
heir kindness and i pl d to repor th
hitefriars Glas
that the Museum
l
u hat
whi h w
hist r
th
11
MU BUM BELLERIVE, ZURICH -May 28th -17th Augu t 1980
l l the
p t this exhibition, held at one of the most
by the sid of th 1 e, ucceeded in bri ing
together
ll”s finest and and most individual artistic achi ve-
• it
11 rthy of review.
priv te collections and Museums in Paris, ancy,
comprised fumiture, ceramics
be today with
Galle glass, a
er marvel afresh at the artistic
f this
great glassmaker and his
a V
Art G
a a cur
n London miaht lik
ery Lane is re1Da ad ri
elf”. Thia is an
o.u.P
hotos and numerous woodc
otherwis•, with the Beil
s Pabtea’ and •A S•Iecti
ftbotrnd •t tl.95.
exploited and applied
, enamelling, incr
•~oration i represent
popular “style
tf.an ourcea.
manner of
incorporating
ly over
t of
cative
famous
1trikingly
G.G.
C EV TIO
F GL S VESSELS By r Until f ve y r go th n ra
o th conserv tion and rE11 d be little tte pt to
bee use of the
nature of the ation of gl sin the Briti
Follo in a thre -week study terial,
is both painst i nd ti
principles learned have been f glas restoration in Gennany
advantage of new developments i~ogressively applied, t the a
D RESTORATIO
visoo
aspects, consolidation of gla in conservation materials. The rk h
fonn
from broken fragments ans in a state of decay, reconstruction of th
The first was illustrated ~nfilling.missing sections of
the origin 1.
weathered glass had separated
1th reference to an ancient bowl in which the
not helped by storing the fra nto flakes like the peels of an onion – a proce j
i ents in cotton wool that clings to all th rn 1
pro ect ons on the artifact. Flakes were relaid using cellulose n·trate
adhesive and
5l polyvinyl
acet te in acetone to consolidate weak areas,
restored piece withstood frequ nt handling.
Reconstruction frequently nvolves the prior dismantling of an earlier
conservation attempt and is us ally best achieved by soaking in clean water,
removing loose foreign matter ith a
soft brush. This was illustrated ith
zwischengold bowl. Reconstru tion could either be carried out progres ively
using cellulose
nitrate adhe i e or, as shown for a cinerary um, th whol
first be as embled with adhesi e tape to ensure accurate fit of the piece
The
mobile epoxy resin then run in o the joins from a coektail tick to cm nt
whole together. A special gr de of “Araldite” is used for this work and
amateur la not recommended to ry his hand with the D. Io Y. rades generally
available. One problem with dhesives is the tendancy toy llow with ag to h
detriment of the repair on a c lourless piece. Newly developed adhesiv ar much more resistant to discolo ation but are very expensive.
The problem of infilling a missing piece varies with th complexity of th
ta k. For feet or rims a sil cone rubber mould is made of a similar int c
action elsewhere on the vesse. This is transferred and secured to cov r th
mi sing section which is then ashioned in polyester resin introduced throu h
hole in the mould. A similar method but with the mould in two sections may b
used to gap-fill a hole in the side of a vessel. Dental wax is also a good
moulding agent for this purpos, particularly when a simple shap is involv d
in the side of a cone beaker. Replacement surface ornament
my first hav to
fashioned in clay, the mould
t en and then the clay removed before final ca
of the resin infill in situ. roken vessels ith a small neck pose a particular
problem overcome by removing a indow 0 from the side oft ve sel oppo it th
repair
so that the internal mo id can be removed after casting. The ‘window 0 is then replaced to complete t restoration.
In the past
it was axiomati that the restoration hould be cl arly
from the original. • This
was, erhaps, making a vertue of n cessity.
the
skill of the conservationi tin matching colour and surface textur
that a vessel
may require a sec nd glance to determine the extent of th
The lecture closed with a m~ntion of the use of humidity contro for
pieces and the reconstruction of an alchemists alembic from two m 11 fra m n
(themselves requiring preservat on) -an achievement rath r nalogou to th
famou
reconstruction of the Do o from a two-inch section of thigh bone
large and ppreciative audience shared
their xperiences in the di cu
unu ual and facsinating lecture.
The
meeting was held in the Artworker Guild on Tue.day 20th Janu r 1981,
nd th ho ts
wer Mr Fox, Mr H rbert and Mr N So
EGLAND AND VENICE IN THE 17thC TURY By Rober Ch rl on
Mr Char! ston beg n wi h sort r vi
glas -work r with thi country, t rtin of
the fr t cont ct o not 1 tr th nth m ddl
V
of
n
nd roe fu ce in Londo
p tent d’d ub qu nt patent
t up to th o em on th hol
be n r bly pt nobility co1l
“V ” d n c gases or us~ T re almo no ocu nt
from th
f· st half of the 7th otury, and a numb r of la
ted fro the Gr cechurch Str
t “oard” that y reason ly b
gap. The “hoard”, found in the cour … e of a de olition fo
con isted of a roomfull of damaged glass vessel, probably m rch nt
ogether with
a number of char cteri tic pottery item by men of which they
could be dated. The Barbara Potter glass of 1602 suggests a predispo itio
towards t 11 glasses about this time nd this
is echoed in the Gracecburch fr –
ments, which although of simpler shape tended towards long ovoid hollow st m,
comnonly surmnounted
by a button knop supporting a round funnel bow-L Other
hollow stem, with lion mask moulding al o occurr d at this time.
Mansell s price-list was used to establish that b er glasses and wine gl s es
were both steamed forms, differing only in izet and some convideration wa giv n
to the
Venetians who were responsible in London for the glasses of “extraordinary
fashions” -with stems constructed in complex piral and winged shape -that
re made under his regime.
With the estoration and the
foundation of the Glass Sellers’ Company in 1664
full
freedom of import from Venice seems to have obtained, and this pha e can be
followed. in the famous John Greene manuscript in the British Library (Sloane M.
857) which yields more detailed information than hae hitherto been exploited in
Enaliah
glass studies. In a detailed series of drawings that accompanied the
letters of cot11Disaion many of the glasses are explicitly named and the number
required for that particular order is given.- Statistically,
it establishes that
drinking_glaases enormously outweighed every other type of
glass, and short
steamed
styles, commonly a drawn trumpet bowl ,sometimes square at the’base and
auppqrt
don• 1imple bell knop, with or without wrythen decoration,predominated
in th{s ,erlod
(1667-1674). A variety of other vessels were specified including
… NU.ab wiae &lasses
(the Romer) with and without an applied thread foot, beakers
rt cylindrical tumblers for brandY, as well as decorative items such as
dmuile -.cke4 cruets and “Plouer Pott Glasses”, although in mu h smeller numbers.
A par cvlart7 IJ8eful feature of the drawings is that they ~re not ‘artistas
1-,r Sien I but intended to give the manufacturer,Allesio Morelli of Murano, very
precise information about what was required. Other details from the letters
enrich our._ knowledge of this period with clear instructions about the quality of
the met•l .to be uaed and instructions about packing and dispatch. The manufact
urer had to tQe much on trust and it is clear that Greeneis continuous assurance
of rompt paymat • ..,.. steadfastly hoaoU~(f leadj_ng ro ~is p~olonged and fruitful
-rela.ti011atiJ.p ~ jhi G •!,!_~ellers_and tbeir V n~tian suppliers.
The
m.eetin& waa held on Thursday 19th February at The Luxuriously mod•rn
premises of The London Press Centre through the kind off~
7es of Mr Sl•ck and
we thank Mr and M~s Bell,-Mr Compton and Mr Slack who were hosts on this
occasion.
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS f d Mrs J. Critchley (to make a husband and wife partnership} of Iffley, Ox or•
Miss Karin Beck Andersen of Sotheby 9s, Bond Street, London.
Mis Suzanne Gaynor, The Wallace Collection, ManchesteT Squar, Loftd
on.
Mr J
Gormi of Hockley, Essex.
AND FAREWELL TO AN OLD FRIEND Norman Rin:mer of Hogarth Hill, London. We sadly report the death of Mr
-.+•-+”‘••••t* ….. *+”l~~l ……… ••••~•••t …. t•f•t .. *•*