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Lo,.,J,rn, I .W.2. 2E13
No 7. September 197f
8TH CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE HIST0RY OF GLASS
The 8th Congress on the History of Glass wil u7 a h~ghlight in ~979 fo
1 -lovers everywhere and particularly for those in Britain. It is beil g ass · p ‘d H h T ‘ d • f h • ised under the aegis of its present resi ent, ug ait, an i t e 1 .10 organ f . , h • 1. nd rumblings that have come our way rou1 time to time are anyt ing to rn uy grou • f 11 h • • • h f
a feast of vitreous pleasures arc in store or a w o JOJO Jn t e un.
As we write the preliminary programme is still rolling off the prPsses buc
we are able to disclose that the Congress will take place in London and Liveq ,,,i l
from 18 -25 September 1979. Work sessions ( a barely appropriate descript i•,11
but you know what we mean~) are mainly taking pl~ce at Bedford College in th•~
delightful setting of Regent’s Park,
and there will be visits lo Oxford, BedtnrJ,
Dudley, St Helens ·( Pilkington
Glass Museum) and Liverpool.
The post -congre~~ tour of Scotland will begin on September 26 for 5-6 d ws.
An interesting Ladies (Persons?) Progranme includes visits to London places
interest
such as Westminster and the ihuse of Commons, and l’Xcursions lo Bri, •1n
and Winsor and further afield to the Pilkington Glass Works and Liverpool ,
Cathedral.
REPORTS
OF GLASS CIRCLE ACTIVITIES
18th April, Pase Street Lecture Theatre, Westminster Hospital.
JOHN NORTHWOOD AND HIS INPtUENCE ON THE STOURBRIDGE GLASS TRADE
Our
member, Mr CHAlllifl HIJDAMACH, began by telling us that rohn Northwood
was
bom in 1836, the IOri of a general 1rocer in Wordsley. His artisticP. 1
ability led naturally to s first job in the decorating department of Mes .. ;.
W.H.B. & J. IU.chmson to leam painting{ gilding and enamelling on glass.
Tile
firm collap1 d • ly lfter but fol owing a brief but formative spell.~ 1
carpater and ball I re-employed by the fit’lll’s new owner, Mr B. Ric 11:Jrd-
1on. Surrounde4 bf talented artists, his own skills flourished and were e•,r.:.r.tl
ed wl,tll p~i••• • d ma4a a th Great Exhibition. At about this time h,
de1ipled the embl o h Plint Glass Makers Friendly Society. His deci inn
to become lndep nd
t ln 1859 had pl’Ofound consequences for his own activitie.
and for th• tourbridge gla • trade. The joint venture,involving his broth ,
Jos,pb, and known after 1&60 as
J.& J. Northwood, allowed him to develop his
buaine•• and artistic acumen. His fertile brain produced first the template
etchlq machine
(1861) bringing speed And consistancy of quality to his acid –
etched patterns, and, in 1865, the geometric etching machine which created a new
and endurin& line of geomet~ic art.
He discovered (for himself) matt etching by the use of “white· acid”, a
prerequisite for what
he is most remembered, the rediscovery of cameo carving,
leadin& to
the Elgin vase (1873), Portland vase (1876), Milton vase (1878), an
exqui ite aeries of tazzae and, pre-eminent, the Dennis or Pegasus vase in 188~.
‘l’h11 last waa coamiaaioned by Mr Wilkes Webb of Thos. Webb & Sons and sold to
Tiffany in the U.S.A. It was of such merit that, even in lta incomple e sta ,
it won a g,old medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1878. To
lovers of old gl
thl1 stimulus to
the parallel development of the Stourbrldae cameo 1la1a
n eda no elaboration.
n
En route we stepped t Hu lemer to v 8 b ~ca and blscuits, nnd t In vr~ d
cu ator with intt”oeiuctory wo rd s folloucd i l lbth c Weald n glai rr1gr rt,
to inspect che historical. colleclion o[ ma
0;
ihose c :-ly glass milkers who r.,
This enabled us to appreciate th e efforts d b ‘nterPsting material. frorr· tb,
settled in the Chiddingfold area, repres~nte_ y 1r-rom-the Vann and Sldnev l,v • • 1 lass pieces • Haz~lbr dg~ Hanger site and or~gina g _ B kland Farm Wisboroug1 Gre
fJnds. The
collection includes fragme7ts ~::7nd:~othat the Wisborough Reg· t~r’
when:
two furnaces were found, and we are d B The fragmentq dbpl<.1y-
1nclude the names of Tittery, Hcnzey, Tyzack a~ d ung~:;s and also ruby-fla~~ed
ed include characteristic thread
decora tion, win ~w.gin ruhy glass was found on
lass from church windows (part of a crucible contain g b i
~~other Chiddingfold site so that the flashed fragmenc may not have een mported
c~llet). With the PROCLAMATION TOUCHING GLASSES in 1615 and th
e consequent
;ntroduction of coal furnaces th~ woodland furnaces closed
down.
An
added bonus during 0ur vi~it to the Haslemer.e Museum - itself 8 de~ightful
~xample of a ftne provincial museum, was the loan exhibition of a c~llect:on of
18th c. drinking glasses, belonging to our member, Mr H. Fox. The exh~bits,
which were
chosen to represent at least one example of each of the varying styles
and techniques prevalent during the course of the 18th C., included very f~tH'
specimens, particularly attractive enamel, air and col~ur twist glasses, finely
engraved glasses
of Jacobite intere~t and a delightful toasting glass engravfj
with
a fleeing fox and inscribed "Tally Ho". A lucidly WTitten expose in th€:
fonn of a leaflet on'tnglish
Drinking Glasses in the 18th Century" was provide