Glass Society Glass Matters_No.5, Jul 2019

THE MAGAZINE OF THE GLASS SOCIETY

4
7

James
Measell

Judith
Gower

John Lewis &
15

Yuki Kokai

Simon Wain-Hobson
19

Clive Manison
25

David Mulley
30

Stan Parry
31

Alan Gower &
34

Charles Hajdamach

Contents

Chairmens’ message

Biennale winners –
2017 / 2019

Memories of John P Smith

Cameo Vase

Clare Event
Glass Artists in

Glass and Metal

Cordial Glass GC Talk

Pump Handle Style Change
Glass ‘Gold State Coach’

New Collector

& Dartington beakers

Richard Golding Retires

News

Letters

Events

Editorial
ot only is the Glass Society mourning the loss of John

Smith, but very sadly, the designer of Glass Matters,

Athelny Townshend (Lonz), has died. Lonz, recognized as

a knowledgeable 18th century English glass collector and
dealer, had also been the talented designer of Glass Circle
News since it went into full colour production. Athelny

will be missed by many friends, dealers, collectors and his
family, we offer them our condolences. We shall publish

an ‘In Memoriam’ piece in the next issue – do send in your
memories. Following these events, you will, perhaps, have

some understanding why this issue of Glass Matters is way
behind schedule. We are fortunate to have been introduced
to and brought on board a new designer, Emma Morgan;

congratulations to her on this, her first issue. The next
issue is to be printed as scheduled, at the end of September,

but with fewer pages. The first Journal of the Glass Society

will be published later this year, a bumper edition to make
up for the current setbacks.

–
LASS

SOCIETY

ISSN 2516-1555

Issue 5, )000( 2019

Jointly published by the Glass Circle and

The Glass Association
©Contributors, The Glass Association and The Glass Circle

Editor:
Brian J Clarke

eclitor
,
ii;lassassociation.org.uk

Design & layout:
Emma Nelly Morgan

[email protected]
—

Printed
by

Warners Midlands plc

www.warners.co.uk

Next copy date:
30th August

E-mail news & events to [email protected]

“Neither the Glass Circle’s nor the Glass Association’s committee
members bear any responsibility for the views expressed in this
publication, which are those of the contributor in each case.

though neither the Editor nor the committees are responsible for

inadvertent infringements. All photographs are copyright the author
unless otherwise credited.”

THE GLASS ASSOCIATON COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
The Glass Association Registered as a Charity

No.326602 Website: www.glassassociation.org.uk;

Charles Hajdamach:
Life President;
charleshaj-

[email protected]; David

Willars:
Chairman:
[email protected];

Judith Gower: Hon.
Secretary;
Maurice Wimpory,

Membership Secretary & Treasurer:
membership@

glassassociation.org.uk: 150 Braemar Road,

Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B73 6LZ; Nigel
Benson; Paul Bishop:
Vice-Chairman;
Brian Clarke:

Publications Editor;
Christina Glover; Alan Gower;

Bob Wilcock

THE GLASS CIRCLE COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Website: www.glasscircle.org;
Simon Cottle:

Honorary President;
Susan Newell:
Chairman:

[email protected]; Laurence Maxfield:
Honorary Treasurer:
[email protected];

Vernon Cowdy:
Website Manager:
web@glasscircle.

org; Geoffrey Laventhall; Anne Lutyens-Stobbs:
Meetings Organiser;
James Peake; Anne Towse;

Graham Vivian

GLASS MATTERS EDITORIAL SUB-COMMITEE
MEMBERS:
Nigel Benson; Brian Clarke; Susan Newell;

Athelny Townshend; Simon Wain-Hobson;
Bob Wilcock

FRONT COVER: A small Roman pale blue twin-handled glass jar

dating from the 4th century, c350. Width 7.5cm, height 6.3cm. An

almost identical jar is featured in the book “Histoire de Verre L’Antiq-

uite” by Florence Slitine. With kind permission of
The World is made

of Glass
[email protected].

BACK COVER: A straw opalescent Lilly Vase, with wavy rim.

Height 32cm. Possibly by Kempton.
Private collection.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CHAIRMEN’S MESSAGE

Chairmen’s
Message

Sue Newell, Joint Chairman
of The Glass Society

S
adly, John Smith died in Feb-

ruary. We offer our condo-

lences to his wife Aileen and

all the family. John’s contribution
to glass and the Glass Circle, of

which he was a member for nearly
fifty years and Chairman for four-
teen, was immense. We will miss

his breadth of knowledge as well as
his warmth, good humour and hos-
pitality. When merger discussions

began between the Glass Associa-

tion (GA) and the Glass Circle (GC),

John was an encouraging counsel,
constructive with his criticism and

his ability to solve issues. Memo-
ries of John follow from page 7.
We hope you’ll enjoy the

wide-ranging subjects and the recur-
ring themes and stylistic elements

that are emerging in this issue. The

article by James Measell on one
of the pre-eminent Stourbridge

engravers, George Pope, illustrates

how a random comment or question

can lead to fascinating new insights.
His work underlines the significance

of the Stourbridge glass industry in

late Victorian and Edwardian times
and demonstrates the importance
of the local School of Art and how it

was integrated into the community.
Stan Parry’s interests grew out

of a chance visit to the Ashmolean
Museum in Oxford which triggered
his initial curiosity in glass. On read-

ing the article you may conclude that

Stan has the collecting gene and
has harnessed this to a genuinely
inquisitive mind and a willingness
to keep on learning and sharing his
knowledge. Contemporary glass is

featured, coinciding with the next

Biennale at Stourbridge, where the
cream of today’s studio glass makers’

wares will be on show. Jon Lewis
and Yuki Kokai demonstrate their
collaboration in producing artistic

sculptures in metal and glass and

as in 2017, members will be invited
to vote for their best piece of glass,

The Glass Society awarding a prize
to the winner. Two further arti-

cles return to traditional subjects.

Simon Wain-Hobson writes about
the evolution of cordial glasses in

the late 18th and early 19th centu-
ries through analysing their capacity,

shape and size. The author’s conclu-

sions shed new light on this subject.

Clive Manison examines the chang-
ing ways in which handles were

applied to glass objects in the nine-
teenth century, he has spent many

hours poring over old pattern books

at the Dudley Archives and Himley
Hall before drawing his conclusions.
In order to maintain the frequen-

cy and variety of events, as well as
keeping our magazines full of inter-
esting articles, we need your help.

Our membership is ageing and we
need more young people joining

us to maintain our services. We

are not unique in this respect and
the same message is being voiced

by many organisations. Thanks to
the internet, the amount of infor-

mation freely available to us has

increased exponentially and we
are all more self-sufficient. While
this has many benefits, the down-

side of interfacing your glass activi-
ties through a screen is that you do

not have the opportunity for face

to face meetings with people who
David Willars, Joint Chairman

of The Glass Society

share your interests, nor does the
internet generally provide a plat-
form for more in-depth articles.

The Glass Society is a unique forum
for research, meetings and publica-

tions. Later this year we intend to
publish our first journal since merg-

ing, continuing the tradition so cred-

itably fulfilled by both organisations.
The squeeze in the public sector

for museum budgets is another pres-

sure, as the community of decorative
arts professionals is shrinking and
those that remain rarely have time to

acquire expertise as in the past. Today,

you are the experts in our chosen
fields, possessing more knowledge

than any equivalent group in the past.

We need to tap into your knowledge
to carry forward our activities. We

would like to combine our tradition-
al offering to the membership, with
online platforms such as Facebook,

Instagram, a blog and increased web
content. Please contact us if you are

interested in helping the GS meet
the social media challenge or would

like to discuss your collection or
research and how we might share it

with the membership, be it through

Glass Matters
or our website, with an

article, photographs or a request for
information, else present a lecture, a

more informal event, or host a group

visit. We’d like to hear from you.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

BIENNALE ARTISTS

British Glass
Kennale

23 August – 28 September, 2019

T
he British Glass Biennale in

2019 opens 23 August and
closes 28 September, being

held at the Ruskin Mill Trust Cen-

tre in Stourbridge. The Private

View and Awards Ceremony will
be held by invitation on Thursday

22 August. This forms part of The

International Festival of Glass, with

displays and events over the bank

holiday weekend, 23 to 26 August.
These are The Glass Associa-

tion winners from the Biennale in

2017, along with an unusual box.

COLIN REID –
SUNFLOWERS

FROM DAVID WILLARS

The winner of the Glass Associa-
tion prize at the 2017 British Glass

Biennale, was Colin Reid for his

work Sunflowers R1872. For those
of you not familiar with Colin’s work

this example demonstrates all the

main characteristics that define

his recent catalogue: large pieces

with prismatic views that invite

you to peer through the smooth
polished faces to the images on the
far side. Sunflowers is made from

vibrant yellow optical glass having
been kiln cast using the tradition-

al lost wax process. Although kiln
casting is an ancient technique,
modern kilns offering greater effi-

ciency and ability to control the

process, give the glass artist greater

scope for creativity and experiment.

Records show that Colin was born

in Poynton on the eastern edge of
the Manchester conurbation, how-
ever, this is slightly misleading as

almost immediately after birth the
family moved to southern England.

Upon leaving school he gained a

place at Saint Martin’s School of Art

in central London but left at the end
of the foundation year. From there

in the early 1970’s he undertook a
technical training course in scien-

tific glass work gaining hands on

glass skills, augmenting his income
by manufacturing perfume bottles

and other items for sale in craft fairs.

In due course he enrolled at the

Stourbridge School of Art in 1978

where Keith Cummings became an
influential figure and mentor. This
Fig.1

Sunflowers
by Cohn Reid.

was the right course at the right
time for Corm, as the early 1980’s

were exciting times to be involved
in the creative glass industry. Stour-

bridge gave him the opportunity to

form relationships with galleries

– the shop window whereby artists

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

Fig.2 & 3

Fabulous Beasts

by Nancy
Sutcliffe.

BIENNALE ARTISTS

gain a reputation and revenue. Grad-
uating with a BA Hons (First Class),

Colin established his own studio
initially at Stow on the Wold, finally

settling into his current premises,

outside Stroud over thirty years ago.
The inspiration for Sunflow-

ers came from the journey to work,
passing the farm shop every day.

This is not untypical, with everyday

objects and nature featuring large.

It therefore is unsurprising to dis-

cover there are several ‘projects’

in his mind at any given moment,
each with the potential to inspire a

series or family of related subjects:

Sunflowers being a prime example.
Development times vary, but again
taking Sunflowers as an example,

what became an idea in the autumn
of 2016, led to initial work on the

mould in February 2017, with a
further ten weeks or so includ-

ing the polishing stage to follow.
Looking forward, Colin is in a

familiar scenario confronting many

creative people – of maintaining a

satisfactory work life balance at

an age when many are beginning
to think about retirement. Having

spent a lifetime acquiring knowledge

and skill the likely outcome is a more
selective and considered output util-
ising the experience of a generation

in glass. Why would you not contin-
ue to do something that you enjoy,
which is truly original and gives

genuine pleasure to many people?

NANCY

SUTCLIFFE

FABULOUS

BEASTS

Over the last ten years, Nancy’s
work has been shown in many
exhibitions, through Europe and

America. She’s won the Worship-

ful Company of Glass Sellers Tro-

phy at the National Exhibition
of the Guild of Glass Engravers

and at the 2017 British Biennale,
she followed Colin Reekie with a
prize from The Glass Association.
Nancy Sutcliffe gained a degree

in design, before training and work-

ing as a Medical Illustrator. Then

in courses at West Dean College,

Sussex and Pilchuck Glass School,

Washington, USA, Nancy discov-

ered glass engraving. She tells us:-
Drawing is still key to my artis-

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

Fig. 4

Box with scent bottle
by Ingrid Hunter.

BIENNALE ARTISTS

tic practice. I regard my process

as drawing on glass, but using

diamonds and stones instead
of pencil and pen. Using a small

tool much like a dental drill, the
crystal is carved and abraded,

each mark capturing light with-
in the object to give the illusion

of 3D. The “fabulous beasts” here
are creatures from my imagina-

tion, engraved and inlaid with
precious metals. The gold, pal-

ladium and pink silver leaf is

inscribed by hand with a diamond
point to form delicate patterns

inspired by the Art Deco period.”

INGRID HUNTER –
TRINKET

Box
WITH SCENT BOTTLE

This box was a gift to Brian Clarke from
the committee of The Glass Association

on his retirement as chairman in 2017
Ingrid

tells

u s : –

My inspiration started with the
elephant. From my travels to India
I found a small elephant orna-
ment. I decided I wanted to make

it in glass, but hollow, so it could
be a small scent bottle and I’ve sat

the elephant in a garden to cre-

ate a lid. For the stopper I decided
to have a bird landing on its back

— which is a familiar sight in India.
I’m very interested in core cast-

ing, particularly making the core

very intricate and detailed which
allows the interior to be different

to the exterior. For the Trinket box,

on which the elephant scent bot-
tle is sitting, I wanted to create an

illusion. What you see is an ornate
box, when in fact the exterior is a

straight sided polished glass box;
the pattern design of the hollow core

interior showing through the glass.
I’ve added a silver collar around

the opening of the box and to the
opening of the elephant so that

when lifting and replacing the

stopper or elephant into posi-
tion the glass is not vulnerable.
The box is cast using Bulls-

eye glass and the Elephant and
Bird are cast in Gaffer Glass.

Issue 3 apologies
The Glass Society omit-
ted to thank the Corning

Museum of Glass for per-

mission to use the image

of its snuff mull in the

article by Jill Turnbull,
Fig.12 on page 17 of
Glass

Matters,
issue 3. We apol-

ogize for the error and

acknowledge the muse-
um’s copyright. The

photo is reproduced.
The Glass Society omitted

to thank the Trustees of the
British Museum for permis-

sion to reproduce the image
of its c.1807 cartoon by
Isaac Cruikshank in the arti-

cle by Jill Turnbull, Fig.1 on

page 14 of Glass Matters,

issue 3. We apologize for the
error and acknowledge the
museum’s copyright. The

photo is reproduced.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

JOHN SMITH MEMORIES

Memories
of John P

Smith

1940 -2019

Life in Glare
Simon Cottle, former chairman
of the Class Circle

tireless researcher, a lecturer and
eading author in the important

field of glass studies, John Smith

was truly ‘a man of class and glass’
(Fig.1).
From his early years as a

chemist, John displayed an interest

in and an appreciation of glass that

went far beyond those of the con-
noisseur and the collector. He had a

scientist’s fascination for the way in
which glass was made, as well as an
understanding of the development
of design and its application to the
material. From coloured glass for

the table to the humble bulb vase of

the mantelpiece, and from elaborate

glass furniture on the floor to daz-

zling chandeliers suspended from

the ceiling, John’s interests

knew no bounds and he

has inspired many a devo-
tee of these areas of study.
He grew up in Burton-

on-Trent, Staffordshire,

attended Repton School
in the 1950s and went on
to graduate from the Uni-

versity of Bristol with a
degree in chemistry. In

1922, his stepmother’s
father had established
Henning’s, an antiques

shop at 61 George Street in
the heart of the West End
of London, specialising

in “Old Furniture, China

and Glass, Old & Mod-
ern” which, after a career

in the chemical industry,
John inherited in 1974.

The business closed in

Fig.1

John Smith
the early 1980s, and John then

established another antiques

firm, Regency House Antiques,
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
It was in 1984 that I first met

John, after he had published an

article on Cloud Glass, which was
first developed by George David-

son & Co. in Gateshead-on-Tyne
in 1923. John had assembled an
historical collection of this deco-

rative and colourful press-mould-

ed glass and he published the first

article on the subject. He proposed

an exhibition of his collection, aug-
mented by examples from others,

to be held at the Laing Art Gallery

in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I

was then curator. A suave, sophis-
ticated and fashionably dressed

gentleman, John easily persuaded
me to work with him on this proj-

ect and a lifelong friendship began.
Shortly after the exhibition, his

Surrey shop was closed and John
joined Derek Davis, son of the
renowned Cecil Davis, at Asprey

& Co. in Bond Street. There, John
ran the antique glass department

and became familiar with import-

ant pieces of antique English glass
that Cecil and Derek had acquired

for museums worldwide, including
the Corning Museum of Glass. At

this emporium, John published cat-

alogues on green table glass of the

18th and 19th centuries and pre-
sented an exhibition of contempo-
rary British stipple-engraved glass.

Through Asprey, John also spon-

sored two articles on Beilby enam-
elled glass which I had written for

Apollo
magazine. In 1990 he moved

to Asprey’s competitor Mallett

& Son, where he became a direc-
tor. His close collaboration with

chandelier restorers fos-
tered a deep understand-

ing of the intricacies of
antique English light-fix-
tures and their complex

assemblage. He published

a book on the subject and

was a founding member
of the European society
dedicated to the study

of chandeliers
(Fig.2).

Through his interest in

19th century glass, John’s
pioneering research on

the firm of Osler of Bir-

mingham, manufactur-

ers of extraordinary glass
furniture for royalty and
the maharajahs of India,
enabled him to meet col-

lectors worldwide. He
also handled the contem-
porary glass furniture of
Danny Lane, bringing Mal-

lett into the 21st century.
John established a

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

JOHN SMITH MEMORIES

Fig.2

John informing Glass Circle members on the history of
Chandeliers, at a visit to Corning museum of glass, 2015.

strong reputation for important

glass at Mallett, publishing
Glass

from the Restoration to the Regency

co-authored with the late Christo-

pher Sheppard and a book on 17th

& 18th century Dutch engraved

glass with Frans Smit. His person-
al research into the works of the

Scottish portrait cameo glass mak-
er James Tassie resulted in both an

exhibition and a catalogue, which

incorporated John’s understanding

of the chemistry of glass – his inter-

est and passion throughout his life-
time. Recognition of his knowledge

of European glass, both antique

and modern, was confirmed by his

appointment in 2007 as a member
of the glass vetting committee at
the annual European Fine Art Fair

in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

For almost 50 years, John was a

member of The Glass Circle, regular-

ly delivering lectures on a range of

subjects, (Fig.3). He joined the com-
mittee in the late 1990s and initiat-

ed opportunities for overseas visits.

Among the European destinations,

John organised trips for members

to see glassmakers and museums in

the Czech Republic and glass collec-

tions in Germany and the Nether-
lands. In the Netherlands,

his connections with a soci-
ety of collectors of colourful

hyacinth/bulb vases opened
up new terrain for the Glass
Circle, which had previously

been steeped in the study of

antique English glass. Suc-
ceeding me as Chairman

in 2003, John steered the
Glass Circle with enthusi-

asm and fresh vision until
his retirement from the

position in 2017. During his

long tenure as Chairman,
John edited three volumes
of the Glass Circle Journal.
Before he stood down, he

commenced negotiations

with Brian Clarke, chair-
man of the Glass Associa-

tion, for a merger with the

Glass Circle, resulting in

the newly-formed Glass Society.
A great supporter of
Broad field

House Glass Museum
in Kingswin-

ford, he played a pivotal role in the

consultations concerning the clo-
sure of the museum in 2015 and its

planned move to the nearby White
House Cone museum of glass in

Stourbridge. In Decem-

ber 2017, John became

a trustee of the British
Glass Foundation and

worked tirelessly for it
and its mission to estab-
lish a new museum. Ear-

lier, he’d travelled around

the United States lec-

turing on American cut

glass, perhaps inspired

by the extraordinary cut
glass furniture and light-
ing made by Birmingham’s

Osler glass company. He

also paid many visits to
the Corning Museum of
Glass in New York State

where he was elected to
the Fellowship in 2000.

Fig.3

John, contemplating and playing

the Glass Music Box at the Reid

museum, Edinburgh
John met Aileen Dawson, a curator

of ceramics and glass at the Brit-
ish Museum, in the early 1990s.

They were married in 2005 and

spent time between London and
Suffolk. In Suffolk, John’s passion

for interiors, fostered at Mallett,
found its expression in the former

water tower in Thorpeness. Here
he carefully converted the top of
the building which had housed the

water tank, to take advantage of
the 360-degree views across the

surrounding countryside, Size-

well and the North Sea
(Fig.4).
The

lower level became his main work

space and the home of his exten-

sive glass library, acknowledged as
the finest in private hands in the

UK. Here, he pursued his passion

for glass research, surrounded by a

diverse collection of objects, which

he generously showed to members
of The Glass Circle and The Glass

Association when he and Aileen
opened their house to them in 2017.
For a number of years, John

served as a committee member
of the Friends of the Victoria and

Albert Museum, organising sev-
eral events which raised consider

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

able sums for them. He was proud

to have been asked to contrib-
ute to the revised edition of
Five

Thousand Years of Glass,
published

by the British Museum press in
2012. His chapter,
The Decline of

the Craftsman, the Rise of the Artist,
1940-2010,
was based on his deep

knowledge of modern and contem-

porary glass. John’s special standing

in the world of glass was recognised

when he became a Freeman of The
Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers
of London. Recently, in 2014, John

contributed two essays to
The Histo-

ry of the Grocers’ Company through its
Collection of Silver and Glass,
edited

by Helen Clifford, “A ‘Living Collec-
tion: Glass at the Grocers: The Col-

lectors’ “and “A ‘Living Collection:
Glass at the Grocers: Highlights'”.
However, all was not work and in

retirement, he pursued his passion

for skiing, spending part of each

winter in the beautiful Swiss resort
of Wengen. Inspirational, colourful,

Fig.4

John in the tower room at home in

Thorpeness, Suffolk
charismatic, scholarly, gentlemanly,

and a friend to all, John died on 24
February 2019 after a short illness.

This is an edited version of an obit-

uary written for the Journal of Glass
Studies, Corning Glass Museum, from

Simon Cottle, Honorary President of

The Glass Circle and Managing Director

(European & US Regions) at Bonhams.

John’s early years

Philip Bletcher

I
first met John in the autumn of

1957 when we were both new

boys in Latham House at Repton
School. Latham House was full, so

we slept at one of the Master’s hous-

es in the village and had to walk a
mile across the village at 9pm in

the winter and go to bed in an attic

bedroom with no heating! It was
tough in those days! Even with a hot

water bottle when it was really cold!
John became a Sergeant in the

Cadet force, excelled at cricket and

hockey and was one form above
me in most academic subjects. His

hobby was photography, at which

he was very proficient, producing

black and white pictures of flow-
ers and other artistic subjects.
After Repton, John went to Bris-

tol University, where he was enrolled

on a three-year science course. We

were only 30 miles apart, so occa-

sionally saw each other at weekends.

Having qualified, John secured a

position with a chemical firm on
the Humber Bank. While there, he

lived in a ground floor flat in Grims-
by; it had a backyard and a very small
pear tree, producing one very small

pear which he tended with loving
care. I visited him one day with my

girlfriend; he was out and she went
and picked the pear and ate it, not
the best thing to have done! To

make amends, we went to a fruit

shop, bought the biggest apple they

had and attached to it the pear tree

with Sellotape. I never did know his
reaction! He joined the Brigg Young
Farmers Club in Grimsby (of which

I was then chairman) and took part

in tennis, sailing, dances and parties

JOHN SMITH MEMORIES

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

JOHN SMITH MEMORIES

and joined us on his first skiing trip.

After a few years he left the area to
take a job in the south of England.
We stayed in touch and always

met up when celebrating anniver-

saries or significant birthdays. I am

very proud and pleased to have been
a friend of John’s for all these years.

A Generous Man
Alastair Smith – a family memory

M
y father was a kind and gen-

erous man, who defined

greatness his own way – shown by
how he conducted himself, always

having time for others, his con-
tribution to and love of all things

glass, who had a large circle of
friends and loved his family, espe-
cially his grandchildren
(Fig.5).

His attitude was ‘live and let live’.
He was a ‘Bonne Viveur’: life

was there for the living and not to
be wasted. The Aldeburgh Music
Festival had been a highlight for

him over the past 20 years and his

appreciation of good food and wine
made him the best of hosts. Then
his beloved sport became para-

mount: skiing, and most impor-
tantly his early season weeks in

Wengen and his beloved Down Hill
Only club
(Fig.6).

His ten or so ski

seasons made him fitter and slim-

mer, although of course not without

mishap and adventure. He might not

have returned to the Franz Klammer
of his youth, but Wengen certain-

ly set him up for the rest of year.
It wasn’t until 1993, with three

events coinciding, that glass became

a defining feature of John’s life.

First, a private income came to the

end, forcing him to apply himself.
Secondly, he met Aileen and their
mutual love of each other, and glass

and ceramics, flourished. Thirdly,
John joined the renowned antiques

business of Mallett’s, to form a suc-

cessful, important and commer-

cially profitable glass business. At
Mallett’s John’s considerable intel-

lect and entrepreneurship shone
Fig.5

A portrait of John, content in
the garden at a family gathering

Fig.6

With ski-jacket on, John’s ready
for the slopes of Wengen

through. Dad went on to become an

authority on many aspects of glass,
especially chandeliers and glass fur-
niture. When in India he was always

dressed impeccably, and known as

`the gentleman in a panama hat’.

A Life Well Lived
Henry Neville – a colleague and friend
ohn joined Mallett in 1989 to

J
start a glass department within
our fairly formal Bond Street world

of 18th century furniture; we were

together for the following 30 years.
He was a man of independent mind,

personal vision and a great educa-
tor to those who worked with him.
John first approached Mallett

when he had the opportunity to

buy and exhibit a great collection of

17th and 18th century Dutch and
English glass of the finest quality.

The exhibition sold well and the cat-
alogues were beautifully produced

and written with considerable schol-
arship. This was the last that Mallett

saw of traditional English or Con-
tinental 17th

and 18th centu-
ry glass. As ever,

John ‘paddled
his own canoe’.
John’s great-

est exhibition

was held in

1991, when he
re-established

the reputation
of F. & C. Osler,

the 19th centu-
ry glass manu-

facturers, who
created the mag-

nificent Crystal
Palace Fountain

centrepiece for

the Great Exhi-

bition of 1851.

Having scoured

India for pala-

tial cut glass furniture, the exhibi-

tion and catalogue entitled From
Royalty to Rajahs
broke new ground

and was both an academic and com-

mercial success. John created a

visual spectacle in the Bond Street
showrooms and pieces were sold
to collectors and museums world-

wide including Corning Museum
of Glass. The catalogue informa-
tion is so valued, that signed copies,

once sold for £25, are now avail-

able on the internet for over £500.
In 1995, John exhibited a group

of the finest works by James Tassie

(1735-99), the Scottish portrait

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

JOHN SMITH MEMORIES

modeller and inventor of a glass

paste he used to make reproduc-
tions of engraved gems. Tassie’s

gems were shown alongside exam-

ples of sulphides by Apsley Pellatt,

Baccarat and Clichy. It was the first

major work on Tassie in more than
a century. The long list of acknowl-
edgments on the opening page of the

catalogue, embracing museum and

university staff as well as collectors

and the commercial world of deal-
ers and auctioneers, revealed John’s
meticulous approach. A bridging of

these worlds is rare in our times,

yet John was respected, valued
and comfortably at home in each.
Through John, I had my first

introduction to the world of con-
temporary art allied to a traditional

aesthetic, now internationally popu-

lar with designers and collectors, but
not so in the 1990s. John mounted

a critically-acclaimed exhibition of

glass furniture,
Breaking with Tra-

dition,
commissioning work by the

glass sculptor Danny Lane which
was shown alongside 19th-century

cut glass by Osler and Baccarat. It

was this innovative eye of John’s,
creating new connections, that con-

tributed to a deeper understanding

of the glass world by a wider public.
There is this glorious tale to tell:

John had skillfully acquired and then

swiftly resold a very rare 18th centu-
ry canary yellow triple twist drink-

ing glass, so rare that only a few have
been recorded. On this occasion, the
priceless glass, carefully wrapped by

John, was sent in the internation-
al mail accompanied by a customs
declaration stating its astonish-

ing price. The glass never reached

its destination. The collector was
most upset and very unwillingly the

insurance paid out. Some months
later Mallett’s received a late eve-
ning call from the FBI in Dade Coun-

ty, Florida, USA. A warehouse had

been opened as a ‘sting’ operation
in Miami to collect stolen objects
from the local criminal fraterni-
ty and the FBI were asking about

a glass with a yellow stem, news
which made our client exultant. So

we waited until after the court case

for the return of this rare glass. The

judge, unable to believe the val-

ue, which was over $30,000, asked

to see this rarity and in his shock,
dropped it! There are now even

fewer yellow twists in the world.

John travelled around the world,

including the Middle East, install-
ing chandeliers, and even hand-car-
ried a six foot long frigger on loan

to San Francisco. Minor setbacks

were an opportunity. After selling a
Baccarat cut glass table to the King
of Morocco for his birthday pres-
ent, John flew out to unpack and

set it up. King Hassan could not
decide which palace should house

such a treasure. The table was nev-
er installed, but John had a remark-

able free vacation, travelling around
Morocco with his royal driver, visit-

ing palaces in Fez, Rabat, Casablanca
and even Agadir to advise courtiers

where the table should be placed.

John’s ground-breaking research

and scholarship added to art his-

torical knowledge. Colleagues

from around the world often tele-
phoned to seek his opinion on

areas of academic uncertainty.

A man of singular and creative

intellect, John was never happi-
er than when sharing his experi-

ence and knowledge with others;

all say he was such good company’.

Happy Memories

from a collector
Graham Vivian
I
ohn’s knowledge of a wide range

J
of glass, relatively unfamiliar

to collectors of English drinking

glasses like myself, his chairman-

ship of the Glass Circle, academic
interest in glass and wide ranging

appointments and contacts with
collectors, dealers and museums

are all part of his complete involve-
ment with this wonderful subject.
In 1990, shortly after starting

collecting, I was invited by John
Towse to see his important collec-

tion of English glass. He suggest-

ed that I’d enjoy visiting Mallett

at Bourdon House in Mayfair,

where John Smith’s glass depart-
ment was located. To suggest vis-

iting Mallett at that time of my

early collecting career was tanta-
mount to advising me to make an

appointment at Cartier to buy my

wife, June, a diamond necklace!
Nonetheless, in due course, I did

meet this very pleasant, mild-man-
nered man and even purchased

one of his least expensive glasses!
It was through joining John

on his Glass Circle/Glass Associa-

tion trips to Bohemia in the Czech
Republic and then Holland that

June and I really began to know

him. What impressed us was his
organization and sense of humour.
He had an entrée to every muse-

um worth visiting and there was

always a curator on hand waiting to
tell us about the collections and if
necessary, a translator who would

assist. In particular, he opened our

eyes to the beauty of Bohemian

glass both old and contemporary.
One day, we arrived for lunch

at a restaurant in the heart of
the Czech countryside – not a

word of English was spoken. To
order our meal we had to identi-
fy the food on the printed menu.

Our aim was achieved by John

uttering a series of quacks and

June following, cluck-clucking

after him. The other guests and

waiters were in fits of laughter.
John’s ‘freedom pass’ gained us

visits to the homes of a number
of Dutch glass collectors, where

we saw their remarkable collec-
tions, especially the cabinets of

engraved glass. The intimacy of

the home when the collector is
present to talk about his collec-

tion is a special treat on any visit.
Being with John on these

trips was enormous fun. His

many friends will join us in find-

ing that his passing will leave

a great void in the glass world.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CAMEO VASE

A Cameo Vase
by
G.
H.

POPE

James Measell

S
ome months ago, I received

an e-mail and photo from

an acquaintance in England

regarding an interesting piece of

cameo glass. The message read:

`I’ve seen a satin-finished black and

white cameo vase, about 9 inch-

es in height and it’s signed “G. H.

Pope” and “Webb.” I wonder if you

know who this Pope might be?’
I immediately thought that the

person in question could be George
Pope, a prize-winning student at the

Stourbridge School of Art in the late

1890s. Before reviewing my thesis

on the Stourbridge school 1850-

1905, I decided to check the index

listings in five key sources: Harry
Powell’s Glass-Making in England;

Geoffrey Beard’s Nineteenth Cen-

tury Cameo Glass;
Charles Hajda-

mach’s British Glass 1800-1917;
Jason Ellis’s
Glassmakers of Stour-

bridge and Dudley 1612-2002;
and

Ray and Lee Grover’s
English Cam-

eo Glass.
The result: no entries for

`Pope’! However, a search of the

holdings at the Rakow Library in

Corning, New York, brought forth

a useful article in the Winter 2005
issue of
Cameo,
a publication issued

by the Friends of Broadfield House.

The note in
Cameo

was based upon

knowledge and material furnished

by George Pope’s grand-daughter
Gillian Powell. Together with pub-

lic records from Britain, it was a

great help in assembling this brief

account of Pope’s life and work.
I quickly realized that George Pope

was not going to be among the glass-
workers or artisans in the glorious

time period when spectacular carved

cameo pieces were being made dur-

ing the last few decades of the nine-

teenth century. His parents, George
Henry Pope and Jane Lloyd Pope,

were married at St. Johns Church

in Wednesbury on 7 December

1876. The census of 1881 reveals

that George Henry Pope (occupa-

tion: photographer and engine fit-

ter) and Jane Lloyd Pope then lived

at 15 Enville Street, Stourbridge,
with their daughters Ada, 3, and

Mabel, 1. Their first son was born

on 3 May 1882 in Stourbridge, and

the birth certificate records his full

name: George Harry Alfred Lloyd

Pope. According to the 1881 census,

the Pope family continued to reside

at 15 Enville Street, but the Pope
daughters Ada and Mabel now had

four younger brothers, all with very
distinctive, given names: George

Harry Albert, Francis Charles,
Percy Charles and Horace Henry.

Cameo vase, about 9″ tall, with engraved motif

and acid finished, signed ‘G. H. Pope’ and

‘Webb’ on the underside. Courtesy of Cheffins

Fine Art, Cambridge.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CAMEO VASE

In the mid-1890s, George Pope

began to attend the Stourbridge
School of Art. At this time, the art
master at Stourbridge was George

Henry Cromack, who had taken

up his post at the start of classes

in September 1893. At the time of
Cromack’s appointment, the County
Express (27 May 1893) published a

lengthy account of his background.

A native of Nottingham, Croma-

ck studied at the Stroud School of

Art and was assistant art master
there when he was awarded a Gov-

ernment scholarship to attend spe-

cialised classes at the National Art

Training School in London. These
classes included drawing and shad-

ing from life or antique works, mod-

elling, and design as well as painting

in watercolour or oil. At Stour-

bridge in 1894-1895, art master
Cromack instituted the ‘Life Class’

as an opportunity for students to

sketch or paint from a live model.
During his attendance at the Stour-

bridge school, George Pope would

have had to gain proficiency in basic
drawing (with instruments and free-

hand) before attempting projects in

shading with charcoal or painting in

watercolour or oil. Among his class-
mates in the Male Evening Class at

Stourbridge in the late 1890s were
these young men: William North-

wood and Francis Grice, employees
at the J. & J. Northwood glass dec-
orating firm; Ludwig Kny, who was

later employed at the Webb glass-

works; and Frederick Noke and

Arthur Dudley, employees at Ste-

vens & Williams. During four con-
secutive years, 1897-1900, George

Pope was among the recipients of

monetary prizes provided by the
Midland Association of Flint Glass

Manufacturers for students at the

Stourbridge school. These prizes

were initiated and first awarded in
the mid-1880s when the Midland

Association of Flint Glass Manufac-

turers established two divisions for
awards: firstly, prizes ‘to glassmak-

ers’ and, secondly, prizes ‘to persons

engaged in glassworks otherwise
than glassmakers’. After only two

glassmakers competed in 1885 and

none came forth in the years thereaf-

ter, the annual prizes awarded by the
Midland Association always went to

workers employed in glass cutting,

glass engraving or glass etching.
The prizes ceased when the Midland

Association was dissolved in 1902.
The 1881 and 1911 Census rolls

provide additional information

about George Pope. In 1901, he

was residing at 15 Enville Street

with his widowed mother Jane (his
father had passed away in 1896),

his sister Mabel, and his three

younger brothers. Most impor-
tantly, George Pope’s occupation in

1901 is recorded as ‘glass engrav-
er,’ so one can conclude that he

was employed as a glass decora-
tor by one of the firms then oper-

ating in the Stourbridge district.

Since George Harry Pope was just

18 in 1901, he was likely in the

midst of a seven-year appren-

ticeship obligation to his employ-

er. The
Cameo
article reveals that

his employer was probably the
Kny Brothers glass engraving

firm at The Platts in Amblecote.

On 9 June 1909, George Pope

married Nellie Ray at the Parish

Church in Old Swinford. The mar-
riage certificate records his full

name, George Harry Alfred Lloyd

Pope, and gives his occupation as

`glass decorator.’ The 1911 Census

offers more precise information.
George Pope (occupation: glass
engraver) was living with his wife

at 38 Platts Crescent, Amblecote,

a location near his employer. After

leaving Kny Brothers in the early

1920s, Pope worked at the Jones
and Warry glass decorating firm in

Brettell Lane before joining Thom-

as Webb’s glass enterprise. Charles
Hajdamach’s
20th Century British
Glass

notes that Pope became the

head of Webb’s engraving depart-
ment in 1930 and continued in that
capacity until his death in 1960.

The article in
Cameo
records that

George Pope lived for many years

in Wollaston, and that he often did
freelance glass engraving from his

home. George Pope, age 77, died

on 11 February 1960, and his death

certificate records his address as 42

Bridle Road. Elaborately engraved

crystal glass articles signed ‘G.
H. Pope’ are seen from time to

time in the marketplace, but the

full details of his career as a glass

engraver have yet to come to light.
With these facts regarding George

Pope in mind, what can be said

about the cameo vase that precip-
itated this research into the details

of his life? At first glance, one can
see that the symmetrical, dramat-
ic motif repeats itself around the

circumference of the vase. The styl-
ized flowers and leaves are framed

and accented by straight lines that
vary in width as well as circles and
ellipses along with crescent shapes.

All of this was accomplished by
careful cutting to take away por-

tions of an outer layer of opaque

white glass in order to expose the
inner layer of black glass. The area

around the top of the vase also
has a motif that repeats around

the circumference of the piece. All

over acid etching creates the final

visual effect. One wonders when

George Pope might have designed

and executed this cameo vase. It

is surely the work of an accom-
plished glass decorator, and, since

his employ at the Webb firm began

in the 1920s, it probably dates
from that time or soon thereafter.

James Measell is an Honor-

ary Research Fellow at the Uni-

versity of Birmingham. He can be

[email protected]

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

GS CLARE EVENT

A Trip to
Clare

Reported by Judith Cower

A
Friday evening at the end of

October 2018, saw a num-

ber of glass enthusiasts

wending their way to the Town Hall

in Clare, Suffolk, for an evening of
fun and frolics with Andy McConnell

(Fig.1).
His talk was very entertain-

ing; with photographic evidence of

some of his experiences while trav-

elling around the UK with the BBC’s

Antiques Roadshow team along
with the other experts and present-

ers. Andy had lived and worked in

Suffolk for a while and some of his

old friends and colleagues had come

along to hear him reminisce, which

proved entertaining. As those of you

who watch the Antiques Roadshow

will have seen, Andy likes to let the
visitors crowd around and put their

glass items on his table, waiting for

his appraisal. The evening concluded

with a raffle for an encalmo decant-
er, made and donated by Stewart

Hearn, the funds going to charity.
The next morning, we had a chance

to explore the town of Clare, and

view the antique centre before meet-
ing in the Community Centre for the

day’s talks. Stewart Hearn, a glass

artist and Kathryn Hearn, a ceram-

ics artist
(Fig.2),

began the day; they

live and work in Chatteris, near Ely.

We were fortunate to have Stewart
with us as he should have been in

China collecting a major prize for
Fig.1

Andy McConnell

his work. They did a double act talk-
ing about their lives and how they
met as well as showing examples of

their work and some of their recent
projects. Both are major artists who

bounce ideas off each other and
use the fens around their home for

inspiration. Many of us, being glass

enthusiasts, were amazed at the

beauty of Kathryn’s ceramic work.
After a magnificent lunch we set-

tled down for the afternoon. Kath-

arine Coleman MBE
(Fig.3),
the

internationally renowned glass

engraving artist, gave the first talk.

She held our attention with stories

of how she began to engrave glass

and the copper wheel technique,

amongst others, that she uses. She

invented many of these herself to

attain the desired results. Kathar-

ine also talked us through the exper-
iment that she carried out for the

editor of Glass Matters, removing

a maker’s mark from the bottom of

a glass
(as told in Glass Matters 3 on

’18th century Reproduction Glasses-Re-

visited’).
We were all astounded by

the quality of her work and the level

of detail that she was able to include.
We then welcomed the return of

Andy McConnell, to complete the
day of an entertaining weekend.

Andy gave another highly amus-

ing and informative talk, this time

about the work of Renee Lalique;

particularly enjoyable for those

of us who had visited the Lalique
Museum in Wingen-sur-Moder in

2017. After his talk, Andy demon-

strated his knowledge of many are-
as of collectable glass, identifying

and valuing the pieces that people
had brought with them. He’d also

brought along the first copy of the
updated edition of his new book,

The Decanter, Ancient to Modern.
He was awaiting delivery of the rest

of the copies which have now arrived.

EDITOR
Author signed copies of Andy McCon-
nell’s book are currently available
from [email protected], or

Glass etc. Rope Walk, Rye, TN31 7NA.

This event was organised to raise
funds for EACH (East Anglia’s Chil-

dren’s Hospices) and the Glass Society.

LEFT: Fig.2
Stewart Hearn,

a glass artist and

Kathryn Hearn,

a ceramics artist

RIGHT: Fig.3
Katharine Coleman

MBE, internationally
renowned glass

engraving artist

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

GLASS & METAL

Glass
and
METAL

Jon Lewis & Yuki Kokai

Y
uki and Jon

have worked

alongside each

other over many

years, collaborating
on many projects jux-

taposing metal and

glass, leading to the
creation of intrigu-
ing and visually

absorbing sculptures.
The first piece

that brought them

to notice was
Blos-

som (Fig.1).
They

described their vision:

“Blossom represents
the fragility and beau-

ty of life. It’s a remind-

er that life is almost

overwhelmingly beau-
tiful, but that it can

also be seen as tragi-
cally short. The flow-
er is free, but there

is an evident tension,
the flower almost

being crushed. This

work presents a stark

contrast between the

heavy and confining

medieval presence of

the two cage halves and the delicacy
of the seven spheres of the flower”.
Yuki created the heavyweight

iron forge-work during her time

at University. Jon contributed the
ethereal flower, using interchange-

able spheres of dichroic glass.

(Dichroic glass is glass which displays
more than one colour by undergoing

a colour change in certain lighting
conditions.)
When this piece was

first seen, many people assumed

that Jon was the metal forger and

Yuki the glassmaker. In fact, they
were both trained in metal and
glass, this time Jon was the glass
maker and Yuki the metal forger.
JON LEWIS WRITES

While at school and studying in

the metalwork department, I was
either making a weathervane or
machining parts for motorbikes. I

found this satisfying, so on leaving

school, I accepted an electronic and
mechanical engineering appren-

ticeship. One of our projects was

to machine a block of steel and

then to precision file every face to

within thousands of an inch over a
two-week period. I kept this rectan-

gular piece of steel in my toolbox for

years; a solid lump of metal which

was occasionally useful for some-
Fig.1

Blossom.
Forged steel and cast glass construction.

Yuki Kokai and Jon Lewis 2009

thing, it was hammered, deeply
rusted and work worn. Twenty-five

years later this corroded and abused
piece of iron became the stopper

for an Alchemy scent bottle
(Fig.2).

While studying glass at Wolver-

hampton University, metalwork

became intrinsic to my glass
exploits. Glass is unquestionably

one of the most fragile and challeng-
ing materials you could choose to

work with. Metals in contrast are so
much more forgiving and malleable.
My endeavours of the last 25

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

LEFT: Fig.2

Alchemy scent
bottle.
Steel and

glass. Jon Lewis
2010
BELOW: Fig.3

Arrow flute.
Glass

and metal. Jon
Lewis 1993

GLASS & METAL

years have been a combination of

architectural commissions and piec-
es made to follow my own thoughts

and ideas. When designing ‘some-
thing’, whether useful or purely

decorative, I try to clarify and con-

sciously pare it down to the most

simplified statement. My work has
evolved a distinct aesthetic, using

the purity of glass mixed with anti-

quated and corroded metal elements.
I am attempting to make ageless
relics. Corrosion and rust appeal to

me – remembering some of my cars
over the years, this had not always

been so! I now appreciate the rich

weatherworn surfaces and pati-
nas which corrosive rust can create.
In 1994 I started experiments to

coat blown glass with a skin of iron

(Fig.3).
This body of work has been

an ongoing series which I have devel-
oped through the years. My recent
evolution of this series is “Distant

Electric Vision”, the phrase used 100

years ago to describe the pioneer-
ing experimental technology now
known as television. Superseded

by modern flat screens, bulky old

cathode ray tube TVs have become
redundant and are a worldwide

waste issue due to the high lead
content in their glass. I have been
involved in glass recycling in many
forms over the years; many things

have been thrown into my furnace

including bottles, fluorescent tubes,

windows and TV Screens. I disman-
tle stylish old Bang and Olufsen tele-

visions as a project in upcycling. The
screen glass is melted in my furnace

and blown to create the form while
the metal in the chassis is used to
coat the vessels in iron. By their

nature, television screens are made
of a very good quality optical glass,

as lucid and workable as any studio

glass. This series has been positive-
ly influenced by a time in the 1990s

when I was designing and making

stained glass windows. On occasion
I would pick up a piece of handmade
blown glass, rich with striations,

bubbles and colour blends. It would

just be a beautiful entity on its own.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

BELOW: Fig.4

Violescent Wisp.
Blown glass with patinated

iron coating. Jon Lewis 2017

RIGHT: Fig.5
Phase 4.
Steel and glass. Yuki Kokai 2010 metal.

The vessels are evolving but they
always have a window of pure trans-
parent colour, a framed aperture

within a metal shell. I am trying to
capture a small essence of the blown

glass vessel and frame it
(Fig.4).
The

vessels have amorphous or distinctly
blown glass bodies which belie their

appearance as metal objects. Metal

is rarely seen in such an alien form.
“Glass is pure light and

pure colour; there is no point

in disguising that. Beauti-
ful glass has simplicity. I

use metal to contrast and

complement this purity”.

YUKI KOKAI WRITES
After two years of attending the

Tokyo Glass Art Institute in which
I covered every technique of glass-
making, my fellow students and I

had to produce our final degree grad-

uation work. I decided to use mica in

my kiln cast piece, a mineral which

appears as metal flakes. From that
process, I started to become inter-
ested in combining glass with differ-

ent materials. I decided to continue

studying and developing my ideas,

so applied and was accepted onto a
master’s degree at the same insti-

tution. In the master’s programme

my senior tutor was a metal sculp-

tor. He taught me the interpreta-

tion of constructions and balance,
proportion and composition. I was

influenced by his philosophy of art.
He taught how to express ideas in

a form or shape but not just using
glass — “the material is not every-
thing but understanding mate-
rials will support our creativity”.

Through his tutorials my ideas of

how to create art expanded and I was

becoming interested in construc-

tions using more than one medium.

After using stone, jute thread, cop-
per wire and other materials with

glass to make sculptures, I started
thinking more about the shape, bal-

ance and rhythm of the piece
(Fig.5).

At the same time I was realis-

ing the cheeky aspect of glass as a
GLASS & METAL

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

GLASS & METAL

Fig.6

so ko ni – there.
Steel and glass. Yuki Kokai 2018

material. Glass is so beautiful on its

own: people do not know how it is

made, it is a mysterious and mag-

ical material. You can drop broken

glass and on its own, it is beautiful.

You can almost make anything from
glass and it will probably be beau-
tiful just by being glass. So I start-
ed challenging the use of glass. I

didn’t want to rely on the beauty of

glass. I didn’t want to be eaten by
the beauty of glass. I was endeavour-

ing to challenge the intrinsic possi-
bility of the prettiness of glass and

harmonise it with other materials

to express my aesthetic concepts.
From that realization I stepped

back a little to re-examine my rela-

tionship with glass as just another

material. From this point I began

to become interested in metal, pre-
dominantly because it is a materi-

al contrary to glass. For example, it
benefits from toughness, physical
resilience and strength visually and

physically. The surface of metal is

transitory; it will change with the

elements, corrosion and rust. You

can construct by welding and ham-

mering; it is unbreakable and resil-
ient. Glass by contrast is delicate,

has clarity and fluidity and in my

mind is unstable as a material. When
I am making my work, I am trying to
use the benefit of these two materi-

als without them fighting each other.
My vision of working is subtract-

ing elements and peripherals to cre-

ate an empty space. For example, on
my piece
“so ko ni – there” (Fig.6),
I

have removed and deconstructed

sections of the metal rings to create
gaps. These are important, creating a
playfulness and freedom for me, the

maker, and for the viewer. “There is

there”: it is there without any extrav-

agance, without anything it does

not need. My aim is to take unnec-

essary elements away to create the

substructure or the core of the piece.
I desire to carry on making works

which will harmonise with their sur-
roundings such as scenery, location

and viewer’s emotions…. Like wil-

low which is blowing in the wind.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CORDIAL SHAPES & SIZES

CORDIALS
and All That

Simon Wain Hobson

T
he title paraphrases the

amusing history book
1066

And All That,

published in

1930
1
that contains the very astute

remark
“History is not what you

thought. It is what you can remem-

ber”.
We’re very much in the same

situation for no writer overlapped
with the gaffers of the Golden

Age of English Glass
2

. Only Aps-

ley Pellatt (1791-1863) could have

possibly conversed with those
from the end of that period. Their

skills and techniques, of course,

would have been handed down.
We are all aware of the cordial drink,

Chaucer’s grate delicious wynes aro-
matiques of reputed medicinal ben-
efit, with anywhere from 15-50%

alcohol, a considerable proportion of
sugar and flavoured by a bewildering

variety of herbs, fruits and nuts – the
equivalent of continental liqueurs.

Complex recipes for making cor-

dials have been passed down and

are now readily found on the web.

By contrast, there is precious little
evidence that special glasses were

used for cordials
3
. That said, glasses

had to be of smaller volume to cater
for the much higher alcohol content.

Fig.1
shows one of the very few

Georgian glasses which we know
were used for cordials, because it

is engraved with the word
“Capil-

laire”
within a wreath of tied foli-

age. Capillaire was strong alcohol

flavoured with the maidenhair

flower. Accounts of the raucous

consumption of capillaire in men’s

RIGHT: Fig.1

A two piece cordial glass. Air twist stem and

drawn trumpet bowl engraved with
Capillaire

within a wreath of tied foliage, c1750 (15.9 cm)

FAR RIGHT: Fig.2

A
classic, tall cordial glass, round funnel bowl,

opaque twist stem (17.5 cm)
clubs of the day identify the drink

and by consequence the glass
4

. This

glass holds a maximum of 50 ml, if

filled 2/3 full, its capacity is only

14 ml, which is perfect for taking

strong alcohol. This follows from
the inverted cone shape of the

glass where the volume, or capaci-
ty, increases rapidly with the square

of the diameter. The salient point

is that this Capillaire glass is any-
thing but the epitome of the cordial

glass in modern parlance, which is a
tall opaque twist (OT) glass
(Fig.2).

From the collector’s perspective,

the first mention and illustration of
cordial glasses was made by Albert

Hartshorne in 1897. Surprisingly
most are small and they are very

varied, with allusions made to

small tavern glasses found in Hog-

arth illustrations. One plate depicts

a classical plain stemmed cordials.
Daisy Wilmer illustrates 9 cordial-

water glasses, 8 of which are 11.4 cm
or less. Some were referred to as a
“Hog-

arth” cordial-water glass.
The remain-

ing glass is a plain stemmed cordial

with a domed foots. Clearly, collec-

tor’s terms have morphed since then.

In
Glass Through the Ages,

Bar-

rington Haynes provides us with

the capacities of a long list of Geor-

gian drinking glasses’. For cordials

their capacity was apparently 1 flu-

id ounce (approximately 30 ml),

they are tall and have thick stems.

Short cordials are just that, while

semi-cordials are as tall as cordials

but have thinner stems. All possi-

bilities are covered. For some rea-
son the capacity of the short and

semi-cordial glasses is greater than
that for true cordials – from 1 to

1
1
/2 fl.oz (30-45 ml). Some exam-

ples are given in Fig.3. Not being

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CORDIAL SHAPES & SIZES

in familiar territory, I decided to

let the glasses speak for them-

selves and sized them up, literally.
First, capacity: measuring a per-

sonal collection of 28 cordial glass-
es filled to the brim, their capacities
ranged from 9 to 65 ml, meaning

that Haynes muddied the cordial

waters quite a bit. The best way to

measure the capacity of the bowl

is with a small electronic weigh-

ing scale. Carefully place the glass

on the scale, then fill the bowl to

the brim. The number of grams of

water added equals the capacity of
the bowl in millilitres, as 1 gram

of water is by definition 1 milli-

litre. As glasses were not gener-
ally filled to the brim, the actual
volume of cordial served was less.
Second, height: just about the

only measure given for any collect-

able glass is its height. Scouring

the literature, auction catalogues

and the internet, it has been pos-

sible to collate the metric heights

of 235 cordial glasses. More than

90% lay within the range of 15.5
to 18.1 cm although the extremes

were 13.2 and 25.4 cm
(Fig.4 chart).
While the epitome is a tall OT cor-

dial of around 17.5 cm
(Fig.2),
there

is no way to distinguish between

the vast majority of cordial glass-
es using height as the sole criteri-

on. The adjective tall is simply not

anchored in data
(Fig.5).
Short cor-

dials are few and far between and

hardly merit a designation of their
own. In addition, there is a tenden-

cy for baluster cordials to be some-

what on the smaller side than OT

cordials. Way out on a limb at slight-

ly more than 25 cm high were two

wonderful DSOT (double series
opaque twist) Captain’s glasses —

1
0

13
Fig.3

A group of three cordials. Tall, short and a

semi-cordial.)

stylistically they are cordial glasses
even though their stem heights are

exceptional. Haynes corroborates
this and refers to a
“freak Captain

glass”
of 30.8 cm
8

. These three glass-

es are so rare, they are like a glass

of Chateau d’Yquem —
hors categorie.

Third, stem thickness: among the

28 cordial glasses, the thickness at

the mid-stem is between 13.2 and

17.3 mm. There is one, a balustroid

cordial, where the stem thickness is

decidedly less, notably 10 mm
(Fig.3).

Among the photo collection of 235

glasses there are only 5 semi-cor-
dials, indicating that they are
extremely rare and hardly enough

to constitute a distinct category –

once again they are simply outliers.

To sum up, the measurements

for a Georgian cordial glass are

between 15.5-18 cm high, thick

stemmed – (generally 13-17 cm),
with a variable capacity of 9-65

ml (65ml is just under 2.3 fl.oz.)

when filled to the brim. Although

these measurements are reasona-

bly precise, they are insufficient to
distinguish a cordial from a num-

ber of wine glasses; for example, a

number of flared bucket bowled

wine glasses or drawn air twists.

Stylistic criteria are still needed.

Cordial glasses emerged in the bal

n
I I I

Fig.4

cordials

Gra
ph

of the heights of

235 cordials garnered from

books, auction catalogues
the author’s collection,

and the internet.

height

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CORDIAL SHAPES & SIZES

uster period and followed all the sty-

listic changes of the
Golden Age.
As

the 18th century progressed there

was a distinct trend from what can
be called masculine glasses of the

baluster and plain glass periods to

the elegant and more feminine tall
cordials typified by DSOTs. Bal-

uster and balustroid cordials were

strong by design and are invaria-

bly knopped as were most glass-
es of the period. Knops have been

considered to allow the shaky hand

get a better grip on the glass, pre-
sumably when blood alcohol levels
were high! Plain stemmed cordials

are sturdy, and when engraved
carry decidedly masculine inscrip-

tions such as SUCCESS TO FOX

HUNTING, SUCCESS TO TRADE

AND NAVIGATION or GOD BLESS

KING WILLIAM
(Figs.6a & 6b).
The transition to air and opaque

twists saw the heyday of cordial

glasses. The bowls are decorated

with delicate basal flute or ham-
mered moulding and are often

engraved with floral motifs, albeit

often poorly executed. Stem knops

are rare, but that can be generally

said of most opaque twist glasses.

The so-called Irish cordial has a sol-

id base to the bowl and invariably
has an OT stem. Yet, as has been

pointed out, this Irish epithet is
conjecture
3
. It is among these cor-

dials that we find toastmaster’s or

deceptive glasses
(Fig.7).
Even the

term ‘deceptive toastmaster’s cor-
dial’ has been used in some auction
catalogues: unnecessary, since toast-

master’s glasses are by definition
deceptive, but making this type of

glass doubly clear. Two notes: First,
Fig.5

A group of five cordials, arranged in
progressive height

the whole point of a toastmaster’s

glass was to consume less alco-

hol. Repeated toasting with strong

alcohol makes no sense at all. Sec-

ond,
“by the eighteenth century cordial

waters had entered the realm of high

fashion and were enjoyed primarily

by the wealthier classes”
3

.
There was

no intention to deceive, other than

the eye, for alcohol was not wanting.
The engraving on OT cordials is

invariably floral motifs, devoid of
any political or societal referenc-

es, unlike the masculine themes

engraved on plain stemmed cordials.

This alone suggests a change and

feminine connection. It is around
the middle of the 18C that records

of tea drinking accompanied by
cordials show up. Hughes
9
gives a

telling contemporary account:
“The

Female Spectator, 1774, in discussing
tea-drinking, recorded that ‘tea wheth-

er of the Green or Bohea kind, when

taken in excess occasions a dejection

of spirits and flatulency, which lays

the drinker of it under a kind of neces-
sity of having recourse to more ani

BELOW LEFT: Fig.6a
Masculine’ plain stemmed cordial glasses,
with inscriptions

BELOW RIGHT: Fig.6b

Close up view of the bowls of the glasses in 6a

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CORDIAL SHAPES & SIZES

mating liquors. The most temperate

and sober of the sex find themselves

obliged to drink wine pretty freely

after it. None of them nowadays pre-

tend to entertain with the one without

the other, and the bottle and the cor-

dial-glass are as sure an appendix to

the tea-table as the slop basin. Bran-

dy, rum and other spiritous liquors

are become a usual accompaniment to

tea.”
Tea drinking emerged in the

mid-17th century although was not

traded in sufficient quantities until

the 18th century. By 1750 it had

become the English national drink.
Here we have a heady mix: wine,

cordials, brandy, rum and other

spirits – and the ladies. Clearly, far
more than wynes aromatiques were

drunk around the tea table! Accom-
panying tea with an alcoholic drink

required a small glass for, unlike

their hard-drinking husbands, the

ladies couldn’t become inebriat-

ed – it was simply not proper. Cor-

dials had to be sipped, so any way of

reducing the bowl capacity would be

sought. The three design traits — a

small bowl, thickened sides or base

– all serve to reduce the capacity of
the glass while retaining proportion

and elegance. They represent but
variations on a single goal. Indeed,

it could be cogently argued that
the smaller the bowl the stronger

the alcohol content of the concoc-

tion for which they were intended.

RATAFIAS OR FLUTE CORDIALS

Standing apart from the quintessen-
tial cordial glasses are the very dis-

tinct flutes used for drinking ratafia

(Fig.8), although once again, there
is precious little source material

to confirm this. Ratafia is a strong

liqueur still made in France and Ita-

ly. As an aside, the yeast responsible
for fermenting grape juice is com-
pletely inhibited by ethanol (alco-

hol) concentrations around 16%.

This explains why the alcohol con-
tent of wines are rarely more than
14%. To obtain a stronger alcohol

such as a cordial or ratafia, distilla-
tion is necessary. From this point

everything became possible – from

spirits themselves to fortified

wines such as port (20% average)
and pineau (16-22%) to mistelles, a

fruit juice cut with strong alcohol

leaving a drink with 16-17% alcohol.
Back to ratafia glasses, or ratafi-

as as they are known. Haynes noted

“Ratafia (or Flute Cordial): capacity 1

oz to 1% oz; with long and very narrow
bowl (P1.88)”
1
°
which is most appo-

site, as 1-1.5 fl.oz. is approximately

30-45 ml and well within the maxi-
mum capacity for a classical cordial

glass. Both Hughes and the Corn-
ing Museum of Glass have also used
the term flute cordiall”
1
, the former
Fig.7

So called toastmaster’s or deceptive cordials

noting that they briefly appeared
from 1740-70. Crompton men-

tions
“a very narrow tapering funnel

bowl with a stem of approximately the
same height, and bowl diameter rarely

exceeds 1 % inches”
or 4.5 cm
12
. Nat-

urally, an analysis of the capacity of

their bowls was necessary. My small

collection of 5 ratafia glasses showed
that they ranged from 17.6 to 19 cm

in height and when filled to the brim
their capacities ranged from 34 to

58 ml, well with the 65 ml taken as

an upper limit for cordial glasses.
Nonetheless, 5 ratafias aren’t

enough for good measure. The capac-

ity of a glass can be reasonably accu

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CORDIAL SHAPES & SIZES

Fig.8

Five ratafia glasses

rately estimated from a photo by

measuring the outer diameter D

and depth of the bowl H using sim-

ple maths. As just about the only

measurement given about any glass

is its height, it is simple to deduce

D and H from a photo, no matter

its size. Knowing this it is possible
to sift through photos of Georgian

ratafias. Doing so, it transpired that

a third of so called ratafia glass-

es illustrated in photographs had

a capacity greater than 65 ml (2.2

fl.oz.). These were all straight sided

flutes, with the bowl capacity of one
calculated to be 101 ml! Using 65 ml

as the cut-off used to align ratafias
or flute cordials with cordial glass-

es, it is possible to better appreciate

the two groups. A bona fide ratafia

glass ranges from 16.3 to 19.6 cm in

height with an outer bowl diameter
of 3.3-4.7 cm, the capacity varying

from 21 to 55 ml. The dimensions of

the other flutes were larger: height

19.1-20.8 cm, outer bowl diameter

4.7-5.9 cm and capacity from 63-101
ml. The overlap is minimal between

the two groups and accords well with

Crompton
12
. The bowl diameter is

especially important as the capacity

of the bowl increases as the square

of the diameter (i.e. D x D) mean-
ing that small changes of the diam-
eter have a big impact on capacity.

Hopefully these numbers may help
readers in distinguishing ratafias

from other Georgian wine flutes.

Incidentally, I had a sixth glass that

was bought as a ratafia, although

having measured it, it turned out to

be a wine flute, as graceful as it is.
There is less variation between rata-

fias and wine flutes than amongst
cordial glasses. The slender flute

form appears with plain stemmed

glasses, although they are few and
far between. While they are equal-

ly sparse among air twists, incised

twists (just one) or composite glass-

es (just one), they explode around

1760 with the fashion for opaque

twists, the vast majority (over 80%)

being DSOTs. In this respect they

parallel cordials which for the most

part are OTs. For the moment, no
mixed twist, colour twist or fac-

et stemmed ratafias has turned up

among a host of internet photos,
which generally limits ratafias to the

period 1740-70. I have an exquisite-

ly made engraved DSOT ratafia with

a ground pontil which suggests that
they were occasionally being made
up to c1780. None are knopped,

much like the majority of cordial

glasses. If one accepts the idea that

knops were there to help allow the

hand of the heavy drinking male
to keep a grip on his glass, ladies

would not need knopped glasses
for it would be unseemly for them

to get drunk in company. This argu-

ment goes for cordial glasses as well.
Crompton is correct in stating that

the bowl is approximately half the
height of the glass
12
although the

bowls can be funnels and round fun-
nels. More than 2/3 of ratafias have

basal flute moulding, while only one

had Lynn rings, a DSOT of course.
Not quite half are engraved with

simple floral motifs of mediocre
quality which is very reminiscent of

that on OT cordials – as though they

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

CORDIAL SHAPES & SIZES

were engraved by the same artisans
at much the same time. Jacobite

motifs are known but rare. There are

a handful of elegant Bielby enam-
elled ratafias some of which have a

gilt rim. The above words are limited
by the small number of glasses stud-

ied compared to classical cordials.
Not finding a stem or bowl trait does

not mean that they were not made,

just that they were uncommon.

DRAM – THE GLASS, THE WORD

A few words about dram glasses are
in order. They represent a vast array

of glasses with little more in com-

mon than their height, anywhere

from 10-14 cm. While their capac-

ities vary, they are rarely more then

60 ml and by extrapolation of the

above arguments there is no reason

to think that they were not used

for consuming strong alcohol of all

sorts, including cordials. In some

ways they are the real short cor-

dial glasses: the stems are generally
rather thick. The “problem” is that in

the avoirdupois system of measure-

ments of the day a
dram
corresponds

to 1/16th of a fluid ounce and I do
not recall seeing a glass with such

a small capacity. As dram (1.7 ml,

a teaspoon), fluid ounce (27.3 ml)

and gill (137 ml, a teacup) were com-

mon measures, presumably dram

was used as a euphemism for small

— as in a wee dram of whisky – rath-
er than that of an actual measure

for a liquid. Or put it another way,

a dram is hardly thirst quenching!

Collectors, curators, archaeologists

and scientists alike love to pigeon-

hole objects — it has been going on
from time immemorial. Think of the

Linnaean classification of organisms

that stimulated umpteen Victorian
natural philosophers to roam the

world sending back countless ani-
mals, insects, minerals and ancient

artefacts. Maybe we are guilty of
pushing too far the assumption that

a particular drink had its companion
glass. For example, there is the nev-

er-ending discussion as to wheth-

er an unengraved flute is an ale or

champagne glass. Obviously, hops

and barley motifs are a giveaway,
but as the reader knows only too

well, they can occasionally be found

in what are stylistically wine glass-
es. I would maintain that the small

capacity of the glass tells us gener-

ally what it was used for — for strong

alcohol, although that doesn’t make
them glasses for cordial and ratafia.

This is best captured by Maclver Per-

cival
“SPIRIT GLASSES. — Natural-

ly these glasses (and those for cordial
waters, from which we cannot distin-

guish them) are of small capacity. This,
however, is often arrived at by an extra

thickness of metal at the base of the

bowl and not by the smallness of the

outline”
1 3
.

Not only can he not dis-

tinguish between spirit and cordial

glasses, he goes on to describe what

has come to be called an Irish cordial

glass under the rubric of spirit glass-

es. In the contemporary collectors’

world, the terms Georgian and spirit
no longer go together which brings

us back to the article in The Female

Spectator and Hartshorne and Wil-

mer’s descriptions of cordial glasses.
Not only is there little source mate-

rial, the terms have been a-changing.
The only smoking gun we have

is the Capillaire glass, yet nobody

today would call it a cordial glass.

(editor: this is an interesting state-

ment, but the author has described

the glass in so many words as a cordial

glass, distinguished only by the word
Capillaire engraved on the bowl. Did a

vendor of Capillaire simply have some

glasses engraved, just as beer glass-
es have printed brand names today?)

AUTHOR
Simon Wain-Hobson, born in London,

gained a DPhil. From Oxford University
and is a Professor at the Pasteur Insti-

tute in Paris. He resolved the genetic

coding of the HIV virus and now concen-
trates on cancer therapy. He’s applied

his methodical approach to his passion
and knowledge of 18th century glass.
Despite all the unknowns, cordials and

ratafias are very attractive and collect-

able. The author would be delighted to
receive photos of cordial or ratafia glasses,

and would be pleased to discuss problem

glasses. Please contact through the editor.

ENDNOTES

1.
WC
Sellar & RJ Yeatman,
1066

And All That,
1930, Methuen Pub-

lishing, London

2.
Dwight P Lanmon,

The golden age

of English glass,
2011, Antique Col-

lector’s Club, Woodbridge

3.
Timothy Osborne and Martin

Mortimer, “….
Strength and Cheer-

fulness”.
The John Towse collection

of English tall cordial glasses,
1997,

Catalogue, Delomosne & Son Ltd.,

Chippenham

4.
http://www.campin.me.uk/

Embro/Webrelease/Embro/

12clubs/12clubs.htm

5.
Arthur Hartshorne,

Old English

glasses,
pp318-323, 1897, Edward

Arnold, London

6.
Daisy Wilmer,

Early English Glass,

pp117-129, 1920, 3rd Edition,

Bazaar Exchange & Mart, London

7.
E Barrington Haynes,

Glass

through the ages,
p197, revised

edition, 1959, Penguin Books,
Middlesex

8.
Churchill Glass Notes, p32, #13,

December 1953

9.
G Bernard Hughes English,

Scot-

tish & Irish table glass,
p226,1956,

BT Batsford, London

10.
E Barrington Haynes,
Glass

through the ages,
p200, revised

edition, 1959, Penguin Books,

Middlesex

11.
https://www.cmog.org/artwork/

flute-cordial-or-ratafia-glass

12.
Sidney Crompton (editor),
Eng-

lish Glass,
p85, 1967, Ward Lock,

London

13.
Maclver Percival,
The glass collec-

tor, a guide to old English glass,
p96,

2nd Ed, 1918, Herbert Jenkins,
London

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

INSET Fig.1

Thomas Webb,

Pattern Book

Volume 2. Page of
pattern no’s 1134

and 1135.
LEFT Fig. la
Pattern no.1134

INSET Fig.2

Thomas Webb, Pattern Book Volume 2.
Page of pattern no’s 1542 and 1543.

RIGHT Fig. 2a
Pattern no.1542.
GLASS HANDLE STYLE

The
SUDDEN DEMISE
of the
“Pump Handle”

Clive Manicon

U
ntil the middle of the nine-

teenth century, handles

for glass jugs were normal-

ly made by taking a gather of glass,
fixing it first to the neck of the ves-

sel after it had been blown, then
drawing it out and bringing it down

to the body of the vessel where it

would be fixed; see, for example,
the illustrations of the early Thom-

as Webb jugs, patterns nos.1134 and

1135
(Figs.1 & la)
in Pattern Book,

Vol.2, dated to 1843, and the jugs,
patterns nos.1542 and 1543
(Figs.2

& 2a)
in Pattern Book, Vol.2, dated

to 1844. That this style continued

in practice for another twenty years

is confirmed by the evidence of the

`Illustrated Catalogue of the 1862
London Exhibition’,
where there are

wood engravings of glassware from
a number of British manufacturers,

as well as silver and ceramic jugs.

Even in 1867, if the evidence of the

wood engravings in the
‘Illustrat-

ed Catalogue of the 1867 Paris Exhi-
bition’
is satisfactory, this style of

fixing of handles was still in com-
mon use
(Figs.3 & 3a).
The impor-

tance of these illustrations cannot

be over-emphasised: the exhibitors
at these exhibitions were showing
the latest in fashion and technology.
This type of handle is sometimes

called a ‘pump handle’ by reason

of its similarity to the handle of a

water pump — a familiar sight before
the days of a public water supply to

every house
(Fig.4).
Water pumps

could still be seen in farmyards until
the middle of the twentieth century,

but are now only decorative features

in gardens. The handle of the water
pump tended to be robust at the

pivot, where it needed to be strong,

but slender towards its extremity.
The change to the style now gen-

erally used, where the gather is first

fixed to the body of the vessel and

Glass Matters Issue no.5 xxxx 2019

2
$

Fig. 3 & 3a

Two pump style,
‘top down handles’

on jugs from pages
of the Illustrated

Catalogue of

the 1867 Paris
Exhibition.

then drawn out to form a handle

before being fixed to the upper part
of the vessel, took place remark-

ably quickly. In the first five of the

Thomas Webb Pattern Books, it is
quite clear that handles of jugs and

basins are always fixed first at the
neck, then drawn out and down;

by volume six, the handles are
fixed first to a point on the body
of the vessel, and then drawn out

and upwards, to be attached to the
neck. The principal exceptions are

those few jugs which appear to have
a ‘twisted rope’ or similar handle
which passes round the neck
of the vessel, such as in 8394
and 8395
(Fig.5),
for here

it would be difficult if not
impossible to fix the gather
of glass to the body of the

vessel first, maintain the

proportions of the handle,

and then fix it back on to the

vessel body. The fashion for

such handles seems to have

been relatively short and

appears to have not other-

wise influenced the transition.
Although many of the pat-

terns in subsequent volumes

of the Thomas Webb Pattern

Books carry a pencilled date

(presumably the date on which the
pattern was entered into the book),

the date was not marked in the earli-
er books, consequently it is not pos-

sible to assign an exact date for the
change. However, from other sourc-
es such as the Thomas Webb Pric-

ing Books, we know the approximate
dates when each pattern book first
came into use, and when the last pat-

tern in it was entered. Pattern Book
5 was first used in 1865, and Pattern
Book 6 first used sometime in 1868,

the year after the Paris Exhibition.

The transition appears to have

taken place towards the end of the

period in which Pattern Book 5 was

in use, though as noted above, a few
of the early designs recorded in Pat-

tern Book 6 seem to show a han-

kering after the old style. Is there

any evidence in the Pattern Books
that might explain this change?
It is likely that the handles of the

earliest glass jugs and mugs were

fashioned in imitation of ceramic
vessels, where the body of the vessel

would have been first formed upon
the wheel, and the handle natural-

ly added from the upper part to the

lower part of the body. The shape of

glass mugs and tankards could also
have been influenced by that of sil-

ver and pewter tankards. The ear-
liest of the Thomas Webb Pattern

books, which date from the 1840s,
show that the decoration then used

was principally cutting and of neces-
sity the blanks for these pieces were
relatively thick-walled. A careful
examination of the drawings of

Fig. 5

Twisted Rope style handles in the

Thomas Webb Catalogue, Volume 6.
Pattern no’s 8394 and 8395.

Fig.4

Pump style handle on early 18th century jug

with ‘nipt diamond waies’ decoration.

GLASS HANDLE STYLE

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

GLASS HANDLE STYLE

the jugs in patterns 1134 or 1542

(Figs.1 & 2),
show a thick wall, capa-

ble of taking deep cutting. Where

engraved decoration was used, it

was fairly simple, such as a stylized
spray of flowers, or the fruiting vine

seen on 4706
(Fig.6).

However, by

the time of Pattern Book 6, styles

had changed and many jugs had long

slender necks; the walls of the ves-

sel were being made much thinner
and the engraving had become much
more detailed. A handle applied to a

long thin neck and then drawn out to
meet the body would risk distorting

the neck while the body of the vessel

was still on the pontil iron. A good
example is the jug 7958 from Pattern
Book 6
(Figs.? & 7a);
although the

engraving of the jug in photo
Fig.7b

(from a sale by Fieldings Auction-
eers) differs from that in the Pattern

Book, the drawing in Pattern Book
6 is almost certainly the pattern

for the shape of the jug in
Fig.6b.

The evidence of the Hodgetts

Richardson pattern books is rath-

er less clear, but still tends to indi-

cate a fairly rapid transition from the
`pump handle’ to the modern style.
One difficulty in assessing the Rich-

ardson evidence is that the series of
their pattern books is incomplete

and it is not currently possible to
access all those that have survived.

The earliest surviving volume of the
Richardson pattern books, Volume

2, has several illustrations of jugs

with the traditional handle, but also

shows a two-handled vase’, appar-
ently modelled on a classical shape,

with handles rising from the widest
part of the body of the vase and curv-
ing over to meet the lip. The pattern

seems to have been developed with

similar vases, though these vessels

are vases, not jugs and are modelled
on antique Greek vases. Yet two

early designs, nos.3526 and 3528
(Figs.8 & 8a)
present an ambiguous

picture, for 3526 seems to have a tra-
ditional “pump” handle, fixed first

at the neck and then taken down
to the body, while 3528 appears to
have a handle that was applied first
to the body and then taken up to

the neck. The stoppered jug on the

preceding page also seems to have

ABOVE Fig. 6 ‘Top Down’ Twisted Rope

handle on engraved jug.
BELOW Fig.7 Page from Thomas Webb

Catalogue Volume 6, showing a jug,

pattern no.7958

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

GLASS HANDLE STYLE

FAR LEFT Fig. 7a
Pattern no.7958.

LEFT Fig. 7b
Picture of similar jug

to 7958, different

decoration

BELOW Fig.8 Richardson Pattern Book page showing 3526 and 3528

with differing ‘pump handles’

RIGHT Fig.8a Pattern no.3528 with new style ‘Bottom up’ handle

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

a traditional handle. Sub-

sequent patterns in the

same book appear to have
handles in the old-fash-
ioned style – see, for exam-

ple, pattern 3537
(Fig.9).

The earliest of the Ste-

vens & Williams Descrip-
tion books have few

illustrations, and the

first dated entry is Janu-
ary 1852
2
. The first illus-

tration is of a beaker, and
the entry for this is dated

about twelve years later,
in 1864. Sketches appear

sporadically in the first

book, sometimes of the
glassware, and sometimes
only of the decoration,

but in 1869 the company
began to make detailed
records of the shape and

decoration of their glass-

ware and these include
a small number of jugs

and clareteens with han-
dles. The first of these,

no.2498
(Fig.10),
bears

the description “new hol-

l[ow] h[an]dle as rough

sketch”; no.2657
(Fig.11)

is a “Tall Churn shape

pinch lip, new holl[ow]

•

ABOVE Fig.9 Richardson Pattern Book, old

style handle, pattern no.3537

ABOVE Fig.10 Stephens & Williams pattern no.2498
BELOW Fig.11 Stephens & Williams pattern no.2657

–

;

‘1
;
/

.;;.‘e-

.4,e,k
..(4,z….

i
l

– ,–‘

..(ze

–
4,

;.€
GLASS HANDLE STYLE

handle”. The coin in the photo-
graph will give an indication of

the size of the sketch; it is impos-

sible from the sketch to determine
the thickness of the wall of the jug.
These two photographs appear to

support the evidence from the Webb
Pattern Books, with the important

qualification that the management

of Stevens and Williams thought

at the time that these handles
were ‘new’. The term occurs sev-
eral times more in connection with

descriptions of vessels with handles.

A N
OTE ON THE

DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

The Thomas Webb Pattern Books

are a continuous series of large scale,

folio size volumes which, from the
damage they have sustained, appear
to have been regularly consulted in

the course of making and decorat-

ing the glass and the illustrations

appear to have been the actual size
of the glass made. By comparison,
the Stevens and Williams Descrip-

tion Books appear to have been a
record of styles of glassware pro-

duced, with pricing information;
the illustrations appear to have been

for reference purposes. The Hodgett
Richardson Pattern Books, the sur-

viving volumes of which came into
the possession of Thomas Webb &

Sons, appear to a large extent to
have been a record of the decora-
tion of the glassware, in the form

of rubbings of the engraving on the

vessels pasted into the volumes.

I am indebted to the Dudley Archive ser-

vice for access to the volumes in their

care, and for allowing me to make photo-

graphs. Also to Chloe Winter-Taylor for
access to the Stevens & Williams Descrip-

tion Books, currently held at Himley Hall.

FOOTNOTES

1.
Pattern no. 4509

2.
5th January 1852, though a prior

entry on the same page is for 19th

July 1854. There is no explana-

tion for this discrepancy.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

QEII SILVER JUBILEE

GLASS
‘Gold State Coach’

DavidMulley

I
n 1977 I was lucky enough

to purchase through the
Lichfield Glass Sculpture

Company, a new Queen’s Gold

State Coach in glass, drawn by

eight glass horses, housed inside

a glass bottle 60cm in length

with a diameter of 12cm. It is No

15 of a limited edition of only 25
in the world that were sculpted
to commemorate Queen Eliza-

beth II’s Silver Jubilee. A leading
London dealer commissioned

the Lichfield Glass Company

to make 10 coaches, but they

decided to produce 25, one for
each year of the Queen’s reign

and ballot the remaining 15

among dealers throughout the

world. The coach was designed
by the world famous glass sculp-
tor, David Keenan, who’d been

given permission through the
Lord Chamberlain to sketch

the coach and harnesses, while

on site in the Royal Mews.
As so much interest was
shown in the glass sculpture,

the ballot was to be held among

shops around the world. Hun-
dreds of shops were clamour-

ing to get hold of one, so when

Watson’s, my local glass and chi-
na shop in Salisbury succeed-
ed in the ballot, they felt very

fortunate as they saw it to be a

future museum piece. Being the

first on Watson’s waiting list,
I was then offered the coach.
Of course I accepted and was

so excited that I readily agreed
for the coach to be displayed in
the shop window for a month.

As a result, I was approached
many times to sell but refused.

Such was the interest at the
time that the local paper ran

an article headlined “Lucky
break for Salisbury Collector”.

Since 1977, the coach has

been admired by friends and
family, but I decided that the

time had come to share it with

a wider audience. A visit with
the State Coach & Horses to the

Glass Fair at Knebworth House

in February 2019 to seek opin-

ions and advice, prompted me to

offer it to Fieldings Auctioneers,

to be included in their ‘Centu-
ries of Glass’ sale on 18th May.

As far as I knew, up until then
none had been sold on the open

market in the UK. It did not

sell, but has returned home to

be enjoyed for many more years.

David Mulley can be con-

tacted at [email protected]

BELOW: This lampworked sculpture is of the Queen’s Gold State Coach,

pulled by eight crystal glass horses, fitted within a closed neck bottle. It
rests on the original mahogany stand with silver presentation plaque, all

within its original blue velvet and silk lined case.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

Dartington Glass

The le ,1

,ar. fry

to launch ccoceAchon air:even en

ane1067.was the Commemorative
Tankard Conceived then lo carry a
different and each year. Ves Vetec..
1

colectnr, prre currently
bears
the

Dartnplon WO crest te a
Hart

on a

Rose

Mader Endand by De
,
tngtOn

Claus Ltd.
DARTINGTON

Anew Glass Collector
on the

BLOCK

From Stan Party

–
I
4
et’s get on the roller coaster!

How on earth did all this start?

I suppose it was while I was in

the workplace and finishing meet-

ings early, then having to wait for
the cheap train home to enable a

better bottom line for the company

– without any recognition that fam-

ilies were waiting at home. How to

fill the time? I thought, let’s go and
visit a museum’. So, some years ago,

I found myself in the Ashmolean in

Oxford, staring at the glass-fronted

cabinets of 18th century drinking

glasses and, as an engineer, won-
dering how on earth they were all

made. If you hadn’t been before,
the only downside was to step back

too far from the cabinets for a bet-

ter view – you could then easily tip
over the fairly low bannister into the

stairwell below and it would all be
over! Several years of visiting muse-

ums across the country followed;

with four daughters and a wife to
keep happy, there were no funds

and hence no purchases, but you
do learn a lot on the way. My home

was close to Broadfield House and

an increasing number of drop-in
visits ‘opened my eyes’, increasing

my wonderment at the breadth

and scale of the glass world. How I

now miss the opportunity to drop
in for a ‘glass fix’: roll on the open-

ing of
The White House Cone Museum

of Glass
(WHCmog) in Stourbridge.

My working life – well, the earning
part – was coming to an end and

that really focuses the mind for the
future, which seemed to relate in

part to the world of glass collecting.

So I set off to my first Glass Fair at

Gaydon with the vague idea that I
was going to storm the world of 18th
century glass and build a fantastic

collection. Whoops! I was quickly
ABOVE: Fig.1

Two FT1 1969 tankards, both with their original
boxes. One in clear the other in midnight
RIGHT: FIG.1A

The side of the
1969

FT1 box,

envisaging annual design seals

disabused of this position when I

became aware of the prices, though
I have to say that all the 18th centu-

ry dealers were very supportive and

said ‘don’t worry, you can start low
with a firing glass’, which they let

me handle. I wondered why and I’m

sure that you can all guess. Not an

auspicious start, returning without
any purchases, unhappily noting the

absence of a single piece, yet with

a copy of Barrington Haynes, giv-
en to me by a dealer who must have
felt sorry for me; it didn’t feel too

good for my entry into antique glass.
Where to now? Well, another of

my unhealthy passions is collect-

ing Wisden Cricketers Almanacks, a

good source being online at ebay, less
expensive than from some of the deal-

ers – a sign of things to come. This was
the point at which I discovered the

Dartington Glass reference books by

Eve Thrower & Mark Hill and Linda &

Stuart Smithson. An early purchase

of an Ugly Vase at what now appears

to have been an outrageous price (we

all have to learn somehow) was not

greeted with a lot of enthusiasm on
the home front or it felt like it at the
time! This then led me into the world

of the Dartington FT1 tankards for

which I will be eternally grateful. You

might well ask why this should be,

so I will attempt to explain. Collect

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

DARTINGTON

Fig.2

The Mayflower Commemorative Barbican

tankard and box

ing in any form is fraught with fear

and danger for any new collector and
that is where the dealers play a val-

uable role, as they are always happy

to support and nurture a ‘new kid

on the block’ as it will generally lead

to bigger and better sales over time.

So as a bit of a renegade I decided

to go my own way. I’ll shorten the

story and provide you with some

knowledge of FT1’s, information

which I don’t believe is fully recorded.

FT1 tankards were issued every

year for 25 years, starting in 1967.
I believed that with the exception
of the first three years, they came

packed in boxes. I then picked up a
comment on ebay from the Smith-

son’s, in the days when you could

identify the sellers, when they stat-
ed they had seen two boxed exam-

RIGHT: Fig.3

Barbican tankard commemorating 1078

BELOW: FIG.3A
Barbican tankard box

A strictly limited edition
of 900 Tankards with the

Seal of William the Conqueror,
numbered and initialled by the
designer FrankThrower.

Handmade by the craftsmen

at Dartington Glass in Torrington

North Devon, for the Department

of the Environment
up to when a bit of spare metal

is about. All FT1 tankards were
produced in a limited range
and were individually num-

bered, with the exception
of Queen Elizabeth II’s Sil-

ver Jubilee in 1977, which

had an unlimited run. These

numbers were always shown

on the base of the FT1 and

the number written on the

box in an attempt to stop

fraud, but I have seen attempts

to alter box numbers to get them

to match the tankard. The only issue

I have with the numbered ranges is

that no evidence currently exists

to say whether all the numbers

of the boxed ranges were fulfilled.
At this point and based on the

Smithson book, I moved onto the

Barbican Tankards of various years,
but with the specific task of obtain-

ing more information on the 1970
Mayflower and the 1078 Seal of Wil-

liam Conqueror. So what can I say

about the Mayflower from the Bar-
bican range? I have not seen a boxed
example other than the one I pos-

sess, but I’ve learnt that in the glass

world, it’s not always wise to believe

you are right: someone else will

always have another example. The
Mayflower I have is numbered 276

and a general rule of thumb is that

pies of the ’69. The chase was on

and I do have two boxed examples

of the ’69, one in clear and the other

in midnight
(Figs.1 &
IA), the oth-

er available colour being kingfisher.

This is my first example of adding
up-to-date information. Does pack-

aging matter? Well, in my case it
does, not least because it is a sign of
the era in which they were produced.

If you go to the V&A and see Mary

Quant fashion designs, you will

know the era from which they came.

I have seen an FT1 ’67 in red but was
unable to persuade the owner to part

with it for what I thought was a rea-

sonable price. FT1’s were apparently
never produced in red, so this taught

me what glassmakers could get

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

Fig.4

Kircaldy Barbican

tankard, commissioned
by Nairn floors Ltd
DARTINGTON

the Barbican range was produced in
runs of up to 1000. There is no num-

ber on the Mayflower box
(Fig.2),
so

can it be reasonable to assume mine

is one of a thousand? The Barbican

tankard commemorating 1078 is
easier to understand
(Figs .3 & 3A).

The date must be 1978 since it was
produced in a limited edition of

900 to celebrate Her Majesty’s Roy-

al Palace and Fortress of The Tower
of London 1078 – 1978 and com-

missioned by the Department of

the Environment; I have seen one
other boxed example. I also have an
example of a commissioned Nairn

Floors Ltd, Kircaldy Barbican
(Fig.4),

where the golden box of triangular
form states a limited edition of 1400.

This triangular box form was also
used on the FT1 King Edgar tank-

ard of 1973. So I think my question

is answered – packaging can provide

important information as to why

and when the item was produced.
I do have a rule of thumb regard-

ing limited production runs. Dar-

tington produced a boxed pair of
Regency Goblets for the BBC show-

ing young and old heads of Queen
Victoria to commemorate her Dia-

mond Jubilee of 1897, in a Limited
Edition of 2000. To date I have not-

ed five split pairs which would sug-

gest that since 1997, a period of 22

years to today, at least one of each
pair will be broken approximately

every 4 years. Yes, I know it is not

exactly mathematically correct, but

even if it is only half right, I ask ‘why

is there so much 18th century glass

available?’ Just a thought and it is
one of the reasons I did not go down
that collecting route. I do appreciate

informed certainty, that what I’m

collecting is definitely of its time and
date, which is why I look for infor-

mation from packaging. Absurdly,

I have seen a vendor at a flea-mar-

ket selling one of a split pair and

describing the younger one of 1837

as Georgian, which is really pushing

the boat a little! Drag those King’s

& Queen’s dates back from your

school history days: they are used
extensively in the glass world, espe-

cially for commemorative glasses.

So where have I got to in this won-

derland of glass. Having contacted

Dartington, they have no extant
record of any production-run num-

bers, neither for the FT1 tankards
nor for the Barbican range, other

than the expected number stated on

the packaging. Some word-of-mouth

comments have suggested that not

all the production runs were fulfilled

and you will see a quantity of tank-

ards around without any numbers
on the base. I now realise the benefit

of manufacturers’ records and cata-

logues and verbal interactions with

ex and current employees. From an

ex-employee, I purchased a relatively

early Dartington Catalogue for 1973,

where a handwritten note for the
Edgar tankard of that year is priced

at £1.98 for seconds, which I assume

were not part of the numbered run,

and £3.45 for first quality. This

all leads to another set of conun-
drums, but life is all about learning.

I have attempted to demonstrate
that for a new collector, benefits

come from trying to pick an area

of interest with a small produc-

tion run, or sometimes a restrict-

ed area of knowledge – this can

shorten the learning curve. Fol-
lowing my own advice, I have now

moved on to a very specific collect-

ing field where the knowledge and

documented research is practically

non-existent, which is really giv-

ing me some great fun when chal-

lenging the noted glass experts.
In conclusion, I’ve spent ten

years of meandering around in the

glass world and still have a hanker-
ing to understand it all, but know

that will never be possible. Glass

has been used in so many special-

ist areas – how many of us have

been aware that the first heart

valves fitted by Christian Barnard

were made of glass and that glass

springs are used in industry; glass,

an inert material with infinitely
diverse uses. It will just never stop,

that is why it is all so fascinating.

Happy collecting from the Archive Hunter

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

RETIREMENT

Richard Golding RETIRES

His last open day at Station Class – 8.12.2018

H&c
last open day at

Station Class –
8.12.2018

Alan & Judith
Cower

F
arly

last December, we visit-

ed Station Glass once again

to experience the wonder of live

glass making on Richard’s last

open day and to hopefully buy

more pieces to add to our col-

lection of Richard Golding glass.

We arrived late and could see

that the display stands were already

almost completely bare of glass cre-

ations but we did manage to acquire

a lovely piece for ourselves,
(Fig.1).

The station waiting room was

thronged with nearly 100 people,

including many long-time friends

– definitely standing room only. Rich-
ard was in his element, making a
whimsical creation which became

a clown faced vase based on a piece
of pottery he had seen previously in

Sicily
(Fig.2).
The magical way that

he created the piece was as fascinat-

ing to watch as ever. A blob of red

glass here, a twist there and back in
the kiln, on and on with such dex-

terity until triumphantly Richard

held up the finished piece to great

applause. All the way
through he was

ably assisted by
Kayleigh Young

who is taking
over Richard’s

glass works

and relaunch-
ing in Jan-

uary 2019.

INSET Fig.2

Clown face vase
RIGHT Fig. 2

Richard at his

furnace in

Shenton Station
Fig.1

Alan & Judith’s purchase.

Following the live glass mak-

ing demonstration, Mike Enev-

er, who used to sell Richard’s work
from Okra Glass, gave a presen-
tation speech looking back over

Richard’s glass making career

and then presented Richard with
two glossy books of comments

from well-wishers, including a
piece by Charles Hajdamach
(fol-

lowing this article)
and with pho-

tographs of many happy times.

Richard was quite overwhelmed
by all this attention and said that

it was the end of an era, but the

glass workshop was in good hands
with his successor Kayleigh Young,

who has been working and training

with him for seven years. Richard
also told us that in recent weeks
the glass furnace had to be rebuilt

twice due to the pot cracking – quite
unusual but somewhat prophetic.
Although leaving Station Glass,

Richard informed us that he would

be returning for two days a month
for some while, to come and make

pieces that were purely creative,

pieces that he wanted to make rather

than more production work
(Fig.3).
I

am sure if these are offered for sale
they will be snapped up. Richard and

his partner Sandra now have more
time to themselves, starting with

an exotic holiday. Richard is also
multi-talented, makes and repairs

violins, plays the guitar, violin and

a 5 string banjo, and of course San-
dra is also an artist. So they will

have plenty to fill their extra time.

Richard can be contacted at:

[email protected]

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

RETIREMENT

Fig.4

Richard holding the GA vase in

the making – 2016.

A Tribute to

Richardadding
Charles Hajdamach

i
first heard about Richard when he

1 had a glass studio at Lightwater
Park in Yorkshire and I was in the
throes of planning the new Broad-
field House Glass Museum in King-

swinford in the late 1970s. Behind

the 18th/early 19th century house

which was to form the main muse-

um, there was a large barn which I

hoped we could turn into a glass-
making studio to complement the

main static displays. Using the prize

money from our award for Best

Small Museum in 1980, we mod-

ernised the interior of the barn and

installed gas, electricity and water
and began to look around for suit-

able tenants. At this stage, our old
friend serendipity turned up and

we heard that Richard was keen to
move out of the Yorkshire theme
park and after a few quick nego-

tiations it was agreed that Rich-

ard would lease the studio space at
Kingswinford for the next five years.
Since those heady days of new

museum and studio, I have kept in

touch with Richard and followed
his glass career through a num-

ber of moves to different premis-
es and partnerships, his changing

employees all with skills that add-

ed to Richard’s own, and his con-
stantly evolving body of work. In

those years and during many long

conversations over a beer or two, it

became apparent to me that Richard

was not merely a superb glassmak-

er but that he was also a polymath

who had interests in many other sci-
entific, engineering and philosoph-

ical beliefs combined with a deep
respect for native cultures around

the world. One example from those
discussions was his theory of using

hydrogen to create an alternative
power source for the combustion
engine, long before it became rec-

ognised by established govern-
ments and engineering companies

as the obvious choice for the future.
In the glass world, Richard Gold-

ing is that rare breed who is glass-
blower, glass artist, glass designer,

glass technologist and innovator,
and effortlessly moves between
them all whether it be building a

glass furnace from scratch or blow-
ing a multi-layered cameo vase.

Trained at the internationally
respected International Glass Cen-

tre in Brierley Hill, now sadly closed,
Richard has been one of the guiding

lights of the glass world for the last
five decades. Using the trademark
name of Okra Glass, his speciality

has been iridescent glass combined

with many other difficult techniques

(Fig.5).
That body of work is impres-

sive by any standard and reflects a
dedication to his craft which is the
envy of many. He has also always

supported other glassmakers and

Fig.5

Richard Golding
students, sharing his extensive glass

knowledge willingly and unselfishly.

Many established glassmakers, dec-
orators and cameo carvers in their

own right, owe him a great debt.

If I were asked to produce an

international super-league table of
the best glassmakers in the world,
Richard Golding’s name would be
high on that list of pantheon greats.

If proof were needed of that, I would
quote the astonishing vase he pro-

duced in 2005 entitled The Creation

Vase – Day One in which he com-
bines his iridescent technique with
cameo glass. Iridescence in cameo

glass is not new but in the ‘Creation

Vase’, Richard achieved the techni-
cally challenging task of including
the iridescent layer as the central

one of five layers. He then had to
carve the two outside layers with
the swirls of the creation to reveal

that central layer and then re-heat

the vase and spray it to obtain

the iridescent effect. This unique

achievement in the history of cameo

glass was never matched, let alone

attempted, by the hugely talent-
ed glassmakers working for Louis

Comfort Tiffany in America, or for

Emile Galle in France, yet this unas-

suming genius called Golding comes
up with a world first from his small

back garden studio in Wordsley.
It is a shame that Britain has

never introduced its own ver-

sion of America’s “Living Nation-
al Treasures” award; if it did then
Richard Golding would without

doubt be one of the first recipients.
Having known this glassmaking

superstar over many years, I con-

sider it an honour and a privilege

to be able to call him a true friend.
Following his years as chairman

of The Glass Association, Charles R.
Hajdamach FSGT, accepted the posi-
tion of Life President. He is the author

of the standard reference books on

English 19th and 20th century glass,
an international lecturer and the
former Principal Museum Curator

(Director) of Broad field House Glass
Museum and Dudley Art Galleries.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

NEWS & REVIEWS

Changes at _Bonhams Ceramics & Class Department
John Sandon
ohn Sandon joined Phillips as a

3
junior specialist in 1975 at the

tender age of 16. He became Head

of the Ceramics & Glass Department

in 1988 and continued in the role

when Bonhams and Phillips merged,

working alongside The Glass Circle’s
Honorary President, Simon Cottle.

John Sandon makes regular appear-

ances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow

and is the author of eight books on
porcelain and glass including Mill-
ers Guide to Collecting Porcelain.
Earlier this year, John retired from

the day to day management of Bon-
hams Ceramics and Glass depart-

ment, though continues for Bonhams
as a consultant. He will still take part

of each sale as auctioneer and take a

significant role in the department.
Fergus Gambon has taken over as

Head of Department and James

Peake has joined as a specialist with

particular responsibility for glass.

James Peake

j
ames completed an MSc in Pro-

fessional Conservation at Cardiff

University on the chemical analysis

of enamelled glass fragments from

12th and 13th century Egypt and
Syria, followed in 2013 by a PhD in

Archaeology from Cardiff University
on the chemical analysis of 5th to 7th
century Anglo-Saxon glass beads. In

2014 he joined the European Ceram-
ics & Glass Department at Bonhams

in New Bond Street as a Junior Cata-

loguer and in 2015 went on to found
the Ceramics & Glass department

at Chiswick Auctions in West Lon-
don before returning to Bonhams.

James is a member of the committees

of The Glass Society and the British

Association for the History of Glass.

Donations

Peter Lole
I n the last issue of Glass
Matters, we remembered

Peter Lole, who passed away in

November 2018. Peter, an eru-

dite gentleman, was a member

of The Glass Association and

The Glass Circle. He lived for

part of his life in Didsbury, Man-
chester and whilst there, was

acquainted with key GA mem-

bers such as Peter Helm. The
Glass Association was recently
delighted to find that as one of

the beneficiaries in his will they

had been left £1000. This lega-
cy will be allocated to the first

Journal of The Glass Society,

to be published later this year.

John Smith
F
rom all his friends at The

Glass Society, a donation

was sent to The Royal Mars-

den NHS Foundation Trust to
commemorate John P. Smith

(d.24.2.2019), in appreciation

of his longstanding contribution
to glass studies and his chair-

manship of The Glass Circle.
The Diageo glass

S
collection at Santa

“”-: Vittoria dAlba
Rosa Barovier Mentasti

This is an introduction to the impres-

sive catalogue of the Diageo collection
which The Glass Society is visiting

in September. Formerly the Cinzano

collection, since when glass has been
added and the previous small black

& white catalogue completely re-de-
signed into a hardback full colour vol-
ume with superb photographs and
extensive text in Italian and English

1
-1
his catalogue presents a col-

lection of glass in many excep-

tional ways. The DIAGEO collection

consists of one hundred forty-four

cups, glasses and glass bowls dating

back to the Roman Empire up until
the nineteenth century. They rep-
resent the most refined glassware

from East to West up to the Middle

Ages and exclusively European pro-
ductions from the Renaissance to the
Baroque and revival periods. This col-

lection is an expansive survey over
time and place; a result of careful
research within the most important

antique market and a rigorous selec-
tion process by experts in the field.

It includes masterpieces of glass art

at its highest level and illustrates a

wide variety of techniques and styles,
ranging from Roman mosaic glass

decorations in enamel; from water-

marks to graffiti; Dutch stippling

to Bohemian, German, Norwegian

and Russian engravings. The col-

lection boasts a number of British

lead glass, known for its simple ele-

gance or featuring richly decorated
stems or cups. It is also the story of
the pleasures of the banquet: since

the invention of glass-blowing, glass

has been the ideal container for social
drinks. Wine, in particular, has bene-

fited from the transparent properties

of glass, which showcase its colour,
thereby enhancing its organoleptic

qualities. About thirty years after
the publication of the first catalogue

that accompanied the collection in

exhibitions at prestigious muse-

ums, this rich and updated catalogue

stems from an audit conducted in the
light of developments in the histo-

ry of glass. It also includes recently

acquired works, never before pub-

lished, and a broad introduction of
the history of glass from its origin.

PENT
AGRAM sr
l
/
Boo
ks
hop

de
LE STANZE

DEL
VETRO/
Iso
la

di
San
Giorg
io

Magg
iore

Ven

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

LETTERS

A Query on Snuff Mulls
From Peter Kaellgren in Canada.

Peter is the Curator Emeritus of The

Royal Ontario Museum. His specialty is

decorative arts post-1500 AD with an

emphasis on British material.
was
pleased to read Jill Turn-

bull’s article on “Glass Snuff

Mulls” in the October 2018 issue

of Glass Matters. It is always use-
ful to examine some of the more

unusual pieces of glass that were
produced in the past as it can pro-

vide important insights into social
history. I am querying the identi-
fication of the hand-tooled boot-

shaped vessel in Figure 20, which is

identified as a potential snuff mull.
I do not believe it fits into this cate-

gory; first, in terms of use, it would

be very difficult to get the snuff out,
secondly, British glass workers usu-

ally planned their pieces carefully.

Most of the snuff mulls illustrated

have a plain or recessed area around
the outside of the opening to allow

for a metal rim to be attached with

a hinged top. This kind of planning
for a mount is often found on Brit-

ish glass and ceramic tankards and
jugs where there is a recess around
the outside of the rim. Though

I accept that some snuff mulls
just had corks to close the end.
It is more likely that the boot-

shape is a drinking vessel. Although
they are not common, such drink-

ing vessels have been discussed in

earlier glass literature. The pio-

neer glass scholar, Albert Harts-

horne in his
Old English Glass: An

Account of Glass Drinking Vessels in

England from Early Times to the End

of the Eighteenth Century.
London:

E. Arnold, 1897, Chapter XXIII,

page 341, Figure 347, had seen only

a few examples which he dated to

about 1765. Hartshorne suggests
that they “may have been made in

honour, or rather contempt, of Lord
Bute, who was hated with an unex-

ampled fury, and whose emblem,
the Boot, was burnt by the mob”.
Hartshorne notes that other

examples of boot-shaped drinking

glasses survive, including a Neth-
erlandish example from the early

1600s, 5
1
/2 inches tall, preserved

at the Musee Archeologique, Liege.

James Yoxall in his
Collecting

Old Glass — English & Irish,
offers

a more general discussion of the
boot-shaped drinking glass: “‘Boot’

glasses are small blown vessels in
the shape of riding-boots, proba-

bly used for spirits in the parting
dram, otherwise called the stir-

rup cup. There seems little foun-

dation for the suggestion that

these were emblems of Lord Bute

in the days of George III: for as Mr.
Hartshorne discovered, a jack-boot

glass is preserved in the museum
of Liege and another in a Dutch
Museum at Steen, and these are

older and more elaborate than
the English ‘boot’ glasses. I own

two of these which Mr. Harts-

horne collected, and on which he

based the ‘Bute’ suggestion, but
small ‘boot’ glasses are exceedingly
rare. A large one, cut and 12 inch-
es high, was once offered to me, I

think it came from Liege. Large

boot glasses striped with white are

sometimes seen; ‘boot’ glasses can

hardly have been peculiar to Great
Britain. It would be interesting to

hear how knowledgeable scholars

in The Glass Society would date

and attribute these “boot” glasses.

Replying to Peter Kaellgren
Jill Turnbull

I
t is always good to have a response

to an article; in reply, I’ll take

Peter’s points in order: The circum-

ference of the top of the boot glass

is no different from the other mulls;
many of them are too small to access

the snuff with fingers, which is why

small spoons were made to accom-

pany them. The owner of the boot

mull has a number of examples. The

small top of the boot mull would be
more difficult to drink from than to

extract snuff with a spoon. Several

of the other mulls illustrated in the

article have no trace of a hinged lid;
they were cheap and, as in this case,

simply closed with a cork cut to fit.
There does not appear to be any
hard evidence that small boot glasses

were used as stirrup cups, while larg-
er examples almost certainly were.

Yoxall disagrees with Hartshorne’s

supposition that there was a con-
nection to the Marquis of Bute, and

he illustrates two glasses which are

very similar to the one in my article.
W.A.Thorpe, in his
‘History of

English and Irish Glass’ (vol
1,1929,

p.334) writes of ‘Boot-shaped glass-

es of clear, blue, and white opaque

glass’. He goes on to suggest that
there is a tradition of ‘derision’

for the 3rd Earl of Bute, ‘a shuf-

fling politician’, explaining that

after John Wilkes attacked the Earl
in print and was then put on tri-

al,’ a jack-boot and petticoat were
burnt by the mob. This seems to

be the origin of glass jack-boots’.

An interesting theory, but with-
out any evidence of their purpose,

or the tradition, I remain sceptical

of the drinking glass conclusion.
So what evidence do I have that

the glass boot is a snuff mull? It

is not proven, but there are other

known boot-shaped mulls used for

snuff in leather and papier-mache,

so to assume that this small glass

boot had the same function is rea-
sonable. Snuff was taken by all lev-
els of society and the mulls and

boxes reflect this. Unless more evi-

dence comes to light, the intend-
ed use of the small glass boot will

remain uncertain, but until it

does, I’m voting for the snuff mull.

Glass Matters Issue no,5 July 2019

LETTERS

In Simon Cottle’s article on the
15th century Venetian Field Cup

(Glass Matters No.2, July 2018), he

includes an illustration taken from
the catalogue of the exhibition of

Art treasures of the UK, Manches-
ter, 1857. The circular bowl in that

lithograph is very similar in style to
one I have here in my modest col-

lection and I wondered if anyone
could throw any light on its ori-

gin, or indeed has anything similar.
Although my collection is large-

ly of earlier British glass, when
I saw this in the closing down

sale of a small antique shop in
Brighton back in the 1970’s, I

couldn’t resist this bowl / dish

for its sheer flamboyance. From

its synthetic green colour and

style of decoration, I’d always
assumed it was made in Venice cir-
ca 1900, but maybe I was wrong.
The piece is 42cm in diame-

ter and about 4cm in depth, the

centre bowl ribbed, the outer rim

bowed and it has a folded rim. The
gilding is still in remarkably good

condition and consists of car-

touches interspersed with classi-
cal scenes and tiny white opaque

glass beads. A torn scrap of paper

adhered to the back of the piece,

says the classical scenes were tak-
en from 18th century paintings

by the Venetian artist, Zuccarelli.
I enclose some photo-

graphs, with many thanks.
Twist Class Studio

Mike Hunter, a talented glass artist, is

responding to two articles in Glass Mat-

ters 3. One on ‘The World ofMURRINE’

and the second on ’18th Century RE-
PRODUCTION Glasses — REVISITED’

Ufirstly I would like to thank Bri-
t
.
an Clarke for the article on

Murrine that shows two examples

of my work. As regards the article

18th Century Reproduction Glass-

es-Revisited, I am a little less happy.
I was annoyed at the mention of

my name in association with the word
reproduction. There are many factors

that show my glasses are not reproduc-

tions; they are ‘made in the style of or
`using similar techniques’ and are not

faithful to the sizes and dimensions of

18th century glasses. Only the stems
are made similarly and therefore con-
temporary in appearance. Anything

that I’ve made for the film industry

that could vaguely be called ‘reproduc-

tion’ would not be in view long enough

to tell if it was or was not. These and

the production glasses I make, have

been designed intentionally so as NOT
to confuse the market, a principle

that follows through in all my design-
ing. Are the air twist glasses I have

seen recently in department stores
classed as reproductions? I think not!

Colin English wrote how dis-

respectful and insensitive it was

of the Glass Association to men-
tion two glassmakers and the top-

ic of reproduction glasses, but he
then went on to name myself, I

found this even more disrespectful!
After 44 years in the industry I

am a regular visitor to the US giving
presentations and demonstrations
to collectors from across the country

and my work has been the subject of
many artides written by Association

members over the years. I do have a

story to tell, and perhaps now you
would grant me the chance to give
this presentation to your members.
Michael James Hunter & Susan

Hunter founders of Twists Glass Studio

Can you &eau
Peter Adamson replies to
Can you iden-

tify?
on the back cover of
Glass matters

No.4, which said ‘This glass, thought

to be from circa 1820, has been called a
Jacobite and a tumbling glass, it can’t

be all three !’

M
y

immediate reaction was why

not ? If we accept that the date

of the glass is C 1820 and that the
engraving is sympathetic to the Jaco-

bite cause then yes it can be all three.
Jacobite dubs continued to meet well

into the 19th century and some con-

tinue to this day. I imagine almost all

would have commissioned glasses
for drinking loyal toasts and replace-
ments as needed (drinking dubs and

glasses can be a dangerous mix). Those

still loyal to the cause would also have

had glasses engraved for private use.
19th and 20th century glass-

es engraved with Jacobite symbols,

produced as club replacements or

for private use are not uncommon.

(Not excluding those which have been

later engraved on period 18th centu-
ry glasses for financial gain, a perpet-

ual minefield for the inexperienced).
So yes I think I can identi-

fy!
(Assuming the glass is period

and the engraving contemporary).
It is a Jacobite tumbling glass.

Nickola Smith

Former curator at the Bristol City

Museum & Art Gallery

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

EVENTS

GLASS
SOCIETY

The Glass Society
Study Day & AGM

Saturday 12th October 2019

Norwich Castle Museum and

Art Gallery

The day commences at 10am, fol-
lowed by our first AGM as The

Glass Society. We are then priv-

ileged to have a presentation by
the eminent glass sculptor, David
Reekie. After lunch, Francesca Van-

ke, senior curator, will talk on the

museum’s glass collection before

guiding us around the collection.
Full details and the book-

ing form are on the flyer

enclosed with this magazine.

London Meetings
at the AWG

Held in
the
Gradidge room at the

Art Workers’
Guild, 6 Queen Square,

London, WC I N 3AT.

W
e meet at 6.30pm for light

refreshments, with presen-

tations starting at 7.15pm. The

charge is £15 payable on the night.

Increased room hire fees means

we are now obliged to raise our
attendance fees to cover costs. We

also require a minimum of 4 mem-
bers to volunteer as co-hosts to
cover the cost of refreshments for
each meeting. There are no onerous

duties, only a financial contribution.
The following fees will apply:-

•
Glass Society members and

members of related soci-

eties: attendance fee £15,

(includes refreshments).

•
All other attendees: £20.

Please let the Meetings Organiser,

Anne Lutyens-Stobbs, know via email
([email protected]) if you wish
to attend a meeting. Please also notify

her if you are willing to co-host @ £20.

If you, or someone you know,

have a glass topic you feel passionate

about, do get in touch, we are always

seeking interesting new speakers.

Tuesday
I

2th November 20
I
9

Sally Scott, Architectur-
al Glass Engraver and
Painter

Architectural Glass Projects’
This lecture will presents land-

mark projects from Sally’s career as a

glass artist spanning three decades.

Tuesday 10th December 2019
Colin Brain, Independent Researcher

and Author, former President of the

Association for the History of Glass

`In Search of British Seven-
teenth-Century Crystal Glass’

Over the last two decades,

the speaker has revised and
enlarged our knowledge of the

earliest fine glassmaking in Brit-

ain. This evening, he will pres-
ent a summary of his findings.

Thursday 12th March 2020
Katharine Coleman, MBE,

Glass engraver and artist

`Modern European Glass Engraving’
This lecture will introduce

the exhibition of contemporary
glass engraving curated by Kath-

arine for the
Museum of Contem-

porary European Glass
at Rosenau,

Coburg, April to November 2020.

Glass tour to Italy

Tr
avelling to and returning from

Milan, this tour runs from Thurs-

day September 12 to Monday Sep-

tember 16, among other visits, we will

be spending time at the Diageo Col-

lection at Santa Vittoria d’Alba.
(See

the initial itinerary in Glass Matters 4).

We can still accommodate a few extra
places — please contact David Wil-

lars, at [email protected] for
details and final itinerary. The Collec-

tion Catalogue is reviewed on page 36.

Glass
Fairs:

National Glass Fair

Sunday 10th
November 2019

Sunday
10th May 2020

Sunday 8th November 2020

www.glassfairs.co.uk

Held at: National Motorcycle Museum,
Birmingham, B92 OEJ.

(Junction
6 of
the M42)

Ickworth Decorative
Glass Fair

Sunday 15th September 2019

www.cambridgeglassfair.com

The new lckworth Decorative Glass
Fair will be held at lckworth House,

Horringer, near Bury
St

Edmunds, Suf-

folk IP29 5SA .The
fair
will be

open

from
10.30am until 5.00pm

Knebworth Fair
Sunday 23rd February 2020
www.cambridgeglassfaircom
Held at:
Knebworth Barns, Knebworth

Park, Hertfordshire,
SG3
6PY

IFC anaiennale
rT
1

he International Festival of Glass, is being

I held over the bank holiday weekend at Stour-

bridge, W.Midlands from 23 to 26 August along

with the British Glass Biennale 23 August to 28 Sep-
tember, shown at Ruskin Mill. All event details

are shown on the Ruskin Mill Trust website:-
https:/www.rmlt.org.uk/international-festival-of-glass
Our member, Clive Manison is giving a talk at the
Red House Cone, Stourbridge, Sat.24th Aug at 11.00arn.

The subject is “Evidence for the Existence of Original
Designs by Dr. Christopher Dresser in the Pattern Books

of Thomas Webb & Co., Stourbridge”. Entrance is free.
The British Glass Biennale – The work is a cut-

ting-edge showcase of contemporary British

based glass talent. Financial awards to be won
include two prizes from The Glass Society — the

winners will depend on you visiting and voting.

Glass Matters Issue no.5 July 2019

crass

M A T ‘T’ E R. S

The joint magazine of
THE GLASS CIRCLE
and

THE GLASS ASSOCIATION

Pro vvtoti-v
n
,0 the ixtAAerstatA,di,K,0

cm,ot
apprecisti,ovx,
of
siass

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Glass Society Glass Matters_No.5, Jul 2019

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