Glass Society Glass Matters_No.14, Jun 2022

GLASS

SOCIETY

June 2022

Issue No. 14

ISSN2516-1555

GLASS

SOCIETY

Contents

ISSN 2516-1555

Issue 14, June 2022
Published by the Glass Society,

©Contributors and The Glass Society

Editor:
Brian J Clarke

[email protected]

Design & layout:
Emma Nelly Morgan

emmanellymo [email protected]

Printed by:
Warners Midlands plc

www.warners.co.uk

Next copy date:
First week September 2022

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

THE GLASS SOCIETY
Charity Number 1185397

Website:
www.theglasssociety.org

Honorary Presidents:

Charles Hajdamach;
[email protected]

Simon Cottle;
[email protected]

Honorary Vice-President:
Dwight Lanmon;
[email protected]

Chairman:
David Willars;
[email protected]

Vice-Chairman:
Paul Bishop;
[email protected]

Membership Secretary & Treasurer:

Maurice Wimpory;
membershie ththe•lasssocie o

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:
An Unique Monumental Amphora ‘Ape’ Vase

by Dino Martens (1894-1970), made for Aureliano Toso, circa

1952. In Bonhams sale, December 2021.
Bonhams

BACK COVER:
Lot 1 in Bonhams sale, December 2021 (see

article). A rare serpent-stemmed, Facon de Venise winged wine

tazza, 12.4cm in height and provenance from the well-known

collections of Walter
F
Smith and Helfried Krug. ©

Bonhams
Guild Glasses

Glass Fairs

Glass Door Panel

Esoteric Eye-glass

International Year of Glass

Collecting Decisions

20C Engraved glass

In Memoriam
Anthony Stern

Erwin Eisch

Editorial

T
his time, we’ve followed on with further articles on members

collections. Reading about the circumstances, thoughts and

ideas that started other’s collecting, gives a comparative insight

into the how and why our own collections have developed and

the directions that they may take in the future. Mathij, from

Holland, grew up with other antiques, moving to glass as family

circumstances required a change and was fired with enthusiasm by
Frides Lameris. Stephen used to accompany his dad to Portobello

Market, but knew nothing about the glass collected, until his dad

died and valuation time came — when the chance meeting with WGT
Burne ignited his passion for fine antique glass. Michael Upjohn

knew of his parents collection of pressed glass, but was not involved,
until his father was suddenly on his own — Michael’s knowledge

grew as he accompanied him on buying trips, searching for rare and
unusual pieces. The lesson? – those with knowledge — pass it on,

enthuse others. Thank you for your many queries and comments,
they will be in the next issue; please, do keep them coming.
Chairman’s message

An Interesting Rummer

Bonhams – Auction

Bott & Stourbridge

Pressed Glass

Eclectic Collector
Robin Wilson

Jim Peake
5

James
Measell

Michael Upjohn
17

Stephen
Pohlman

Bill Millar
24

Christina
Glover &

Paul
Bishop
27

Simon
Cook

George Sturrock
29

Andy
McConnell

Math#
van

der
Meulen

Brian Watling
36

Anne
Rogerson

Katharine
Coleman

Glass Matters Issue No. 14 June 2022

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Chairman’s
Message

Time to Reflect and Look Forward

W
elcome to the latest

issue of

Glass Matters.

I am sure that many

of you were dismayed to learn that
the glass and ceramics courses at

the Wolverhampton School of Art

are to be closed. Glassmaking in

the Stourbridge area dates back
over 400 years and especially

during the nineteenth century,
established an international rep-

utation. The Stourbridge School

of Art, founded in 1851, nurtured
many truly great glassmaking

pioneers, among them George

and Thomas Woodall, genera-
tions of the Northwood and Kny

families, Frederick Carder, and
Joshua Hodgetts. Although the

days of large factory production
have long since ceased, many of

the current generation of stu-
dio glass artists learned their

skills in this part of the country.
The UK industrial landscape is

notable for its ‘industry towns’,

and so the ceramics industry had

a base in Stoke on Trent, steel

in Sheffield and on a smaller

and more specialist level, shoes
in Northampton. Likewise with
Stourbridge and glass. One of
the reasons for this clustering

of businesses was the availabil-
ity of suitable raw materials,
quite often coal; proximity to the

canal network was another early

catalyst. In turn, generations of

the same family would work in

the industry, even if not in the

same factory. Skills were passed
down from generation to gener-

ation. The only constant in life

is change, and I would not want
to be accused of harking back to

the good old days – however, with-
out the stimulus provided by the

local school of art to nurture and
encourage these inherent skills,

what message is being conveyed?
The Glass Society has written a

letter to the principal of the school
of art to register our thoughts.
Without wishing to convey any

sense of irony I must now mention

some very good news, namely the
opening of the new Stourbridge
Glass Museum. Broadfield House
closed its doors in 2015 and ever

since, through progress from the
involvement of the newly founded
British Glass Foundation, we have

been waiting for its successor to
open, which it did in early April.

The building is situated on the

site of the old Stuart glass works
adjacent to the Stourbridge Canal

and just across the road from the

Red House Cone. Set over two

floors, the galleries are light and

airy and particularly on the upper

level give ample opportunity to
view objects from all angles. The

lower level focuses upon the

local industry with obvious ref-
erence to cameo glass as well as

items from the Eila Grahame

and Pilkington bequests. Work
is now underway to consolidate
the displays, bearing in mind

that the museum store at Himley
Hall has a vast collection of inter-

esting and significant items.
Shortly after the museum

opened, The Glass Society held

a half-day meeting at the muse-
um and I would like to repeat

this exercise over the next few

months. Although we met during

the week, I am aware that this is

inconvenient to a number of you

and I will look to organise some-
thing on a weekend next time.
Please let me know if you are

interested in joining a group visit
as I will need to gauge numbers,
David Willars, Chairman of The Glass Society

with an optimum party size of 25.
I am acutely aware that the pan-

demic has wreaked havoc with our

get-togethers and that several of

you are still nervous about meet-
ing in person. However, if you

have any suggestions about pos-

sible venues or days out, please

send me a message: this is your

society and relies upon your input.
This issue features contribu-

tions from a good mix of familiar
names as well as new contributors.

Several of us met up in March to

view the vast pressed glass collec-
tion of Mike Upjohn’s father, Roy.

So large is the collection that, at

least to me, it has become a stan-
dard point of reference to resolve

queries. In turn if you have any

questions about piano feet, Mike
must be the leading authority in

the country. I’ve been informed
that articles on pressed glass will

continue to feature in these pages.

Expect the usual rigour and

authority in articles by James
Measell and Bill Millar, both of

whom have been regular con-
tributors for several years.

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

JAMES THOMPSON’S RUMMER

AN INTERESTING
G RUMMER

Robin Wilson
This was presented to the Glass Circle

on 09/04/2019. Lockdown prevented
prior publication.

C
ommemorative engraving on

a glass can be intriguing, and

investigating the background

gives added interest to such a glass.

A couple of years ago I acquired a

large rummer at auction. The glass
is engraved with a well-dressed gen-
tleman on a racehorse flanked by two

greyhounds. On the reverse are the
words
‘James Thompson Kirk House’
in

a rectangular cartouche which is sur-
rounded by a fruiting vine. The base of

the bucket bowl is fluted and support-

ed by a short ball knop stem. Dated

c.1830s, the glass stands 18.2cm tall.
The engraving itself is attributed

to the North East engraver Thomas
Hudson. (See Delomosne & Son Ltd’s

sale catalogue
‘Engraved Glass from

North East England 1800-1860 – Ian

Robertson collection’.
This contains an

interesting article on North East glass
engraving and glass engravers of the

period). Given the information on

the glass, I decided to investigate and

see what I could discover. The inter-
net provided a fascinating insight

into James Thompson: he was born

around 1795 and lived at Kirkhouse
near Brampton in the manor of Farlam

about 12.5 miles east of Carlisle.
The Thompson family were very

wealthy and owned many farms, as

well as the industries that had been
built up in Kirkhouse to support
the local coal mines. In 1819 James

Thompson was appointed Agent for

Lord Carlisle’s coal mines and farms,

and from then, due to his hard work

and expertise, the family fortunes

really took off. There were hundreds

of men working for them at Kirkhouse.

During this time he built cottages for

the pitmen in the Brampton area and

sunk the Blacksyke pit in about 1820. A

The Rwnmer, c.1830. Dedicated to
James Thompson at Kirk House
branch line was put in via a rope hauled

line up to the bleak fell-side colliery.
James Thompson suggested to

Lord Carlisle that it would be a good

idea to replace the horses that pulled
the coal between the collieries and the

connecting main Carlisle to Newcastle

line at Hallbankgate, with a locomo-
tive. Thus in 1836, Stevenson’s ‘Rocket’

was purchased from the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway for £300

and taken to Lord Carlisle’s Kirkhouse

works to be restored and reassembled.
It continued in use until 1840 when

traffic became too heavy for its limited

hauling power. She was then put in a

siding and left to rust. In 1851 she
went back to the Stephenson’s Works
for restoration and was returned to
Kirkhouse for the next 11 years. In

1862 however, the Thompson family
presented her to the Patents Office
Museum, now the Science Museum in

South Kensington, where she is today.
In 1837 Thompson took a lease on
Lord Carlisle’s collieries, lime works

and waggonways. This extended to

1,000 acres and induded 182 cottag-
es, many of which he had built when

he was Lord Carlisle’s agent. The lease

included a large farm, which he used
to supply the pitmen with their needs.

During his lifetime, Thompson upgrad-

ed the lines between the collieries

and Hallbankgate, and from 1839 he
built several steam engines in his own

works, the first one being ‘Belted Will’.

James Thompson was clearly a

major industrialist in the area, though

when he died in 1851, he’d never been

given the recognition he deserved as a

railway pioneer. The family home, Kirk
House, was modernised and extended

by Thompson in the 1820s and was in
the family for over 100 years. Sold in

1975, it continues to this day as The
Farlam Hall Country House Hotel.
This glass means so much more to

me than when I acquired it now that I

know more about the man it celebrates.

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Bonhams Fine Glass and Paperweights sale

Knightsbridge, I December 2021

Jim Peake

e
were delighted to invite

members of the Glass

Society for an evening

handling session ahead of the sale

– 170 lots of glass and 117 lots of
paperweights from five private

collections formed the core of the

glass on offer, several of which
included published pieces which
had not been seen on the market
for many decades. Many collec-
tors commented on the quantity

and variety, particularly the early
Continental glass, which took some

of them back to when they had first

started collecting in the 1970s and

80s when an abundance of rare and
beautiful glass appeared on the
London market — the celebrated

collections of Fritz Biemann and
Helfried Krug amongst the most

memorable. The whereabouts of

much of the glass sold all those

years ago can be a subject of con-
siderable speculation; some of the
most exceptional pieces are now

in museums and a small number

may have been lost, but the major-

ity will still be in private hands.
Occasionally such a collection resur-

faces and when it does, it invariably

creates a great deal of excitement.
The inaugural collection con-

tained an exceptional group of glass

which has not been seen at auction
for many years. Formed with a dis-

cerning eye, this private British

collection centred predominantly

around serpent-stemmed glasses
of the 17th century interspersed

with several other exceptional
rarities from the period. Twelve of

the glasses on offer were so-called

vetri a serpenti,
or ‘serpent glasses’

(Fig.1),
which epitomise the glass-

making virtuosity of the Baroque
era and the fascination with the gro-

tesque. They are characterised by
elaborate stems made from twisted

rods of glass containing spiralling

threads in opaque white, sometimes

in combination with brick-red, yel-

low or blue threads, applied at the
sides with pincered ‘wings’ often in
translucent turquoise. The stems

evoke highly stylised intertwined

serpents embellished with wings
and crests, although it is not diffi-
cult to imagine other beasts includ-
ing birds, seahorses, or dragons.
The whimsical and exotic appear-

ance of these serpent-stemmed

glasses would have made them
highly desirable in the 17th century.

Contemporary documents indicate

that they were expensive luxuries

and their appearance in Dutch

and German Old Master paintings
is testament to their appeal. The

earliest examples were produced

in Venice in the late 16th century,

but during the 17th century, glass-
houses elsewhere in Europe were

producing similar vessels
a la facon

de Venise,
or ‘in Venetian style’.
Fig. 1

From left, Lots 7,11, 3, 2, 6, 17, 13, 10

Tacon de Venise’
is often used as a

catch-all term owing to the diffi-

culties in distinguishing between

glass made in Venice and that made
elsewhere and while serpent stems

have their origins in Venice, those

with flattened coiled stems formed
of ropes of glass in figure-of-eight or
`pretzel’ arrangements and applied

with pincered ornament are of a
distinctive type assumed to have

developed in the Low Countries.

Indeed, no glasses with serpent

stems of this distinctive flattened

type have been attributed to Venice,

but contemporary documentary
sources following on from archae-
ological excavations demonstrate

that they were being manufactured

throughout the Low Countries.

They are remarkable survi-

vors owing to their fragility and
it is therefore highly unusual to

see so many together. Produced

in two broad sizes, the collection

included both large, 27-31cm and

small, 18-20cm examples carry-
ing estimates between £1,800
and £6,000. The first lot, a rare

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

LEFT Fig. 5

Lot 14

BELOW Fig. 6
Lot 24

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Lot 1 and Back Cover

Lot 8

Lot 9

serpent-stemmed winged wine
tazza
(Fig.2),
was a little smaller at

12.4cm in height owing to the more
open form of the bowl, though the
proportions of the stem were con-

sistent with the smaller size. With
provenance from the celebrated
London sales of both Walter F Smith

and Helfried Krug, it was fiercely
contested and largely set the tone

for the sale when it realised £10,837.
A serpent-stemmed glass in the

larger size
(Fig.1, Lot 2)
then sold for

£12,112 (estimate £4,000-6,000), a
price which no doubt reflected the
rarity of the red and white thread
combination in the stem relative

to the other examples of this size.
Indeed, two very similar large glass-

es containing only white threads
(Fig.1, Lots 11 &
17) made some-

what less at £8,287 and £5,100. The
remaining three large glasses from

the collection
(two shown in Fig.1,

Lots 3 & 10)
all had some damage

but sold well, each selling within
estimate. Three wine glasses in the

smaller size
(two shown in Fig.1, Lots

6 &
7) also sold within estimate, but

an example with a noticeable pale

pinkish tint to the metal relative to
the other glasses
(Fig.3)
did consid-

erably better at £8,925 (estimate

£1,800-2,500) and an unusual small

wine flute
(Fig.1, Lot

13) sold for

£6,120, over twice the top estimate.
Without doubt, an exceptional-

ly rare Dutch wine glass dating to
circa 1760-70

(Fig.4)
was the star

lot. Finely engraved with scenes
from the 1616 edition of
Ambacht

van Cupido
(The Trade of Cupid) in

Nederduytsche Poemata
by Daniel

Heinsius, one of the first love

emblem books ever written in the
Dutch language, one side included

Amor eruditus
(Learned love) with

Cupid flying on the back of an

Eagle, and the other
Omnia vincit

Amor
(Love conquers all) with Cupid

taming the Lion. Both the style of

the glass, with two coloured prunts

on the twisted stem, and the style

of the engraving are all character-

istic of glass made and decorat-

ed in the Southern Netherlands

in the 17th century. With just
two bidders who both refused

to relent, it rapidly exceeded its
£8,000-12,000 estimate to bring

£125,250. The result was borne
out not only by the quality and rar-

ity of the glass itself, but also the

attractiveness and commerciality
of the subject matter, which includ-
ed mythical beasts and hounds
revolving around the underlying

and ever-popular theme of love.

Following on from this was a

fine 17th century Dutch fawn de

Venise wine flute
(Fig.5)

of a rela-

tively well-known type sometimes

seen in contemporary Dutch Old
Master still life paintings, which

often opens up their appeal to those
other than the traditional glass
collector. This was a particularly

attractive example which had gen-
erated pre-sale interest across the

board from museums, dealers and
private collectors. It ultimately took
£15,300 (estimate £4,500-5,500),

a result bolstered by its impressive
height, 37.5cm, condition and sym-
metry. This collection concluded

with a remarkable 17th century

serpent-stemmed glass
(Fig.6),

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Fig.
7

Circle of Georg Hinz (German, 1630-1688), still life with a facon de Venise serpent-stemmed wine glass

likely to be of Southern Bohemian
manufacture and attributed to the
renowned Buquoy glass factory
at

the Nove Hrady estate near Dobra.

Voda (Heilbrunn). The openwork
trellis stem perhaps draws its influ-
ence from glass bowls and baskets

produced in Southern Bohemia

around the same time, which no
doubt later influenced the later

products of Flemish-French and
Bohemian glassmakers in Liege

and elsewhere. While no other
surviving goblet with comparable
openwork stem would appear to be
recorded, a strikingly similar glass

appears in a contemporary 17th
century German School still life
painting perhaps from the circle

of Georg Hinz
(Fig.7).
The German

attribution would perhaps support

a Southern Bohemian origin for
the glass. Glasses of related man-

ufacture are in several museum
collections, including the Museum

of Decorative Arts in Prague and
the Museo Galileo in Florence.

The hollow, ribbed knops would

appear to be one distinctive feature
of Southern Bohemian facon de

Venise glass. The technological skill

involved in its construction sparked

some debate — the stem was pre-

sumably made in two halves mar-
ried together before the bowl was

attached. Following considerable
international pre-sale interest, it

sold for £40,250 (estimate £10,000-

15,000) a testament to its visual
appeal and remarkable condition.

The Paul Gresswell-Wilkins col-

lection of early glass followed and
included several more exceptional
rarities, many with latticinio dec-

oration which has proven increas-

ingly popular in recent years.
Important Italian glass from the

same collection had been offered
as a single-owner 153-lot sale at
Bonhams in New York in October

2021, which grossed $1m. The

star of that sale had been a unique
monumental amphora ‘Ape’ vase

by Dino Martens for Aureliana
Toso, circa 1952, which was the
first example ever produced using

his iconic Oriente technique, in

a form which was never repeated
by Martens
(Front Cover picture).

Fierce competition culminated in a

$256,562 result (estimate $30,000-

50,000), setting a new world record

auction price for a piece by Martens.

The highlight of the Gresswell-

Wilkins collection of early glass

was an exceptionally rare fawn de

Venise latticinio kuttrolf dating to
the last third of the 16th century,

probably Low Countries in origin

(Fig.8).
A kuttrolf is a flask, the

Fig. 8
Lot 32
neck of which is typically picked or

divided in some way to form two or

more tubes, but it can also be used
to describe other unusual vessels

which do not necessarily conform

to a traditional vase, goblet or sprin-

kler. This example, decorated with

a loose-meshed network of lattimo
threads characteristic of a rare class

of glass, had a series of nine graduat-

ing constrictions and curved asym-
metrically to one side. The form was

unrecorded but paralleled by goblets

with similar constrictions some-
times known as
Verres Coquilles —
a

term coined from a vessel of related

form described as such in the now
discredited catalogue of the Colinet

glassworks at Beauwelz, which
purported to be mid-16th centu-

ry, but was exposed as a forgery

in 1999. A damaged 16th or 17th
century goblet of related form was

sold by Bonhams on 29 September

2020 for £6,312
(Glass Matters 11,

p.34).
Originally acquired by the

vendor for relatively little as an Art
Nouveau piece, it rapidly exceed-

ed the £8,000-12,000 estimate
to realise an impressive £75,250.
This result was echoed by an

exceptional Venetian latticinio gob-

let with diamond-point engraved

foliate decoration and of similar

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Fig. 9
Lot 36

date
(Fig.9).
Again unrecorded, it

also belonged to a rare group of
latticinio glass with `nipt diamond

waies’ decoration in opaque white,

but would appear to be the only

known example with engraved

decoration. It represents a unique

survival, not only owing to its age

but also because the owner had

acquired it online from someone

who, unaware of its significance,
had posted it from abroad in a small
cereal box without any packing

material. It justifiably exceeded the
£15,000-20,000 estimate, with com-

petitive bidding on the telephone

and online, taking it up to £69,000.
Much like the Venetian and fawn

Fig. 11
John Mamma Bacon (1866-1948) with a cabinet

of his glass, indudinglots 58-60 (top shelf)
Fig. 10

Lot 54

de Venise glass, the early English

glass was greatly anticipated and
offered something for every col-

lector. The room was largely full
as the first lots came under the
hammer, including a range of early

balusters, which have proven to be

a stable investment for many col-
lectors over the years when prices

for some other types of English

glass from the 18th century have

tended to fluctuate. A very rare

baluster flute
(Fig.10)
more than
doubled its upper estimate to take

£6,375 and provided a rare oppor-

tunity to acquire a piece with a
robust recent history, being illus-

trated by Francis Buckley and W A

Thorpe and with provenance from
the Kirby-Mason and Henry Brown
Collections, which no doubt fuelled

the final result. It is thought that

flutes such as this may have been
used for champagne instead of ale

or beer, but wine is also a possibility.
Particularly poignant for the

Glass Society was an offering of

three goblets formerly in the collec-

tion of John Maunsell Bacon, who

had founded The Glass Circle (for-
merly The Circle of Glass Collectors)

in 1937. An existing photograph

of him with a cabinet of his glass

remarkably showed all three of the

pieces offered
(Fig.11).
The high-

lights were a mammoth heavy bal-
uster goblet, then a second slightly

smaller mammoth baluster goblet
(Fig.12) —
on the top shelf, fourth

from the right — which sold for less,

as perhaps the stem formation was

less attractive to the collector and
only partially compensated for by
the impressive size of the piece.
This offering led comfortably

into glass from the collection of

Fig.
12

Fig.
13

Lot 60

Lot 79

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

Fig. 14

Fig. 15

Fig. 16

Lot 78

Lot 76

Lot 68

Patrick and Mavis Walker, who

had begun collecting in the 1970s

and concentrated primarily on
English glass from the baluster

period, interspersed with a few
choice pieces from the later 18th

and early 19th centuries. They had
bought incredibly well, with a focus
on pieces in good condition, many

of which were acquired from the

selling exhibitions of Delomosne

& Son. Unsurprisingly, the rarest
and most visually appealing stem

forms generated the most interest,
as is usually the case with balus-
ters. The highlight was a very rare

multi-knopped baluster goblet, cir-

ca 1710-20 which contained an egg

knop
(Fig.13),

considered by many

collectors to be the ultimate knop
form in the baluster period. These

knops can sometimes appear awk-

ward in multi-knopped stems but

was particularly well-integrated into
the stem of this goblet, and unusu-

al in that it was solid when others
contain a tear. After considerable

pre-sale interest and with impecca-

ble provenance, most recently from
the celebrated Richard Emanuel

Collection, it sold well over esti-
mate at £12,750. Other highlights

included a small wine glass of

similar date with another rare and
desirable stem incorporating an

acorn knop
(Fig.14),
which more

than doubled the upper estimate

when it sold for £5,100. Among the
other most sought-after glasses was

an uncommon pan-topped heavy

baluster with a drop-knop stem
of circa 1710
(Fig.15)
which more

than tripled its upper estimate,

and a rare baluster wine glass with

a tapered cylinder knop
(Fig.16).

The highlight of the Walker

Collection came in the form of a rare

engraved opaque twist Privateer

wine glass for
The Lyon,
circa 1756-

60
(Fig.17).
Privateer glasses have

always commanded high prices,

and several are known commem-
orating Bristol Privateers. The

Fig. 17
Lot 92
Privateers were in effect officially

sanctioned pirate-ships. Bristol
Privateers including the
Defiance

and the
Eagle
are names well-known

from the series of Privateer wine

glasses, all presumably engraved
in Bristol. A previously unrecord-
ed mixed twist Privateer glass for
the
St. Andrew
sold at Bonhams in

May 2016 for £21,250 and was at

the time the only known example

until another, with a bruise to the

foot, surfaced later that year and

sold at Bonhams for £11,250. The

Lyon
Privateer glass would appear

to be the only known example for

this particular ship. Its size, being

slightly smaller than most Privateer
glasses perhaps added to its appeal,
as did a robust provenance. It set

a new world record auction price

for a Privateer when it sold for

£31,500 against a £10,000-15,000
estimate, making it the most expen-

sive Privateer glass ever sold at auc-
tion. A Beilby enamelled Privateer

for the
Providence
sold by Bonhams

for £30,000 in 2011 as part of the

A C Hubbard Jr. collection held the
previous record, with one for the
Eagle Frigate
dated 1757 which sold

for £21,600 in 2004 having until
then, been the most expensive

engraved example sold at auction.
Directly after this came a rare

political commemorative opaque
twist ale flute inscribed ‘WILKES &
LIBERTY’ and ‘No 45’, engraved on

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

the reverse with a bird flying from

an open cage symbolising liberty.
John Wilkes was a controversial MP

and journalist who played a critical

role in the development of radical
politics; he fled to Paris in 1764

after being convicted for seditious

libel for mocking the King’s speech
at the opening of Parliament in
issue 45 of the ‘North Briton’ the

previous year. Wilkes commemora-
tive glasses are traditionally dated

to circa 1763-64 as a result, but it

was not until Wilkes returned to
England and was elected as a Radical

MP for Middlesex in 1768 and sub-

sequently incarcerated, that he

became a political idol and his celeb-
rity took off. It is therefore likely
that this glass was in fact made a few

years later than is usually accepted,
circa 1768-70. Political commem-

oratives from the 18th century
have proven incredibly popular in
recent years, not just in glass, so

the £3,570 result was no surprise.
The next offering included select

glass from the collection of Graham

Vivian, who will be known to many
members of the Society. Highlights

included a selection of candlesticks

and tapersticks; rare survivors
perhaps because they were prone
to breakage or if the flame was

allowed to burn too far down the
nozzle could crack . Amongst the
earliest examples are those with

moulded stems, and the collection

included both a candlestick and a
taperstick dating to circa 1730-50.

The candlestick just sold, but the

taperstick, perhaps surprisingly,

failed to find a buyer. Moulded-

stem glasses of any type have been
quite affordable for some time and

unless exceptional in some way,

have not been particularly sought

after amongst collectors in recent

years, though the reasons for this

are not entirely clear. This is in stark
contrast to examples with elaborate

stems. An opaque twist candlestick
of circa 1760
(Fig.18)

and a charm-

ing airtwist taperstick of circa 1740
(Fig.19)
were hotly contested and
Fig. 18

Lot 133

Fig. 20

Lot 52

each realised well over estimate at

£5,355. It is interesting to compare
these results to a heavy baluster

candlestick
(Fig.20)
with prove-

nance from the Robert Frank and

the Harvey Haddon Collections

which achieved £3,825 (estimate

£800-1,200) earlier in the sale.
Much like drinking glasses, heavy

baluster examples are traditionally

thought to be more desirable than

their twist counterparts, although
Fig. 19

Lot 134

Fig. 21

Lot 132

the discrepancy here may have

been borne out by a small chip to
the footrim of the baluster example.
Beilby enamelled glasses have

become increasingly sought after
in recent years, with the prices

achieved representing a demon-

strable improvement to those being
realised five or even ten years ago.

An opaque twist ale glass of cir-
ca 1765
(Fig.21)
from the Vivian

Collection realised £5,100 (estimate

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Fig. 22
Lot 130

£1,500-2,000) despite some tiny

annealing cracks to the foot from
manufacture. While this example

was particularly boldly enamelled,
Bonhams had sold a similar Beilby

ale in 2010 for £2,400 and again in
2015 for £2,000, but examples with

minor damage had been making

less. The similar result achieved for
another Beilby ale at a regional auc-
tion house earlier in 2021 suggests

that this is more than mere coin-
cidence. A Beilby glass decorated

with classical ruins
(Fig.22)

realised

£4,845, mid-estimate, which is per-
haps surprising considering that it
is arguably a more appealing subject
than hops and barley. Several glasses
decorated with ruins in a similar

style are known, so the result this
time is perhaps borne out by the
comparative rarity of Beilby ales.
The rarest and most desirable

of all Beilby glasses are of course

those bearing armorials enamelled

in polychrome. Those with royal
connections are the most cele-

brated and have been the subject
of extensive study over the years,

while those with other armorials
have proven highly sought after,
Fig. 23

Lot 142 recto

as most recently demonstrated

with the sale of an unrecorded set
of opaque twist wine glasses bear-

ing the arms of the Surtees family
which were sold as separate lots
by Bonhams in June 2021 for a
combined £45,211
(Glass Matters

12, p.10).
This time collectors were

presented with a unique opportu-
nity to acquire an exceptional light

baluster wine glass bearing the arms
of the Yeoman family of Dryburgh,

Scotland
(Fig.23 recto).

Once known

as ‘Newcastle’ balusters, glasses
of this distinctive form are now
known to have been manufactured

in Holland as well as England. It is
possible that the Beilbys imported

undecorated light baluster glasses

from Holland, as most surviving

examples of this shape with Beilby

decoration have identical stems.
Fourteen Beilby enamelled

wine glasses or goblets of similar
shape are recorded, including this
example. Other than the three for

the Tilly family of Haarlem (which

are technically crested rather than

armorial), only three other Beilby

armorial light balusters remain in
private hands, all of which are royal,

and all previously sold by Bonhams.
The arms on the Yeoman glass con-

sist of a heart pierced by two arrows.
The crest of a winged heart on the

reverse
(Fig.24 verso)
was used by
Fig. 24

Lot 142 verso

several families, but it is thought
to be that of either Constant or
Peake — sadly of no relation to the

author. The hearts, being evocative
of love, again gave this glass appeal

well beyond the traditional Beilby
collector. Indeed, the consignor

had purchased it as a wedding anni-

versary present some years earlier.
Bidding between a telephone and

Fig. 25

Lot 141

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

BONHAMS SALE VENICE TO WHISTLER

Fig. 26

Lot 144

an online buyer rapidly exceeded
the £20,000-30,000 estimate, with

the glass ultimately selling to the

telephone for £56,500, closely echo-

ing the £63,650 result achieved by
Bonhams for a similar example bear-

ing the royal arms of Prince William

V of Orange and Nassau in 2013.
In many ways reflecting the

trends seen with Beilbys, colour

twist wine glasses of the 1760s are

also experiencing somewhat of a

renaissance. A rare engraved mixed

colour twist wine glass engraved

with a botanical specimen and with
a stem enclosing a jade green spi-
ral thread
(Fig.25)
was a particular

highlight. One of a series of close-

ly related mixed twist and mixed
colour twist glasses engraved in

a similar manner which are all
thought to have a Low Countries

origin, this example took £6,120
(estimate £3,000-4,000). The same

glass had been sold by Bonhams just
three years earlier for £4,750 and

the return perhaps demonstrates

the degree to which interest has

grown in recent years. Another rare
Fig. 27

Lot 253

colour twist wine glass with opaque

white ribbons edged in blue around
an unusual translucent green core
(Fig.26)
sold for £3,825 (upper

estimate 1,800). When compared
to a virtually identical glass sold by

Bonhams in 2011 for £2,125, part

of the A C Hubbard Jr. collection,

a time when the market in colour
twists was generally considered

to have been much stronger, the

Pig. 28
Lot 151
strength of interest in colour twist

stems can be seen to be flourishing.

A small offering of 19th centu-

ry glass included several coloured

Bohemian pieces for which interest

was patchy, reflecting a marked
change in fashion and collecting

habits in this field in recent years.

Antique paperweights from the
mid-19th century are another

collecting field which has become
more affordable in recent years. The

majority of the 117 lots offered were
consigned as part of the Livingston
Collection and cautious estimates

had been prompted by recent mar-
ket trends. While the selling rate

was encouragingly high, prices were

generally low compared to similar
examples from just a few years pre-

viously, so this is very much proving
to be a buyer’s market. That being

said, the most exceptional examples

still command high prices — a high-
light was a very rare, signed Clichy

scrambled millefiori paperweight,
containing a full signature cane
(Fig.27)
which realised £9,562 (esti-

mate £2,000-3,000). The unsigned
equivalent, virtually identical save
for the absence of a signature cane,

was offered in a lot with three other
French scrambled weights and only

realised £510 (estimate £500-700).

Rare canes are so easy to miss, so it

always pays to be vigilant. Lastly,

a highlight of the later glass was

a goblet by Simon Whistler fine-

ly stipple engraved with a view of

Llanthony Priory and dated 1977

(Fig.28).
It realised £3,187 (esti-

mate £2,000-3,000), mirroring

the £3,812 result achieved for a

similar goblet sold by Bonhams

in 2020
(Glass Matters 11, p.36),

demonstrating that this artist’s

work has recently come to be held

with a similar high regard to that

of his father, Laurence Whistler.

Following the recent sale of Fine

Glass and Paperweights at Bonhams,
Knightsbridge on 21 June, the next

sale, including some rare and fine glass,
will be held on 30 November 2022.

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

BOTT & STOURBRIDGE

Thomas Bott:
Relatives and Friends

in the Stourbridge Glass Industry
James Measell

AT
s a decorator who did hand

painting on fine porcelain,
homas Bott (1829-1870)

achieved great fame in his lifetime.
Examples of his work are in the V&A

Museum and the Museum of Royal

Worcester, and items attributed to

him often fetch high prices at auc-
tion. This article sheds light on other

aspects of Thomas Bott’s life, from
recognition in government schools of

art and industrial exhibitions to his rel-

atives, Thomas and George Woodall,

and his friends, John Northwood

and Albert Gyngell, who were figures
in the Stourbridge glass industry.
Born at Hyde near Kinver in 1829,

Thomas Bott was the second child of
George Bott and Catherine Dugmore
Bott. In the census of 1841, the Bott

family also included older sister
Emma as well as younger siblings

Jane, Edward and John. George Bott

(occupation: ‘spade tree maker’) was
employed by spade manufacturers

Joseph Parkes and Thomas Parkes

in their works at Hyde. A lengthy

account of Thomas Bott’s life pub-

lished shortly after his death
(The

Art-Journal,
February 1871) says that

`he served some years to his father at
the trade of making handles for spades.’

However, that situation was
‘not at

all congenial to his taste’
and young

Bott
‘at every available opportuni-

ty … occupied himself with drawing.’
In 1848, Emma Bott married nail

maker Thomas Woodall. The couple

settled in Barnett Lane, Wordsley,

sharing a residence with nail maker
Joseph Phasey and his wife Mary.

According to Christopher Woodall

Perry, Thomas Bott was also part of

this household. In the late 1840s,

Thomas Bott found employ as an

apprentice glass decorator at the
Richardson Wordsley Flint Glass
Works, where he became acquaint-

ed with fellow apprentice John
Northwood. In the biography of his

father, John Northwood II describes
the daily glass decorating work of

these apprentices as
‘painting, gilding

and enameling.’
Unfortunately, Thomas

Bott’s work and achievements at the

Richardson firm remain shrouded in

mystery, and it is challenging indeed
Fig. 1

Thomas Bott

to attribute decorated glass articles to

him. In his
British Glass 1800-1914,

Charles Hajdamach mentions that

Thomas Bott liked monochrome

enameling and that he may also have

had a preference for sepia enameling.
Thomas Bott and John Northwood

had great interest in drawing, and
instruction was available at the

Stourbridge Mechanics’ Institute. In

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

BOTT & STOURBRIDGE

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Opal glass vase with hand painted decoration,

These decorated glass items were attributed to Thomas Bott in

attributed to Thomas Bott

R. Wilkinson’s
Hallmarks of Antique Glass (1968)

1848, about 40 pupils were enrolled,
and, during 1849, some 26 men and

boys were attending the male class on
Monday evenings. Instruction was

provided by teachers J. Williams and

W. 0. Williams, the latter a prize-win-
ning student at the Government

school of art in Birmingham
(Aris’s

Birmingham Gazette,
5 June 1848). By

1851, the Woodall family in Barnett
Lane had grown to indude two young

sons, Thomas and George, but Thomas
Bott no longer lived there. In the 1851

census, Thomas Bott, 21, is listed as a

‘visitor’ in the household of chain mak-
er William Moore and his wife Hannah

in Bell Lane, Stourbridge, and his
occupation is given as ‘glass painter.’

The Mechanics’ Institute was nearby,

as was the Stourbridge School of Art.
With the encouragement of their

employers at the Richardson firm,

Thomas Bott and John Northwood
attended the drawing class in the

Mechanics’ Institute until the autumn

of 1851, when art master Henry

Alexander Bowler offered the first
drawing classes at the Stourbridge

Government School of Art in Theatre
Road. According to the 1851 cen-

sus, John Northwood resided in

Wordsley with his family: parents
Frederick and Maria Northwood and

siblings William, Eliza, Mary, and
Joseph. John Northwood’s occupa-

tion is given as ‘glass painter.’ John
Northwood won medals for his work

at the Stourbridge School of Art each

year from 1854 to 1858, and he also

served as a pupil teacher. About 1859,
he and his brother Joseph partnered

with several others at Wordsley to
form a glass decorating business that

became styled as J. & J. Northwood.
To return to the Woodall family

in Barnett Lane, Wordsley: the 1851

census lists Thomas and Emma

Woodall with their sons, Thomas

(b. 25 June 1849) and George (b. 15

August 1850). Thus, Thomas Bott
was the unde of those two boys who

were destined for fame in the glass

industry, namely, cameo glass artists
Thomas Woodall and George Woodall.

Thomas Bott’s enthusiasm for art

became an important influence in the

lives of his nephews, and it was also a
likely factor in some products of the

J. & J. Northwood firm. The artide in

The Art-Journal relates that Thomas
Bott made his way to Birmingham

in 1851 and that he
‘painted por-

traits’
and
‘decorated Japan wares’

support himself. On 28 December

1851, Thomas Bott married Eliza
Bourne in Birmingham. Her father

John Bourne was listed as a
‘glass

cutter’
on the marriage record, and
Thomas Bott’s occupation was

‘artist.’

In 1853, Thomas Bott found

employ as a decorator at the Royal
Porcelain Works operated by William

Henry Kerr and Richard William Binns

in Worcester. In that year, the Great
Industrial Exhibition was held in

Dublin from mid-May until the end of

October. Kerr and Binns had a substan-

tial display of products at this event,

including the Shakespeare Service

ware hand painted by Thomas Bott.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert vis-

ited the exhibition, and
The Freeman’s

Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser

(3 September 1853) said that the Royal
couple
‘remained a considerable time

closely examiningthe various productions
of art and manufacture in the different
departments through which they passed:

The stands of ‘Messrs. Kerr and Binns
of Worcester
‘attracted a large share of

notice both from Her Majesty and Prince

Albert.’
One particular item was the

focus of attention, and the newspaper

account leaves no doubt that the arti-
de was the work of Thomas Bott:
‘His

Royal Highness was very much pleased

with a pastile
[incense]
burner of exqui-

sitely graceful design and ornamented in

gold in the most elaborate and tasteful
manner. This beautiful article is the

work of an artist who served seven years

to the trade ofspade-handle making, but

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

BOTT & STOURBRIDGE

having a taste for the fine arts, studied

in the Stourbridge School of Design, and
afterwards obtained employment in the
Royal Porcelain Works, where he now

holds a high position.’
This account

appeared in many other newspa-
pers, including these:
Dublin Evening

Post; Dublin Evening Packet and

Correspondent;
the London
Morning

Chronicle; Bell’s Weekly Messenger;

and
Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper.

Encouraged by his employers,

Thomas Bott enrolled in classes at the

Worcester School of Art, which was
founded in 1851 with the enthusiastic

support of local manufacturing inter-
ests. Like his friend John Northwood

at Stourbridge, Thomas Bott was a
prize-winning student. Newspaper

accounts in
Berrow’s Worcester

Journal, the Worcester Herald,
or the

Worcestershire Chronicle
record these

recognitions of Thomas Bott’s talents

and skills at the Worcester school:

1853 (two prizes for porcelain paint-

ing and design); 1854 (Government
medals for enamel painting and
design, a special book prize award-
ed by Lord Ward, and a local prize);

1855 (four Government medals and
a special prize of £4 for an enameled
card tray ‘purchased by her Majesty’

at the exhibition of student works

held by the Government Department
of Science and Art in London); 1857
(national medal for the design of a

plate); and 1859 (Government medal).
In the late 1850s, a young man

named Albert Gyngell was among

Thomas Bott’s workmates at the
Royal Porcelain Works. Gyngell was

interested in art, and he attended

classes at the Worcester School of

Art along with his friend Thomas

Bott. When John Northwood and

his brother Joseph were starting a

glass decorating business in Wordsley,

Thomas Bott encouraged Albert

Gyngell to seek employment there.

Gyngell worked at the Northwood
establishment throughout the

1860s, and he also attended the
Stourbridge School of Art during
that time. In 1870, Gyngell became

the first Stourbridge student to win
a national medal (bronze) awarded

by the Government Department
of Science and Art. In 1872, Albert
Gyngell left the Northwood firm to

return to Worcester, and he enjoyed

a career as a professional artist and

art teacher until his death in 1894.
In 1855, Thomas Bott was the

recipient of a Government mon-

etary award that enabled him to

attend the Exposition Universelle,

providing him
‘an opportunity to

study the works of art and manufac-
ture … in the various Museums of that
capital.’ The Worcestershire Chronicle
(16 January 1856) reported that

he was
‘awarded a medal at the Paris

Great Exhibition for enamel painting

on china. Mr. Bott, we are informed, is

the only one practicing this branch of
art in England who has obtained such

distinction.’
Months later,

Berrow’s

Worcester Journal
(22 November

1856) also noted this singular
achievement, describing Thomas

Fig. 4

Wine glass by J. & J. Northwood, c. 1860s. The

etching of the warrior Patroclus with shield is based

upon John Flaxman’s illustration of the fight for

the body of Sarpedon in Homer’s
Iliad
Bott’s prize-winning porcelain

tray as
‘a very superior work of art.’

In 1857, the city of Manchester

hosted an Art Treasures Exhibition
(5 May to 17 October). Student

works from schools of art through-

out England, Ireland and Scotland

were among the more than 16,000
objects there. The Government
Department of Science and Art

sponsored a national competition,

and the student works on display

were awarded medals for their excel-

lence. Thomas Bott’s prize-winning
work was described as a
‘design for a

plate’ (Manchester Courier,
10 October

1857). Also in 1857, Thomas Bott’s
‘Cupid and Psyche’
(enamel painting

on copper) was exhibited at the Royal

Academy in London. In 1860, Thomas

Bott’s Limoge-style white enamel on

porcelain
‘Holy Family, after Raphael’

was exhibited at the Royal Academy.
During the 1850s, Thomas Bott

and his wife Eliza had four children.
Son John Thomas Bott was born

on 30 November 1854; he was to
follow in his father’s footsteps, win-

ning prizes at the Worcester School
of Art and having a lengthy career
designing and painting on porcelain.

Georgiana Lavinia Bott was born in

August 1856, and Edward Bourne
Bott was born in October 1858.

One week after Thomas Dugmore
Bott was born on 13 December

1860, Eliza Bott passed away due
to complications from childbirth.
As nephews Thomas Woodall

and George Woodall began to attend

school in the mid-1850s, Thomas
Bott became involved in their educa-
tion, especially when their interests

and abilities in art were apparent

as they became older. In Thomas

Woodall’s handwritten
‘Reminiscences

(Industrial),’
there is mention of

‘my

uncle Thomas Bott’
in the very first

sentence, as well as later references

to the effect that Thomas Bott had
great interest in my brother and I… and

encouraged us very much.’
Christopher

Woodall Perry recounts that Thomas
Bott
allowed the youngsters to see

his sketchbooks and that he gave

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

BOTT & STOURBRIDGE

Fig. 5

Oil painting’Rydal
Water, Westmoreland’

signed
‘Albert
Gyngell 1889:

Image from Worcester City museum collection

them Matthew Digby Wyatt’s
Art

of Illuminating
(1860) as well as

copies of Homer’s
Iliad
and
Odyssey

with illustrations by John Flaxman.
In the early 1860s, Thomas Woodall

and George Woodall became appren-
tices at the glass decorating firm J.

& J. Northwood in Wordsley, both
because of the friendship between

John Northwood and Thomas Bott

and the potential for success seen in
the young Woodall brothers. During

the time the Woodall brothers were

employed, the Northwood firm pro-

duced some etched glass artides that

were inspired by Flaxman illustrations.
With the encouragement of both

J. & J. Northwood proprietor John
Northwood and uncle Thomas Bott,

the young Woodalls attended dasses

at the Dudley School of Art and the

Stourbridge School of Art. Thomas
Woodall and George Woodall daimed

numerous prizes and medals, and

both were successful in Government

art examinations. Thomas Woodall

was awarded a Queen’s Prize in

1879 for a design for engraved glass.
Thomas Bott died on 12 December
1870.

The Staffordshire Advertiser

(31 December 1870) termed him
one of the principle artists of the Royal

Porcelain Works’
and noted that
‘the

Queen and the late Prince Consort were

great patrons ofhis work.’
Published in

1878, Llewellynn Jewett’s
Ceramic Art

in Great Britain
called him
an artist

of the very highest eminence,’
and such

praise is echoed in many subsequent

books devoted to British porcelain.

When longtime glassmaker Benjamin
Richardson passed away in 1887, the

County Express
(10 December 1887)

recounted his career, crediting him

with the introduction of
‘enamelling

and gilding on glass … (with] some twen-

ty or thirty hands on at this kind ofwork.’
The article also noted that
‘many who

are or have been eminent in the various

branches of the glass trade … as well

as those in other walks of art, received

some of their most lasting impressions
whilst engaged at the well known
Wordsley Flint Glass Works.’
Among

the individuals mentioned were John
Northwood and Mr.
Bott of Worcester,’

the latter being
‘remembered as a paint-

er of Limoges china of no mean repute.’
James Measell is an Honorary

Research Fellow at the University

of Birmingham. He can be contact-

ed by email: [email protected]

REFERENCES
Andrew, Colin. ‘Thomas Bott (1829-

1870) Spade Handle Maker to Artist,’
Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter
No.

196 (December 2019), pp. 36-45.
Haden, H. Jack.
Artists in Cameo

Glass: Incorporating Thomas Woodall’s

Memoirs.
Kingswinford: Black Country

Society, 1993.
Measell, James. ‘Albert Gyngell:

From Glass Etcher to Fine Artist,’
The

Blackcountryman,
54 (Winter 2020), pp.

72-77.
Northwood II, John.
John Northwood:

His Contributions to the Stourbridge Flint

Glass Industry 1850-1902.
Stourbridge:

Mark and Moody, 1958.
Perry, Christopher Woodall.
The

Cameo Glass of Thomas and George

Woodall.
Somerset: Richard Dennis,

2000.

‘Thomas Bott,’
The Art-Journal,
New

Series, vol. X (February 1871), p. 42.

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

COLLECTING PRESSED GLASS

Introducing
the Upjohn Collection of

Victorian Pressed Gla,cs

Michael Upjohn
Fig.
1

A mix of commemorative Busts and Paperweights

induding a John Derbyshire Britannia

Editor: Roy and Betty Upjohn’s

significant collection of English pressed

glass is curated by their son Michael,
who has now taken on the collecting
mantle alongside his father. Roy’s

wife, Betty, passed away in 2011.
This introduction will be followed in
future issues on specific pressed glass

subjects on the various manufacturers,
their colourways, copies and designs.

C
ollecting Victorian Pressed

Glass and novelties of the

era all started around the

1980s, when my mother would
come back from work with a little

Victorian pressed glass novelty that
she had found during her lunchtime
while rummaging around in one of

Godalming’s antiques or curiosity

shops. In the beginning it was a slow

start, but after a while my father

also started taking some interest in

antiques – actually antique oil lamps!

– but realising he’d soon need a big-

ger house, he converted to collecting
pressed glass. With their new-found

common interest, they started going

to the occasional antique fair, pick-

ing up the odd piece of glass. In the

’90s dad retired and so collecting
increased. Their travels would take
them on hunting routes around

the South of England from Kent to
Exeter. From their favourite haunts

of antique and second-hand shops

with the occasional flea market,
and then to the fairs held at Exeter,
Woking, Sandown and Birmingham.
Until recently the only person to

have seen the collection was their

friend Henry Fox who lived near-

by – they used to travel to the fairs

together. They became familiar with

the dealers, taking their advice to
buy certain books: Raymond Slack’s

English Pressed Glass –
mum had a

signed copy as they met regularly

at the fairs – and Jenny Thompson’s
Identification of English pressed glass

were their bibles and although a bit

dated these are still very useful today.
English pressed glass started being

manufactured in the early Victorian
era to provide glass for the masses

rather than as an expensive luxury

for the few. Some of the first cre-

ations were commemorative wares

and Queen Victoria’s ascension was
perfectly timed for the glass man-
ufacturers to mass produce their

new designs. My parents’ collection

mainly consists of pieces dated from
1867-1903. The more collectible

items of commemorative English
pressed glass were not only made to
celebrate Queen Victoria’s reign, but

also many other distinguished peo-
ple and events
(Fig.1).
Busts, plates

and bowls of Gladstone to Disraeli,

small plates to mark the opening of
the Manchester Ship Canal, inkwells
remembering
General Chinese Gordon,

to obelisks celebrating Cleopatra’s
Needle along the embankment of the

River Thames, then to items with spe-

cific quotes from the era, such as
Give

us our Daily Bread
or
Auld Lang Syne.

The North West companies,

including Manchester companies
Molineaux & Webb, The Derbyshire

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

COLLECTING PRESSED GLASS

Fig.2

A selection of Paperweight Figurines, indudingsome from John Derbyshire

and a green dog from PerrivalVickers, 1870-80s

Brothers and Percival Vickers, were at
the forefront of manufacturing good

quality imitation cut glass before their
North East competitors of Sowerby,

Moore, Davidson and Greener. Some

of the more eccentric and collectible
pieces are the paperweight figurines

from the short-lived John Derbyshire
Manchester factory
(Fig.2),
which

included Lions, Greyhounds, Punch

and Judy, Britannia and Queen

Victoria, which were all made in a nev-
er ending range of colours. I’m sure

some of their colours were just exper-
iments on the day. As time moved on,
the North East manufacturers started

to dominate, creating mass-produced,

interesting, intricate and often exper-

imental designs
(Fig.3).
As designs

and mould makers progressed, nov-
elty pieces took on a new fashion to

include faces, animals and scenic pat-
terns. Some would have animals as

handles or finials and small decorative

vases were decorated with animals,
foliage and figures. Open salts, match

and toothpick holders and posy vas-
es were made in numerous shapes

including shoes, boots, prams, wheel-

barrows and coal scuttles. If your
designs became successful, you knew

your competitors would soon be mak-
ing their own interpretation. This is
the lozenge was no longer used, just

the registration number being plain-

ly marked. I say straightforward, but

some early trademarks are difficult
and frustrating to decipher, making
it more of an achievement to give it

a correct attribution. Of course, not

all manufacturers used markings

and these pieces are always difficult
to identify – I’m sure that this com-

plication began many a discussion or

argument. My mum used to spend
hours trying to decipher lozenges on
the Henry Greener pieces. To add to

the confusion, there are several rang-

es from Henry Greener where the

lozenge sequences are incorrect. You

will never make any sense of it – per-

haps the lozenge maker was dyslexic?
My mother’s collections were of

clear and frosted glass, with individual

collections from Sowerby, Davidson,

Angus and Henry Greener, Edward

Moore, Percival Vickers, Molineaux

and Webb and more
(Figs.4 and 5).

Back in the day, clear glass was and

still is one of the cheapest ranges to

Fig.3

A
colourful mix from the 1880s and early 1890s

indudin g a Greener & Co blue Pearline pram, an

opalescent green swan from Sowerby and a dark
rose swan
from
Burtles Tate & Co

maybe why so many North East pieces

have similarities with each other. It’s
difficult to tell them apart unless you
can find the elusive maker’s mark.
One reason Victorian pressed

glass can be straightforward to iden-
tify is the use of trademarks and a

lozenge stamp — which included the
registration number – used on items

between 1842 unti11883; from then,

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

COLLECTING PRESSED GLASS

Fig.4
group of late Victorian opalescent decorative wares from Molineaux

Webb & Co; Burtles, Tate & Co and Sowerby’s Ellison Glass Works

collect, so you don’t need a

big budget, which suited my
mother at the time. One cab-

inet is full of commemorative
plates and figurines followed

by enough clear glass to fill
a further six cabinets. My
parents would concentrate

on certain registration num-

bers or ranges and built up
quite a sizeable collection of
many of the ranges; there are
collections of Davidson’s Rd

176566 1891 known as
Lady

Chippendale,
in primrose and

blue Pearline
(Fig.6)
plus a

collection in clear with over

seventy pieces, and we are still
hunting certain shapes and
colours, such as a yellow ped-
estal jug. You would think a common

shape would be easy to come across,

but that’s not necessarily the case.
My father still mainly collects

coloured ranges, induding Davidson’s

primrose Pearline — a colour range

known by many as Vaseline; Sowerby
items from the 1880 and 1882
catalogues including the Walter

Crane
Nursery Rhyme
range; pur-

ple malachite marble slag glass and

opaque white & black glass from all
the North East manufacturers. He

has a fantastic collection of John
Derbyshire figurines and some of

his favourites are Manchester opal-
escent pieces from Burtles Tate & Co

and Molineaux and Webb. One of my
favourite cabinets is the one full of
Nailsea-style pipes, gimmel flasks,

bells and rolling pins, with a few opal-
escent Stourbridge pieces for good
measure. When asking my father

“what has this got to do with pressed
glass?” the answer was “I don’t like
to return home empty handed”.
A new millennium came, and a

new way to collect glass. Around this
time a change in the way dealers and
collectors bought and sold glass was

happening. Antique fairs started to
decline, and dad would say the dealers

Fig.5

A group of opaque posy vases, from Sowerby’s

Ellison Glass Works, 1870-80
it. So, he bought a computer

and learnt very quickly how
to use eBay. Nevertheless,

a large proportion of their
collection was purchased

before the days of eBay; you
could only find rare items at

the glass fairs and had to pay

a premium for them. eBay
and the internet changed
everything and now it’s a lot

easier to build collections.
My sister and I would ner-

vously laugh at the thought
of the time when their collec-
tion, about which we knew
nothing, would become our
responsibility. So, five years

ago, I decided to take up the
mantle and take an interest in

the collection purely for the sake of
reducing it. Over the years my parents

had accumulated over 1800 pieces of

glass, and there were boxes of items
no longer displayed, or containing
duplicates which were substituted
for better pieces. My aim was to sell
these excess pieces on eBay. I’d never
done this before but enjoyed research-

ing on the internet – especially using
the Glass Message Forum and gallery

were using something called eBay

to sell their glass. My father flatly
refused to move with the times: he

wasn’t going to buy a computer, now
or ever! Twelve months passed and

the fairs declined further, so I tried

again to introduce eBay to my dad.

Items which were extremely rare

and only seen at the top glass fairs

were now making regular appear-
ances on eBay. Dad couldn’t believe

Glass Matters Issue No. 14 June 2022

COLLECTING PRESSED GLASS

Fig.6

A
selection of George Davidson’s Primrose Pearline range from the

late 1880s, also known as opalescent and Vaseline. The two pieces

with handles are unattributed
Fig.7

A
group of Uranium pressed glass pieces including a large rare covered sugar

bowl from James Derbyshire, a rare Percival Vickers candle stick, a George

Davidson quilted pillow butter dish, two Henry Greener baskets and some early
piano insulators; the dates range from 1859-1890

which are a great resource; I would

send links to dad saying
‘look at all this

information on your glass’.
My
mother

would have loved the site but sadly
didn’t get a chance to see it. I knew

some ranges of the glass would be
more popular than others and soon

started selling mum’s pressed glass

baskets worldwide. It would have

amazed her to have known that her
glass had travelled across the globe.
I’ve enjoyed discussing my par-

ents’ collection and sharing pictures

with collectors from all around the

world and it was soon apparent that
mum and dad’s collection was pretty

special. One of the most important
things to be aware of if you want to

transfer your knowledge of your col-

lection to your family, whether they

are ready for it or not, is to make a
record of your glass. Try to include as

much information as possible, give

the item a number and take a photo

of it with its number. I found this
most helpful when transferring my

parents’ log books onto a computer.
Being able to
see
the matching photo

was invaluable. It will be time con-
suming, but you will then start to
recognise pieces much more easily.
My quest to reduce the collection

has backfired. I am now actively hunt-
ing pieces down or pointing dad in the

direction of rare pieces to enhance
certain ranges, or even adding unusu-

al finds myself. I have my own fond-
ness for glass known as Vaseline or

opalescent and made with uranium

– it gives me a grin when I flick on the
ultraviolet light and get the glow it

gives off in the dark
(Fig.7).
Fashions

come and go and while Victorian
English opalescent pressed glass

may not achieve the same prices as

a piece of opalescent Lalique, English
manufacturers – Sowerby, Burtles

Tate and Co and Molineaux & Webb
– were producing opalescent pieces

years before Lalique. At the end of the
day, Lalique is also only press-mould-
ed glass, well that’s what dad says!
Some would say Victorian pressed

glass is out of fashion, but I’ve
found it’s still enjoyed and collected

worldwide, some pieces being very

sought after. We are still on the elu-

sive search for a John Derbyshire

Winged Sphinx or a Henry Greener
opaque white Gladstone bowl,

and don’t forget that primrose
Pearline creamer. So, if you have
one spare, please contact me at: –

[email protected]
Here are some useful books

and websites to help start you on

your journey to collect English
pressed glass. Be aware the books

were written well before the
authors had access to the internet.

They may contain the odd error.

Books
•
The identification of English

pressed glass,
Jenny Thompson.

•
English pressed glass 1830-1900,

Raymond Slack.

•
The Peacock and the Lions,

Sheilagh Murray.

•
English 19th Century Press

Moulded Glass,
R. Lattimore.

•
British Glass 1800-1914,
Charles

R. Hadjamach.

Websites
•
Glassmessages.com and

their photo gallery https://

glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk

•
Victorianpressedglass.com

•
For Manchester glass, https://

sites.google.com/site/
molwebbhistory/Home/

registered-designs

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

ECLECTIC COLLECTOR

An eclectic collector
Stephen Pohlmann
Fig. 1

My
father, Eric Pohlmann, in

Portobello Market in the late 50s

I
inherited my passion for glass

from my father, a well-known

actor and an imposing figure of

a man. I had the pleasure of visiting
Portobello Market with him on many

occasions
(Fig.1).
I knew nothing

about glass — and actually never really
found out how much my father knew,

but I do know that he collected what he

liked, not necessarily what was ‘good’.
In 1976 my father asked me to

have his collection of glasses valued.
I checked the yellow pages, stuck a

pin in the name `W.G.T. Burne’, and

lugged the suitcase of almost 50
pieces to their shop in Chelsea. It

did not take the Burne brothers too

long to assess the collection and to

write an official valuation (which
I still have!). When I asked them

how they came to recognise and val-

ue glasses so easily and so quickly,

they shrugged their shoulders and

responded that that was their job,
their love and their passion. I have

been hooked ever since. Glass col-
lecting became my passion and my
hobby. Collecting takes time and curi-
osity as it involves delving into his-

tory, design, fashion and materials.
Thanks to a long career in the

international dental trade, I have

always been a traveller. This opened
many doors as it enabled me to meet

collectors and dealers in various cor-
ners of the world. Along the way, I ‘col-

lected’ many friends sharing the same
interests, along with their spouses
who have usually been wonderfully
understanding. These friendships

have become even more important
to me than my own collection. I

moved to Israel in 1984, seven years

after the acquisition of my first glass.
As you would expect, I have my

favourite pieces, but the reasons are

not always obvious; there is often a

story behind the predilection. For
many reasons, the
Adam and Eve
marriage goblet

is high on my list

(Fig.2).
I acquired it at Sotheby’s in

1977, the first time I ever bid at an
auction. Thought to be a marriage

glass, it is a very special and rare piece.
It is the earliest dated English ped-
estal-stemmed glass, and comparing

it with ceramic work in the Bristol

region suggests that it was very prob-

ably made and engraved there. There
are only two other such goblets in exis-

tence, thought to have been engraved

by the same hand. Illustrated beau-

tifully in Dwight Lanmon’s magnif-

icent book is one that was in John
Bryan’s collection, subsequently

donated to the Art Institute in

Chicago; the other one is exhibited at
the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
I visited John Bryan at his stun-

ning Crabtree Farm home a few times

(Fig.3).
A very special experience,

including playing on his 140 year-
old indoor tennis court, complete

with a painting which he claims is
the oldest known work to show a
`real tennis’ scene. Following one of

these visits I decided that the three

Adam & Eve goblets should try to
get together. I started by taking
mine to the Art Institute to meet its
`mate’, then subsequently took it to

the Ashmolean to meet its second

brother. But alas, I could not get the

Fig. 2

Adam & Eve betrothal goblet, dated 1714

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

ECLECTIC COLLECTOR

Fig. 3

John Bryan (right) and the

author (eft) admiringDwight
Lanmon’s favourite heavy baluster

three together as museum

insurance does not easily
cover such fantasies. That is

a dream still to be fulfilled.

SWEETMEATS
Collecting sweetmeats has

been a perfect example of

my mind racing over a broad

and diverse range of styles.
Late in 1978 I came across

this cute glass object, the opposite
of a heavy baluster in so many ways,
except for the relative weight. I

intended to search for a matching

piece, however each sweetmeat glass
I came across and bought was differ-

ent from the others in the collection

(Fig.4).
Latticinio in either the foot,

stem or base, or in two of them, or in

all three. Thick plain foot or folded,

almost reflecting a firing glass — with
or without an unpredictable number
of ‘sections’. Varying heights, bowl

and foot widths. Short stems or
extremely long ones, not to speak of

the ‘nips’ on the rim. My collection

includes sweetmeats designed with
7
nips up to
25,

and my quest is still

to find an actual matching pair!

THE ALIUS
Not long ago I was in Holland on a

business trip which coincided with
TEFAF, perhaps the world’s

leading art fair, with only a few
hours to spare before my flight

home. I was aiming for a par-
ticular piece engraved by Wolff,

on display at the Vecht stand.

But as it had sold, I wandered

on. I came across the Fijnaut

stand where I espied a very
attractive ‘Newcastle’ glass. It

was only when I held it close
that I noticed the ‘breathed’
engraving and recognised the

glass which had been on the
front cover of both Bonhams

and Sotheby’s catalogues. It

was an Alius'(Fig.5). The acqui-

sition negotiations took a lot of tears.
The last price was too high and I had a

flight to catch. I left my card. While
travelling to the airport, I received

a call to say that my last offer had

BELOW (LEFT) Fig. 4

Aerial view of some of the 21 sweetmeats – none of
them a match

BELOW (RIGHT) Fig. 5

A stippled Chinoiserie scene by ‘Alius’

Glass Matters Issue No. 14 June 2022

world in the 1970s and 80s, when I

was travelling there very frequently,

and not to have met the fathers of
the Lameris or Vecht families. I also
regret not having joined the Glass

Circle earlier, through which I would
have met collectors like Graham

Vivian years earlier. We had been
Kensington neighbours for 30-40

years and shared not only the same
passion for glass, but also many oth-
er interests. Graham started selling

his collection some years back, and
I acquired some very special pieces

from him, including the rare and

beautiful blue sweetmeat
(Fig.8).

Our friendship with the Vivians

inspired me to write the following
— quite appropriate for this article:
ECLECTIC COLLECTOR

Fig. 6a

Fig. 6b

Tilly armorial goblet by Beilby – recto

Tilly armorial goblet by Beilby – verso

been accepted. Two months later I
was back in Amsterdam to pick up

the glass and finally met Jacques
Fijnaut. My latest dream is to discov-

er an Alius glass –
with
a signature!

My Tilly Beilby also has an inter-

esting story
(Figs.6a & 6b).
Its twin

is in the Durrington collection and

is called ‘The’, but now there are two
of them. It was discovered by Kitty
Lameris during one of Holland’s

Antiques Roadshows (Tussen Kunst

en Kitsch), when current mem-

bers of the Tilly family appeared
on the show with the glass. I was

lucky to be visiting Holland just
days after the Tilly family decided
to sell, and just days before a Glass
Circle group was due to visit. I’d
realised this piece would attract

a lot of interest and so I thought
of getting there first. Another
dream – I tried so hard to have the

two Tilly’s meet, but to no avail!
I have quite an eclectic collec-

tion and a few regrets. I considered

focusing on heavy balusters as they
best encompass the introduction
of lead glass and its advantages.

When I interviewed one of the art

glass world’s greatest, Vaclav Cigler,
I gave him my favourite drop knop
to play with while conversing
(Fig.7).

I knew he would appreciate it as

he specialises in the use of optical
glass: heavier, denser, more refrac-

tion and reflection. His works are

practically all monochrome, most-

ly clear, and his interaction with

water, ice and mirrors is stunning.
Some people need to play with prayer

beads — or ball-bearings — in order
to relax and think clearly. For me,

it a heavy baluster. Cigler agreed.
I have a few regrets. One was not

getting to know the Dutch glass

Fig.
7

An eariy drop knop heavy baluster
Like good watches

We’re just looking after glass

As it passes from then
Through now
To the future
In the meantime

We admire, fondle, stroke

Display, see and sometimes use

And when we pass it on
We hope that the next collector is
of the same cut: a glass lover

Fig. 8

One of only two known examples of this blue

sweetmeat

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

WORSHIPFUL COMPANIES

THE CITY
of

LONDON CRAFT
and

MERCHANT GUILDS: Cla4ses &
History

Bill Millar

I
s there a glass collector who is not

excited when they spot a “real

find”? The production period,

maker and other details can all be

checked at home, then you can revel in

the pleasure of ownership. However,
collectors of armorial glass have an

extra pleasure: researching the armo-
rial and its history. Personally, the

research often far exceeds the plea-

sure of spotting the find in the first
place. Some of the glasses illustrated

in this article maybe of no great merit

in themselves – rather, they are vehi-
cles with armorial decoration which

introduce some of the craft and mer-
chant guilds of the City of London

and a taster to their long history.
The pantomime hero Dick

Whittington is based on a real per-

son who was Lord Mayor of London

four times some 600 years ago.

The Lord Mayor has been selected

from and by the members of the
city craft and merchant guilds, also

known as livery companies, since

1189. A new Lord Mayor is elected
each year and on the day after being

sworn-in leads a procession, known
as the Lord Mayor’s Show, to swear

allegiance to the Crown. The first of
the livery companies were formed

in the 12th century and they reg-
ulated all aspects of business from
entrance standards and qualification

levels to wages, working hours, tools
and conditions. Monopolistic and

restrictive in nature, they also set

quality standards and prices. The

guilds developed their own distinc-
tive clothing and regalia which led

to them being called livery compa-

nies, each with its own armorials.

In the 19th century the importance

of the guilds declined with the mech-

anisation and rapid change of the
industrial revolution. Most changed
Fig. 1

Airtwist wine goblet showing crest of Worshipful
Company of Grocers

their role to one of supporting their
respective industries and the City

and Guilds training and qualification

scheme was founded as a direct result.
Charitable work is a considerable ele-

ment of their work and donations by

the livery companies currently exceed
£40 million per annum. Today there

are 110 companies including mod-
ern companies formed in recent years

such as The Honourable Company
of Air Pilots formed in 2014. Given

fundraising is a major part of their

work, wining and dining undoubtedly
helps and glassware, probably with

the company’s armorials, is essential.

Other items of glassware would have
been sold to raise funds which pro-

vides collectors with scope to acquire

armorial glassware from the guilds.

The Worshipful Company of

Grocers. You may recall the superbly

cut and engraved scent with the arms

of the Grocers Company illustrated

in the article
Royal Jubilees
in
Glass

Matters
13, February 2022. The

Worshipful Company of Grocers
was

reportedly the senior guild in the

middle ages. Founded as the
Guild

of Pepperers
in 1180 it subsequently

became the
Company of Grossers
in

1373 and was renamed the
Company

of Grocers of London
in 1376. The

Company now ranks second of the

Great Twelve City Livery Companies.

Their arms comprise a shield with a
red chevron and 9 cloves. Their crest

is a camel loaded with 2 sacks of

peppers, each sack is decorated with
6 cloves. Their motto is
God Grant

Grace.
The air twist goblet
(Fig.1)

is decorated with their camel crest,

superbly stipple engraved by Jenny
Hill-Norton in the late 20th century.
The Worshipful Company of

Mercers was incorporated under

a royal charter in 1394 and ranks
first of the Great Twelve City Livery
Companies. The early members con-

centrated on the export of wool and

import of luxury fabrics such as silk

and velvet – which was how the real
Dick Whittington, as a member of the

guild, made his fortune. Their arms

show the head and shoulders of The

Virgin crowned with a celestial crown,

wreathed about the temples with a
chaplet of roses, her neck encircled

with a jewelled necklace. All of this

is above a celestial cloud with clouds

bordering the arms. Their motto is
Honor
Deo (Honour God). The sher-

ry glass
(Fig.2),
from the second

half of the 20th century, has been

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

WORSHIPFUL COMPANIES

Fig. 2

20C sherry glass engraved with arms and motto of

the Honourable Company of Mercers
Fig. 3

Baccarat goblet engraved with view of London

Bridge and crest of the Worshipful Company of

Fishmongers
Fig. 4

Stuart Aerial glass, H14.7cm, engraved by Stephen
Richard in 1979 with the crest of the Worshipful

Company of Saddlers

engraved with the arms and motto.
The Worshipful Company of

Fishmongers ranks 4th in the order

precedence and was given its first

Royal charter in 1272. Unlike most

of the other guilds it retains many of
its traditional duties and is respon-

sible for overseeing the quality of
fish brought into the city, mainly
through Billingsgate Market. It is

also closely involved in monitor-
ing salmon and freshwater fishing
as well as shellfish in UK waters.
William Walworth, a member

of the guild, was Lord Mayor of
London in June 1381 during the
Peasants’ Revolt – which followed

the imposition of a poll tax.

When Watt Tyler and his follow-
ers entered London, Walworth

raised the city guard to defend
London Bridge. He met the

insurgents at Smithfield where
he killed Wat Tyler with his

short sword. The Boy King

Richard II was present and sub-

sequently knighted Walworth
and awarded him a pension.
The company’s livery hall,

Fishmongers’ Hall,
was first built

in 1310, replaced in 1434 and

again in 1671 following the Great
Fire of London. In 1799 a competition

was opened to design a replacement
for the medieval London Bridge,

but it entailed the demolition of
Fishmongers’ Hall. A replacement hall

was built adjacent to the new bridge

which was completed in 1831. In the
early 1960s it was realised that the

1831 bridge was slowly sinking into
the Thames and deemed to be beyond
repair. The latest iteration of London
Bridge opened in 1973. The Baccarat

goblet
(Fig.3),
is engraved with a view

of the new bridge with Tower Bridge

beyond. The upper surface of the foot
carries the legend ‘London Bridge

1967 – 1973′. On the reverse the foot
is engraved with a crest showing two
arms supporting an Imperial Crown.
This is the crest of the

Worshipful

Company of Fishmongers.
Their mot-

to is “All Worship be to God Alone”.
The Worshipful Company of

Saddlers was incorporated in 1395

and ranks 25th. In 1585 they were

awarded their arms of a gold chevron

with three saddles. Their crest is a sil-
ver horse, bridled, saddled with gold
trapping and with a plume of three
feathers on its head. Unusually, they

have two mottoes, Hold Fast, Sit
Sure and Our trust is in God. The

saddlers discharged their duty for
quality standards by appoint-

ing searchers empowered to

search the shops and houses of
all employed in the saddle trade

and condemn ill-made wares. The
maximum fine for each instance

was set at 2/6d (approximately
£30 today) by ordinance of Queen
Elizabeth I. The downside of this
responsibility was that the com-

pany would be fined £5 (£1,200)
for every instance of defective

Fig. 5

Ashtray with intaglio decoration and etched

arms of Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

WORSHIPFUL COMPANIES

Fig. 6
Goblet designed by David Knight for the Worshipful

Company of Glass Sellers, made by Nazeing

wares which escaped their atten-
tion. the Stuart air twist wine glass

(Fig.4)
is engraved with their crest.

The Worshipful Company of Glass

Sellers received its charter in 1664

and ranks 71st among the city’s

livery companies. Initially found-
ed to regulate the glass-selling and

pot-making industries within the
City of London, its role now includes

stimulating interest in all aspects of
glass, education and charitable work.
Their arms show a jug representing
ceramics, a Venetian glass represent-

ing glass containers and the skilled art
of glass engraving and a mirror. The
crest shows flames emerging from a

furnace and the supporters are two
ravens, showing their connection to
George Ravenscroft. It is

said that the guild bought
the first year’s output

from Ravenscroft to help

him establish his business.
Their motto, DISCORDIA
FRANGIMUR, means
We

Will be Broken by Discord.

Unsurprisingly, glass-

ware with the arms of the
Glass Sellers is relatively

Fig.
7

Glass bowl decorated by

lithographic printed
scraps

with

the arms of the Worshipful

Company of Comb Makers
common. The ashtray, etched with

the arms of the company, has inta-

glio-cut decoration, polished on the

side and matt on the base. The goblet
(Fig.6),
with transfer-printed decora-

tion, is in the Dudley MBC collection.
In the 19th century, mechani-

sation and the rapid change of the
industrial revolution reduced the

importance of the guilds. Many
reappraised their role and changed

to one of supporting their respective

industries through research funds,

awards for excellence, sponsorship

and other targeted support. The City

and Guilds qualification scheme was
created as a direct result. The char-
itable element of livery companies’

work is considerable and today their
collective donations exceed £40 mil-

lion per annum. Currently there are
over 100 livery companies, including
companies which have been formed in
recent years; the most recent, in 2014,

is The Honourable Company of Air
Pilots. Not all of the companies made

the necessary changes to survive
until today, or even the 19th century.
The Worshipful Company of Comb

Makers is such an example; it was

incorporated in 1635/36 by Charles
I and was still in existence in 1862.

However at some point between then

and 1892 it was dissolved. The bowl
(Fig.
7) has the arms of the company:

a lion passant and three combs with
the words ‘COMB MAKERS’ below.

The crest, which is not shown on the
bowl, is an elephant, which is a link

to ivory for making combs. The dec-

oration on the bowl is an extremely
unusual form of decoupage (see
The Glass Cone,
Issue 111, 2017, An

Interesting Decorative Technique,
Bill

Millar). This bowl may have been pro-

duced to mark the dissolution of the
Company of Comb Makers with one

for each of the remaining members.
Collectors need not restrict them-

selves to the London guilds as there
are well over 100 guilds still in exis-
tence throughout the UK. Guilds were

important across Northern Europe
from the late 12th century; the mer-
chant guilds of major cities were
especially powerful and formed the
Hanseatic League, which had a virtual

monopoly on trade in North Europe

and the Baltic during the 14C and 15C.
The British guilds never achieved such

levels of importance but the com-

petitive trading activities of Britain,
Portugal and Russia eventually led to

the demise of the Hanseatic League.
The identification of arms or crests

on a glass is an essential prerequisite

to learning its backstory. An amazing

amount of information is available on
the web. A motto can make for a quick

search, while a search using a descrip-
tion of the arms or crest is often effec-

tive, else the vendor may provide the

answer, but do check the information.

The search for the owners of the crest
on Fig.3 was not easy. Searches had
drawn a blank. Then as I was checking

the arms and crests of the
London guilds for this arti-

cle, on one of the Wikipedia

pages I discovered it was
the crest of the Worshipful
Company of Fishmongers.

That was one of those

moments of enormous
excitement and satisfaction

at having identified a crest

– much better than making
the “find” in the first place.

A regular contribu-

tor to Glass Matters, Bill
Millar can be contacted at:

[email protected]

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

FAIR ENOUGH

On the Glass Fairs
Christina Clover and Paul Bishop

T
am writing to tell those of you

who don’t already know that

we have decided not to contin-

ue with organizing the glass fairs.
The pandemic helped us to make

that decision, because it was hard

to call a halt to something that had
occupied so much of our time over

the last twenty years, that we had

put a lot into and from which we

gained much enjoyment – but time
marches on and brings its limitations.
Of course, there were many dif-

ficulties to contend with along the

way but, looking back, I think we did
manage in the main to achieve what we

set out to, i.e. to hold events that took
into consideration the needs of both

exhibitors and the public, and to make
those events both interesting and fun.
To that end, where feasible, we

introduced one-day exhibitions,

collectable promotional postcards,
reusable printed carrier bags, glass-

blowing, lampworking and stained
glass-making demonstrations, talks

from various celebrities, a Whitefriars

group display area, our ‘Christmas
table’, music to entertain folk while

eating, and a dealer’s prize draw.
We kept the entrance fee at £5

throughout, and tried to keep stand
prices as low as possible – not easygiven

the ever-increasing costs of venue hire.
Preparing for our first fair, the

much loved Cambridge Glass Fair,

turned out to be a riot. At 7am the ven-
ue was in darkness, we knocked, called
out and banged at the locked outside
doors, until eventually, a worried-look-

ing face appeared. Nothing had been

set out to our floorplan! One poor

chap was struggling to erect around

100 tables. Absolutely appalled, we
had to lay out the electrics, sort out
the tables and chairs, signs, lights,

cash tins, tablecloths and all the other

paraphernalia, to be transported up in
the goods lift. The maintenance man

then told us the lift door had jammed
and wouldn’t close, so

the lift would not work.

The dealers would soon

start arriving – panic sta-
tions. Graham Cooley

was with us, he examined
the lift, asked for a ham-

mer and whacked the

offending door. It closed,
the lift ascended and we

started madly throwing
everything together. We

sorted out the parking
and kept the dealers at

bay. Never has so much
sweat been produced. A
few dealers rang to ask,

“where is the fair”, one

arrived with five minutes
to spare to loud cheers

from the others, plugged in his lights
and promptly fused everyone else’s.

All fixed, Graham took a peek out-
side and reported jubilantly: ‘We’ve

got a queue!’. Dealers and visitors
enjoyed the day. It had been a success!

We and the glass world suffered a

real blow in June 2012 when fabulous

Chilford Hall, home of the Cambridge
Glass Fair, was destroyed by fire. We

had to quickly find a new venue and

were fortunate to be able to use near-
by Linton Village College as a tempo-
rary measure while we waited to hear

whether Chilford Hall would be rebuilt.
Unfortunately, this was not to be and

so we moved the fair to Knebworth
House, which we hoped would prove
to be as successful a venue as Chilford.

We acquired the National Glass

Fair when Pat and Dil Hier retired in

2008 and we decided to take it back

to its original home at the National

Motorcycle Museum. This move

was generally well received and we
managed to build the fair up again to

something like it was in its heyday.
We were lucky to have some video

recordings of several events made by

Tony Wigg which are still available
Advertising Postcard sent out for Cambridge Glass

Fair, 16 September 2010. A White friars window,

showing glassmen (and a boy) at work

on YouTube, are great fun to view,

and can make one feel very nostalgic.

We also tried out a few other ven-

ues – Dulwich College, Kensington

Town Hall and Glaziers Hall in
London, Ickworth House in Suffolk

and the Crystal Leisure Centre in
Stourbridge during one Glass Festival.
For one reason or another these didn’t

work for us, and so we concentrated
on Knebworth and the National.
The glass fairs were social events,

hubs to get together with like-minded

people, both collectors and dealers, and

we’ve met a lot of great people over
the years, made some good friends

and also sadly lost some lovely folk.
So we’d like to say an enormous thank

you to all of you, visitors and exhibi-
tors alike, who supported us and our

fairs over the years; we miss seeing

you and know you miss attending

these events – but, rest assured,

someone will pick up the baton at

some point, and we hope to see you
again when and wherever that may be.

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

–

DOORLIGHT

Poetry in motion
–
a contemporary glas,spand

Simon Cook

U
pon reading the editorial

in GM 12, a glass panel in

a door came to mind. A few

years ago, when my wife Mandy and
I decided to rebuild our terraced

cottage, our near neighbour and
friend, acclaimed architect Huw
Griffiths, agreed to draw up plans

and to manage the nine- month long
project. A minor part of the works,

which included much demolition,

was to replace UPVC windows and
doors with hardwood ones. A sta-

ble door was to be made for the
front entrance and a rectangular

glazed panel would be required.
Huw’s wife, Marilyn, is an accom-

plished glass artist and she kindly

agreed to design and fabricate it.
The inspiration for the panel was

the sea, upon which I work and which

can be seen from the back of the cot-
tage. In addition, Mandy and I, Huw

and Marilyn, and John and Helen

White (who live next to the Griffiths)
often walk down to the nearby sandy

beach to go swimming. My idea was
for three parallel bands of colour –

blue to represent the sky, turquoise
for the sea and gold for the sand.
Marilyn, however, saw other oppor-

tunities. Her design for the panel

was inspired by the coastal environ-
ment and our passion for wildlife.

She sought to incorporate a feeling
of the seashore, drawing upon the
textures of the shoreline, the move-

ment of the sea and the patterns on

it. The shape of a bird in flight was

included, with care being taken for

its presence to be subtle so as not
to overpower the overall effect.
The glass chosen for the panel

was 3 mm machine-made Artista,
manufactured by Schott in Germany.
It is eminently suitable for fusing,

with one layer placed upon another.
The rough experimentation with
clear glass and three colours – yel-

low, blue and turquoise – resulted,

when overlaid, with different hues
being formed. Thus, different
depths and tonal values could be
evaluated. Once the various colour

combinations had been decided

upon, a small representative tile

was fired in the kiln. This was to test
the overall effect of the colour com-

binations and textures and to seek
client approval for the full-size panel.
The design was enlarged to a

full-sized cartoon before the cut-
ting of the glass, and the panel was

then assembled from pieces of the

selected colours and fused in the
kiln. When annealed, the rear of

the glass was masked with a Fablon-

like material. Cut into it was the
linear part of the design, which was

then sandblasted. Further stages

involved the use of other masking

agents – wax, bitumen, different
glues and masking tape. After each

application (repeated many times)
the surface was deep-blasted and

scrupulously cleaned until the
desired textured effect was obtained.
The next stage in the complicated

process was to acid-polish the glass
in a special acid bay by washing it

with a potent blend of sulphuric and
hydrofluoric acid. This corrosive

and toxic mixture smoked heavily

so necessitated the wearing of full
protective equipment. As the pan-
el was to be inserted into a door,
for safety’s sake and to increase its

Front Door Glass-Pang 68cm x 29cm

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

EXOTIC EYE BATH

structural integrity, it was bonded
to a piece of clear laminated glass. A

two-part silicone gel, which sets crys- tal clear, from Bohle of Germany was

used. This process was undertaken in

a dust-free and clean environment to
ensure that no particles settled on the

adhesive. The glass itself was thor-
oughly cleaned beforehand too. The

laminate had to be perfectly flat when
the adhesive was applied, to prevent
the fused glass from sliding out of
true during the bonding process. This

alone took around 48 hours. When
the panel was ultimately fitted to the

door the visible area was 68 x 29 cm.
In time the cottage was completed

and the panel in our front door has
been appreciated and admired by
us and others ever since. When the

sun shines on the glass, the colours
light up the wall by the door and
are also reflected into the room by

an adjacent fish-shaped mirror.
Formerly a teacher, Marilyn Griffiths

graduated in 2006 with a First-Class
Honours degree in architectural stained

glass and became a self-employed

glass artist. She subsequently attained
an M.Phil., having spent three years
reassessing and organising the com-
prehensive archive of works in the

Glass Department of the Swansea
Institute, now University of Wales,
Trinity St. David. Marilyn works on

private, public and community projects.

Eye Baths continued
Fig. 1

Fig. 2

F
ollowing his article in

Glass Matters
13, George

Sturrock wonders wheth-

er any reader can suggest where
this exotic eye bath
(Figs.1 & 2)

might have been made. The eye

bath is cut and polished to a high
standard and superficially it

resembles the Harcourt design,

introduced by Baccarat in 1841.
However, the museum curator

at Baccarat said the eye bath was
not theirs; the knop is unterraced

and the stem is stepped into the

bowl and foot The Harcourt design
knop has three small terraces and
the stem has a smooth transition

to the bowl and foot — compare
Fig.1 to Fig.3. Additionally, the eye

bath decoration was not Baccarat’s.
She suggested St Louis as a pos-

sibility as Baccarat and St Louis
were briefly linked from 1831 until

1857. The response to an email to
St Louis is pending. George feels
that this eye bath is French in

style, though coming from a house
clearance in Bournemouth there

is no help from the provenance.

George Sturrock trained as an eye

surgeon at Moorfields, then spent 5

years at the University Eye Clinic in
Basel before taking up a consultant

eye surgeon post in Exeter. Retired
since 2007 he tells us that ‘I bought
my first eye bath in the Zurich flea

market for CHF 5 in 1980 and

have written 2 books on eye baths
though these are no longer available.’

Apology

An error
occurred in a picture cap-

tion in George Sturrock’s GM13

article.
Fig.13
inadvertently carried

forward the caption from Fig.12.

The correct caption for Fig.13 is:
Fig.13.
Thuringian “bmw” eye

baths – 2 single piece with thick bowl
floors (drawn stem & foot) made of

bubbly green glass; and brown 3-piece
Fig. 3

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

IYOG

International Year of Class 2022,
inaugural conference

Andy McConnell

T
he United Nations has designat-

ed 2022 as
the International Year

of Glass

[IYOG] and the inaugu-

ral conference was held in its Palais

des Nations, Geneva, in February.

The UN conferred this honour in order

`to celebrate the essential role glass has
and will continue to have in society’.
The UN communique explained

that the year
‘will underline the tech-

nological, scientific and economic impor-

tance of this often unseen, transparent

& enabling material, which underpins so
many technologies, and which can facil-

itate the development of more just and
sustainable societies to meet the challeng-
es of globalization. It is also an import-

ant medium for art, and its history is

integral with that ofhumankind’ .
Phew!

The IYOG opening ceremony

organisers comprised 10 people,

half being scientific professors,

with Alicia Duran, Spain, as Chair.

The programme reflected the com-
mittee’s interests, focussing on the

future rather than the past. It was
dominated by biochemistry, physics,

optics and photonics, lasers, holo-

grams and furnace technology. Most

of the speakers had more letters after
their names than alphabet soup and

their presentations covered various

topics: Leonid Glebov spoke about
Photo-Thermo-Refractive Glasses for

Advanced Laser Applications’;
Kathleen

Richardson focussed on
‘Infrared Glass

Innovation’;
and Naoki Sugimoto on

`Glass in 5G Communication Technology’.

So, I was surprised, to put it mildly,

when Professor Parker invited me
to address the conference. Me? A

mouthy, former rock journalist – albeit

with a 47-year passion for glass his-
tory? – chalk and cheese! I accepted

with delight — the Gig of a Lifetime!

A later invitation to Zoom my talk
from home was instantly binned — I

wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
And I would not be alone on the

historical/arty side, being joined by
Ian Freestone, the eminent British

Museum archaeologist; Dedo von
Kerssenbrock-Krosigk, GS member

and Dusseldorf museum curator;

James Carpenter, the American light

artist / designer; and a Japanese pate
de verre artist. My brief was ‘engage-

ment’ — how to interest the wider

public in glass in all its forms. That is,

how to raise glass in the public con-

sciousness, make it more ‘fashionable’.
No problem – engagement is the

primary task of every speaker/edu-

cator. And I’ve always found the best
route to an audience is by being amus-

ing – if you can pull it off. Informing

is also right up there but it’s tricky to
`inform’ bored zombies. And the great-

est danger when addressing an audi-

ence of mega-brained glass specialists

would be to attempt to preach to the
converted — they already knew about

glass’s world-changing attributes.
Considering myself a
‘glass evange-

list’,
I composed a 20-minute retrospec-

tive of
‘my personal voyage in glass’,
from

a [naughty] infant onwards. And some
of its content was even true! So, I fash-
ioned a zappy blast. Comprising 225

images, one every 5.33 seconds, it was

intended to lighten the mood and offer

science boffins an alternative view.
The reality was slightly different

as the UN, currently undergoing a

$lbillion refit, does not own a remote

slide changer, price £5 new off eBay.
Its alternative method was for each

speaker to instruct two women operat-
ing a laptop 10m away with the words,
`Next slide, please’. They then changed

the slide. Well, that was the theory …

as they charged forward three slides,
then staggered back four! This didn’t

greatly handicap other talks whose
occasional slides remained on-screen

for several minutes. So, let’s just say
that mine lacked its intended preci-

sion, but, hey-ho, it still worked OK

and was apparently well received.

Of course, conferences are also

intended for networking. And wine
drinking. Both worked well for me. I

was particularly fascinated by the work
of Julian Jones [Imperial College] and
Andy McConnell ghosted behind the UN symbol

Steve Jung [Mo-Sci Corp. US], who

specialise in bio-glass for reconstruc-
tive orthopaedic surgery – extraor-

dinary. I also met and instantly
clicked with Lani McGregor and Dan

Schwoerer, partners in Bullseye Glass,

who employ 150 in making coloured
glass bullion and promoting artistic

studio glass in Portland, Oregon.
Corning’s presence was surprisingly

low-key, its only visible contributions

being to dispatch Mathieu Hubert
[R&D associate, Corning Corp] as

a moderator, and a Zoomed glossy
corporate video from Jeff Evenson,

its chief strategy officer and muse-
um chairman. As simultaneously

posted on YouTube: https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=ssJiRGVNFDg

The conference featured 30

speakers, 30% Zoomed, to a Covid-
max audience of 135, and was live

streamed. The first day was viewed

by 3100 from 66 countries and the
second by 4211 from 72 countries.

All the talks are still available online:
https : //me dia .un. org/en/webtv/

A multi-authored book aimed at

intelligent 18-year-olds was pub-

lished for the opening ceremony, but
got blocked by Swiss customs. Its 13
chapters explain how glassy artefacts

are helping the UN to achieve its 2030
humanitarian goals. Download it here:

https://saco.csic.es/index.

php/s/XcPeY6mxGPGs 8 jy
IYOG’s website has news of forth-

coming events and other information:
https://www.iyog2022.org/

Glass Matters Issue No. 14 June 2022

I 8C COLLECTING DECISIONS

Building my collection:
the Ker Amen and other favourites

Mathij van der Medea
thirty. Then in 1982 I bought my

The Glass Society on March 8 2022.

first expensive glass, which cost me

over half my monthly salary. It is a

grew up with antiques. When I Newcastle baluster, attributed to

I”

started to make my own money Jacob Sang, which means that it is

I bought many different things. I surely made by him but lacks the sig-

concentrated on candlesticks, espe- nature. I find it a really outstanding

cially the iron and wooden ones from glass, one of my favourites
(Fig.3).

medieval and later times as they are

At that time I found dealers mainly

simple and honest, their roughness in Amsterdam, where there were three
pointing out when they were made. in the same street – de Spiegelstraat

When we came to live together, my close to the Rijksmuseum, all dedi-

girlfriend, now my wife, found these cated to glasses. And when I hap-
candlesticks a little depressing, pened to be in London there were

especially the ones made in brass. even more. By then, having already
So I started to buy some simple focused on collecting glasses, I was

19th century glasses in small shops lucky to find in Frides Lameris,

(Fig.1);
I came to this because my owner of one of the shops in de

father-in-law was particularly proud Spiegelstraat, a man who enthused

of possessing a small cabinet with me enormously and who educated

18th century glasses. I moved up to me. He was a very inspiring man

white enamel Dutch 18th century and had seen most of the import-

twist glasses
(Fig.2),
which are all ant glasses which were around and

gin (jenever) glasses. This happened knew their pedigree and history.
in the 1970s when I was still under I have never met anybody who
could get so emotionally involved

when he saw and handled a glass.
His shop is still there and is contin-

ued now by his three children. For
buying English and Venetian glasses,

I think you had to be in Amsterdam

and London. I knew about dealers

in New York, Munich, Zurich and

Vienna, but they mostly moved to
other probably more profitable spe-
cialties or had glass as a side line.
In 1990, after many years of wait-

ing, we were about to have a son. You

could find me at least once a month

in Amsterdam, when I had to be
there on business, or just on a free

Saturday, visiting the antique glass

shops; Lameris always being the
main target. By then, I knew that
the new acquisitions were not held

in the shop but in a separate place in
their private quarters. With Lameris,
everything was for sale except the

glasses he had inherited and a special
pot or albarello from the end of the

15C or early 16C – he had kept this
object aside; it became my favour-
ite, as it was ‘forbidden fruit’. With

a child on the way and thinking that

Fig. 2

Three white enamel Dutch glasses, eighteenth

century

Mathij presented this story, online, to

Fig.
1

Three Dutch Glasses; late eighteenth, nineteenth

century

Glass Matters Issue No.I4 June 2022

soon I may not be able to buy new

glasses, I put the impertinent ques-
tion ‘could I buy this albarello’. He

had to consult his wife, then said

yes, we could buy it
(Fig.4).
Frides

told me that there are only two of

these pots known, one in the Museo

Civico in Turin and this one. It bears

the crest of the Doge family Tiepolo,

the same one as on the famous

church-lamp in Murano
(Fig.5).

In the 1980s I moved more and

more to Venetian and Facon de

Venise glasses; these are the core
of my glass-collecting as I
see
in

them a great inherent beauty. I am
fascinated by them and they make

me really happy. A feeling which
I suppose a lot of members of this

Society share with me! Apart from
the aesthetic appreciation there is

the knowledge acquired from all

the books and articles that deal

with the subject. Glasses are most-
ly used on pleasant occasions — you
can name them – to celebrate a mar-

riage, birthday, friendship, good

business or simply love. People are
in a good mood when drinking!
So the glasses that were ordered
to be made often point to a nice

event in life and these we collect.
VENETIAN AND FAcON

DE VENISE GLASSES

I’d like to show you why I believe

these Venetian and Fawn glasses

are the best; firstly with an anec-
dote. One of the Lameris children,

who was and always is, surrounded
by glass, told her dad that when

she was grown up, she would only

sell the very best of Venetian glass.

And you would be surprised how

Fig.6
A
true classic Venetian, mid-

sixteenth century, from Masterpieces
of Glass, by Robert Charleston
Fig.7

True classics, mid-sixteenth century
Fig.8

Venetian glass, sixteenth century

18C COLLECTING DECISIONS

Fig.3

Fig.4

Fig.5

Dutch Newcastle baluster, eighteenth century,

An Albardlo, Venetian, the end of the fifteenth,

Church lamp, Venetian, the end ofthe fifteenth,

attributed to Jacob Sang

early sixteenth century with crest of Tiepolo family

Glass Matters Issue No.1 4 June 2022

I 8C COLLECTING DECISIONS

Fig.9

Fig.10

Caravaggio glass, sixteenth century

Bacchus, Caravaggio, Florence, Uffizi gallery

near she has come these days, with
this being her specialist area. But

for some of you, maybe the fol-

lowing is more important; Robert
Charleston, a former president of

the Glass Circle and curator of Glass

and Ceramics at the V&A, wrote
the following in a commemorative

book of the Corning Museum of
Glass about a particular Venetian
cristallo glass,
“If a true classic is con-

sidered an object that is perfect in the
harmonious balance of its constituent

parts and in the complete aptness of

its component forms to the material
from which it is made, then some of the

Venetian glasses of the middle years

of the sixteenth century may perhaps

lay a stronger claim to this status
than any made since the Romans or

be fore the heyday of glassmaking

in England at the beginning of the
eighteenth century”.
How right he

was!
(Fig.

6) shows a glass from the
book and

(Fig.7)
two glasses from

my collection with the same form.
I happened to be in the Lameris

shop when Frides returned from
London with a canvas bag which

he’d held on his lap in the plane; it

held 15 Venetian 16C glasses that
had come from the Rothschild col-

lection, London. I had first pick and

chose these two
(Figs.8 & 9).

The

taller one
(Fig.9),
is also known as a

Caravaggio glass as it was painted by

Fig.11

Fig.12

A
seventeenth century Facon de Venise glass and a sixteenth century Venetian nap

Three
late sixteenth century Venetian glasses

Glass Matters Issue No.14 June 2022

I 8C COLLECTING DECISIONS

Fig.15

Fig.13

Fig.14

Dutch goblet, representing the house of

Late sixteenth century Dutch flute

English baluster glass. Early eighteenth century

Tulpenburg signed and dated Jacob Sang

him,
(Fig.10).

In 1596, Cardinal del

Monte ordered Caravaggio to make

a painting of one of his outstanding

glasses. He gave this painting as a
present to Ferdinando de Medici,
then Pope in Rome. The Cardinal

had been born in Venice, then lived

in Florence and was a great collector
of glasses – owning over 500 of them

– this is known, as his glasses are
depicted in the famous glass-books

of Giovanni Maggi from around

1604. In her article about the sub-
ject, Kitty Lameris thinks it very

likely that the Cardinal was look-

ing for a way to have an attractive

glass from his collection portrayed

and ordered Caravaggio to make a
painting with one of his precious

glasses. The painting also shows
us how these glasses were used for

drinking, it does not seem easy.
In 1991 there was a whole

series of exhibitions held in the
two European canal cities, Venice

and Amsterdam. One was a special
exhibition, organised in ‘de Nieuwe

Kerk’ at the Dam square – the central

square in Amsterdam – of 16C and

17C Venetian and Fawn de Venise
glasses held in Dutch private hands.
I was with twelve other exhibitors.
In the preview we were asked to talk

about one of our glasses to every-
one present. I had nine glasses with

me, including the two in Figs.8 &
9. Although the Caravaggio glass

is special and the more expensive,
I chose the smaller glass, Fig.8 to

talk about, as in its simplicity I

find it is so close to perfection that

in my opinion you cannot make a

better glass. Two more examples
(Fig.11),
my first two acquisitions

of this period are included because

they are so beautiful, and then a

further three unusual Venetian

glasses
(Fig.12).

A recent acquisi-

tion is a small Dutch flute, which

is quite rare
(Fig.13).
These flutes

are normally very tall, up to

30cm or more, to accommodate
the drinkers of that time wearing

those huge elaborate lace collars as

shown in the Rembrandt paintings.

ENGLISH AND

DUTCH 18TH

CENTURY GLASSES

From the early English balusters I

present this one example
(Fig.14),

as although it is not one of the
most sought after types, it has its
own attraction. As far as I know,

I am the only one in Holland who

collects these early English balus-

ters, in which style, I and others find

and appreciate the essence of glass,
the perfect reflection of beauty.
With any glass I ask myself – ‘Is

it a nice glass?’ Does it look well?’;

if so, it’s something for me. In my

opinion decoration can easily spoil a

glass, especially when too elaborate.

And so looking back, my collection
is mainly built with undecorated or
lightly decorated glasses, the latter
often being those with diamond

point engraving. For me, the form
of the glass is the most important

feature, but of course decoration
can add, especially when it has to

do with a special event or historical

subject. That being said,
(Fig.15)

shows my wheel engraved glass

signed and dated by Jacob Sang. It
represents a manor house just south

of Amsterdam, along the Amstel riv-
er after which the city was named.
Much is known about the house and

its owners; it is called Tulpenburg,

which means ‘house of the tulips’.
But for collectors, the masterly

engraving is of importance, seen in

the columns of the gate, surmounted

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

I 8C COLLECTING DECISIONS

by pots with faces on them.
(Fig.16)
Is my Pictura glass,

engraved by Frans Greenwood. A

master diamond point engraver

from the city of Dordrecht, where
this glass was on loan for decades

in the
Museum Simon van Gijn.

It is signed and dated and the

stem also broken and restored.
Greenwood is well known for his
detailed portraits on huge goblets.
For me I prefer this more modest

but excellently done piece which
leaves more of the pure glass. I find
that a beautiful glass, with not too

extravagant, but finely done dec-
oration, is the best to search for.
Finally I come to two glasses

which were in the V&A, London.

One is a small dram glass and the

other, a big trumpet goblet, the
Ker Amen glass. When in London,

we always took the chance to visit
the glass department of the V&A.

Apart from many Venetian and
Fawn de Venise glasses, I partic-

ularly favoured two glasses. One

is a small dram glass with the

gay and cheerful text
Take a dram
Old-boy, (Fig.17) –

the text refers

to a Scottish hymn. The second is

a beautiful big goblet, which stood
in a special showcase, this con-
tained the Ker Amen glass
(Fig.18).

If you had told me that this

glass, one of the most beautiful

glasses I know, would one day
be in my collection, I would have
said ‘you’re out of your mind’. But

here we are; it was on loan, came-
up for sale and with the help of

Delomosne I was able to buy it.

The glass is in excellent condition
and contains all the characteris-
tics of the Amen glasses. I find the
engraving of good quality in con-

trast to what Mr Seddon writes in
his book about the Jacobite glass-
es. But he is also partly right, as I

definitely find that the engraving

of the lower part of the glass is of

a lesser quality. That brings me
to the conclusion that the glass

must have been engraved by two
different engravers – one being our

Amen glass engraver (see Seddon).
But the glass then missed the Amen

part and the lower scrollwork,
which seems to me quite import-

ant for an Amen glass. It could well
be that one of the descendants of
Mr. James Ker of Blackshiels, who

was according to family tradition

the first owner, saw one or more
other Amen glasses and noticed
that the glass lacked this partic-
ular part – he then had it added,

including the matching scrollwork.

And here a second engraver comes
in, the added engraving looks old
to me but it is from a different and

lesser hand. This feature does not

bother me at all and actually adds
to the charm of the glass. Having

brought this up in my Glass Society
presentation, I received feedbacks
from several collectors who seemed

to agree. Though if you have fur-

ther information, please contact

me, I would be most grateful.
Having experienced so much plea-

sure and happiness building my

collection, I hope it may inspire
or stimulate others to build one.

Mathij
is one of our Dutch

members and can be contacted by

e-mail at [email protected]

Fig.16
Diamond s

le-engravecl glass by Frans

Greenwood, signed and dated
Fig.17

Early eighteenth century Dram glass, engraved’

The Ker Amen glass. Photo courtesy of Tim

Osborne, Delosmone

Glass Matters Issue No. 14 June 2022

MAJELLA QUERY

IN MEMORIAM

WHITEFRIARS glass engraving:
Brian Watling

W
ith reference to the

October article by Nigel
Benson on Majella

Taylor, the attached image of an

almost identical glass produced

five years earlier for the Queen’s

silver wedding may be of interest.
The edition of this commemora-

tive was not 100, but in fact 2000.
My example, No.337, came in its

own box with the card explaining

that W.J.Wilson was the designer.
The base is engraved,free-

hand, in the ground-out pontil:
Whitefriars

No 337

W.J.Wilson

Which seems to contradict

Nigel’s point that manufacturers did

not put their names on their glasses.
RIGHT (ABOVE) Fig.

Queen Elizabeth Ifs Silver Wedding glass,
1947-1972. Whitefriars, designed by

W.J.Wilson, diamond point line engraved

RIGHT (BELOW) Fig. 2

Queen Elizabeth Ifs Silver Jubilee glass, 1952-
1977. Whitefriars, stipple engraved by Majella

Editor: Thank you Brian for your

interest and response to the article.
The two goblets from Whitefriars are

almost identical, though your Silver

Wedding glass by W.J.Wilson (Fig.1) is
Diamond Point engraved, while Nigel

Benson’s Silver Jubilee glass by Majella

was Stipple engraved (Fig.2). Both good
examples, though the stipple engraving

is unusual. Nigel’s note on names refers
to manufacturer’s glasses versus glass

engravers working for themselves. Can
any reader help – Nigel is still search-

ing for other stipple engraved glasses.

Anthony Stern : A Psychedelic Artist in glass
(b.1944 – d2022)

B
orn and educated in

Cambridge, Anthony

attended St John’s College

Cambridge in the 1960s and started
out life as a cameraman, becoming

a notable experimental psychedelic

filmmaker. In the 1970s he changed
his focus from film to glass; accord-
ing to Anthony, it wasn’t a huge

leap —
‘glass and film are identical,

they’re both translucent materials

through which light passes, I work

with glass in the same way I have

done with watercolour, film and pho-
tography, exploring the controlled and

accidental merging of liquid light’.
He completed an MA in glass

making at the Royal College of Art

and in the 1980s set up a Studio

in Battersea where he became an

influential and award winning

glassmaker. He experimented
with traditional techniques and

developed his own very individu-

al designs dictated by his
‘lifelong

obsession with colour and light’.
He

wrote
‘I have made glass my first

language’.
This was often interpret-

ed in his scenic paintings in glass,

for vases, panels and chandeliers.
Anthony worked with many

young aspiring glassmakers who
remember him with affection as

a mentor who inspired their lat-

er careers. The Battersea Studio

lasted for over 35 years before it
finally closed in 2017. His work

has been included in major collec-

tions in the USA, Japan and the

UK, including that of the Queen

and the V&A Museum.
Anne

Rogerson, Anthony Stern Glass Ltd

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Anthony on the Marva

Rainbow vase

Spiral design

Glass Matters Issue No. l4 June 2022

IN MEMORIAM

Erwin Eisch Remembered
(b. 18.04.1927 in Frauenau, Germany, d 25.01.2022 in Zwiesel, Germany)

Katharine Coleman

“I would like to lead glassoutofthe so-called
sphere of ‘good form, to liberate it once
again and to regard it as a material that can
hold an entire world ofpoetic possibilities.”
Erwin Eisch (1962, Glass of our Time
1
).

W
hile not the father of

the 1970s Studio Glass
Movement — that accolade

must surely go to American Harvey
Littleton — Erwin Eisch was its essen-

tial catalyst. Neither of them invented
contemporary, non-functional glass

art: that came from Scandinavia

and the Czech Republic in the

1950s. Erwin’s oeuvre is well docu-
mented online and therefore does
not require extensive listing here.
The oldest of glass engraver

Valentin Eisch’s six children, Erwin

was born in 1927 in Frauenau, deep in
the Bavarian Forest. Valentin worked

at the Gistl glass factory, now the site
of the Bild-Werk Summer Academy.
Unusually, between the two World

Wars, Frauenau was a thriving glass
community, extending its parish

church to accommodate its increas-

ing population. In 1944 Erwin was

18 and drafted into the Wehrmacht,
serving in Denmark until interned by
the British. Returning home in 1946,
he was sent to Zwiesel to train as a

glass engraver, which he detested and
for which he was totally unsuited.
Erwin moved quickly on to the

Munich Academy of Fine Arts in

1949, returning home from Munich
in 1952 to help his family set up their
own glassworks in Frauenau. Within

a few years the Eisch Glashutte was
employing some 200 workers. This

commercial world was of little interest
to Erwin, soon financially free enough

to return to Munich to further study

painting and sculpture in 1956.
Erwin

Fig. 1

Erwin Eisch standing outside “Himmel

and die Hae”, Bild-Werk Frauenau, 2013

Eisch: Clouds Have Been My Foothold All

Along
2
,
catalogues all his work and his

second time in Munich, his formation

of the artist groups SPUR in 1960/1

and then RADAMA, using glass as his

medium for sculpture. He exhibited
his work alongside that of his devoted
partner Gretel Stadler (later his wife)

and an invented friend, Bolus Krim.

For Erwin, there never was a bor-

derline between comedy and serious

art. The concepts of the fine line

and fine art at Munich were total
anathemas to him. He focused on

wax casting and bronze while explor-
ing the yet unknown possibilities of

sculpture in glass. Art interested him
for its content, not the material it was

created in. Much of Erwin’s deep-root-
ed anti-design attitude came from his

contempt for the decorative, function-

al glass made by his family. His heroes

were Rene RoubRek (CZ), Andries
Dirk Copier (NL), and Fulvia Branconi

in Murano. Throughout his artistic

life, Erwin also remained a serious

Glass Matters Issue No.I 4 June 2022

IN MEMORIAM

Fig. 2
Harvey Littleton and Erwin Eisch

painter and printmaker. He might be

remembered as much for this as for

his contribution to the world of glass.
June 1962 saw Erwin and Gretel’s

first exhibition of freeblown glass

artwork,
Glas unserer Zeit (Glass of

Our Time),
at the Tritschler gallery

in Stuttgart. The owner, Rupert
Mayer, was expecting work for

display on tables and in cabinets

and was not prepared for the mas-

sive shipment of some 200 pieces
enamelled and decorated by Gretel,

representing their latest conceptual

art installation: a complicated fairy

story featuring
‘Edward III and his

228 Theses’.
They left Munich in

1962, married and settled back in
Frauenau, where Erwin could use

the family glassworks to make their

artwork. Their first child, Katharina,

was born in 1962
3
andthat same year

Erwin met Harvey Littleton, where-

upon his life was changed forever.
There is an apocryphal story at

Bild-Werk of how Harvey Littleton,

son of a Corning Inc scientist, was
driving back home from Austria

in late summer 1962 through the

Bavarian Forest, fruitlessly search-

ing for the means of making glass in

a studio, away from the factory. They
tell how Harvey accidentally stopped

his car in Frauenau’s main street to

ask directions from a young man, who
thrilled him by being able not only to

help but also to speak a bit of English
1964 Erwin went back with Harvey

to the States, helped set up a studio

glass furnace, teaching a summer

school at the University of Wisconsin.

Returning home, Erwin set up

a small furnace of his own, melting
his own batch. Between 1965 and

1975 he blew all his own sculptures,

returning to the States in 1967 to

experiment with fuming and enam-

elling the inside of his works, also

using engraving and decoration on

them. Littleton conversely came back

to Germany to work with Erwin. In

1969, they exhibited their work
together in Munich and Cologne,
Littleton’s tubular forms contrasting

with Erwin’s more functional forms
– buckets, bottles and vases – though
Erwin was not interested in their

usefulness. That they were blown

was more significant:
“…a talent

for innovating, creating animatedly,

and the breath to blow are requisites.
Without blowing, nothing happens!”
5

By 1972, Erwin was making

mould blown heads, which were then

coloured, enamelled and engraved,

mostly by Gretel and the Eisch

factory workers to Erwin’s designs,
Fig.3.The
most famous heads are

those of Littleton, Tom Buechner

Fig. 3

Erwin’s Heads in the Bavarian State Glass

Museum Frauenau

and who, within hours, was able to

explain all that Harvey required as

well as an understanding of the pos-

sibilities of modern glass art. This
is one of the great accidents of Fate
for which we shall ever rejoice. Many

see that planetary alignment as the
moment of the birth of Studio Glass.
A more likely story, however, is

recorded in Wikipedia, which notes

that Littleton saw some of Erwin’s

work in a Zwiesel glass showroom
and tracked Erwin down to Frauenau,
Fig.2.
“Meeting Erwin,” wrote Harvey,

”
confirmed my belief that glass could

be a medium for direct expression

by an individual.”
4
The planetary

alignment was just as eventful. In

Glass Matters Issue No. 14 June 2022

Fig. 4

Katharine Coleman walking to the Gas Works with
Erwin Eisch, Frauenau 2013. photo: W Vernim

Erwin’s work and a generous host to

so many of us each year at their beau-

tiful house near the old Gistl factory.
The V&A has recently acquired

one of Erwin Eisch’s most sig-
nificant early blown artworks,
Narcissus,
prominently displayed in

the extension of the Glass Gallery

— a fitting monument to the great

giant of the European Studio Glass

movement. His legacy, alongside
Harvey Littleton’s, will endure as

one of the greatest contributions

to the 20th Century applied arts.

THE AUTHOR

and Picasso, almost identical heads
turned into unique pieces by the

colour of the glass, painting and

cutting. These are possibly Erwin’s

most famous works, inspiring glass

artists and makers worldwide.
Thereafter Erwin spent more of

his time and energy painting and
drawing, printmaking and vitreog-

raphy (printing from glass plates).

The latter he developed mostly at
the Littleton Studios, producing

some 64 prints over 26 years. He
drew and painted daily in his studio

at Bild-Werk Frauenau, which he
founded in 1988. His studio was on
the first floor of one of the old Gistl

factory outbuildings and known by

all as “Himmel” (Heaven). The stu-
dio on the ground floor below was

rumoured to have been the old drink-

ing den of the Gistl Factory workers

but was subsequently the engraving
studio and fittingly — for Erwin –
given the name “Die Holle” (Hell).
Famous throughout the interna-

tional world of contemporary glass,

the Bild-Werk Summer Academies

have annually attracted scores of
international glass artists and stu-

dents, musicians and fine artists.
Even in his 90s, Erwin would be

on site, encouraging, inspiring,

and amusing, a mentor and guide
to so very many glass artists from

all over the world. He often told
me how much he had hated glass

engraving, admitting that he had

begun to change his mind,
Fig.4.

This admission came sadly too late.

As with so many revolutions, there are
casualties of dogma. With the prog-
ress of the Studio Glass Movement,

this happened to glass engraving.

“There shall be no surface decoration”
was the cry of the movement’s early
proponents – though Erwin didn’t

always follow his own rules, especial-

ly since he felt that rules were there
to be broken – followed slavishly by

American, British and French glass
departments, hastily throwing out

their lathes and the teaching of all

such skills, racing to follow and copy

each other. This dogma has lasted

some fifty critical years and the blow
for glass engraving may prove fatal.
To describe him, Erwin was small,

wiry, very handsome, with a twinkling
eye, a soft voice, kindly and amusing.
Most mornings, in the many summers

I have taught at Bild-Werk, he would

stroll into the engraving studio on
his way up to ‘Heaven’ for a chat and

we would laugh before he stomped
off upstairs. In later life, he became

tolerant of a wider range of artistic

goals while gently prodding us all to
question and consider the content of

our work more seriously. Gretel has

always stepped carefully away from

the limelight, the unsung hero of
Katharine Coleman MBE, enrolled into

a Glass Engraving course at Morley
College, Lambeth, in London 1984 -7

and was tutored by Peter Dreiser –
Katharine then progressed into the

internationally well-known glass

engraver we know today. Committed

to the art of glass engraving, she
has taught and demonstrated her

skills at Bilde-Werk Frauenau over
the last 15 years — building a friend-

ship with Erwin and Gretel Eisch.

REFERENCES
1.
Helmut Ricke,
It was All There to Start

With,
essay in Katharine Eisch-Angus,

Ines Kohl, Karin Schrott:
Erwin Eisch„

2012,Hitmer Verlag ISBN 978-3-7774-

5191-6, pp.235, p.30

2.
Ibid, pp.8-69

3.
Five children were born to Gretel

and Erwin Eisch: Katharina (1962),

Valentin (1964), Veronika (1965),
Susanne (1968) and Sabine (1969).
Katharina is instrumental in keeping

BildWerk Summer Academy going into
the future.

4.
Littleton, Harvey K., “Glassblowing.

A Search for Form”, Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company, NewYork 1980,

page 10 ISBN 978-0-442-24341-

8 OCLC 9505541

5.
Grover, Ray & Lee, “Contemporary

Art Glass”, Crown Publishers, Inc. New

York, p.185
IN MEMORIAM

Glass Matters Issue No. 1 4 June 2022

GLASS

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