Glass Society Glass Matters_No.6, Oct 2019

THE MAGAZINE OF THE GLASS SOCIETY

October 20I 9
Issue No. 6

ISSN25 1 6- 1 555

Simon

Wain-Hobson

Lesley Pyke
Bill Millar

Alan Gower

Michael Lines

Editor

Bill Millar
9

15
17

29
31

Chairmens’ message

Dale Chihuly at Kew
Gaby

Marcon – Clarke
3

Matter of Ambivalence
Dedo
von

Kerssenbrock-Krosigk
6

Kit-Kat glasses

Glass Engraver

Glass Caddy Spoons

Station Glass

Silver overlay glass

Memories of

Athelny Townshend

Art UK

N
ews

Letters

Events

Editorial

F
rom a difficult start to the year, we’ve put this issue

together with only a short delay and are now ‘back on

track’. Glass Matters 7 will reach you late in January 2020.

Before then, a member’s ‘Christmas bonus’ will be delivered

– the first ‘Journal of the Glass Society’, currently in final
preparation. Every effort has been made in this shorter

issue of GM6, to include a wide spread of interests; with
the comparison of ancient with contemporary glass in

Ambivalence’, an instructive discussion on the various names

and styles of 18th century glass — specifically on Kit-Kat

glasses, unexpected discoveries in museum collections, silver
overlay techniques commenced in the late 19th century and
the personal journey of a talented, modern glass engraver.
There is a profound message coming through from the

joint chairmen and committee member, Nigel Benson (see

articles). The chairmen asking you to become more involved in

arranging our members’ activities and then both offering you

a wonderful opportunity, to use your accumulated knowledge

with the National Trust. That knowledge could also be
used in articles of interest for Glass Matters; try starting by

introducing us to your favourite glass.

GLASS RESTORATION

GLASS
SOCIETY

Contents

ISSN 2516-1555

Issue 6, October 2019
Jointly published by the Glass Circle and

The Glass Association

©Contributors, The Glass Association and The Glass Circle

Editor:
Brian J Clarke

[email protected]

Design & layout:
Emma Nelly Morgan

[email protected]

Printed by:
Warners Midlands plc

www.warners.co.uk

Next copy date:
4 December 2019

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.
Copyright is acknowledged for the photographs illustrating articles,

though neither the Editor nor the committees are responsible for

inadvertent infringements. All photographs are copyright the author

unless otherwise credited.”

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;

Simon Wain-Hobson; Bob Wilcock

FRONT COVER:
Kit-Kat decanter c1700 sold

Bonhams lot 38 19 May 2010. C)Bonhams (see article)

BACK COVER:
The collection of glass Tea Caddy

spoons, courtesy of the Dudley Museum Services

Collection (see article)

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

Sue Newell, Joint Chairman

David Willars, Joint Chairman

of The Glass Society

CHAIRMEN’S MESSAGE

Chairmen ‘s
Message

0
n 12th October, the beau-

tiful city of Norwich was

the venue for this year’s

AGM and we were very fortunate
to be hosted by the Castle Museum.

Guest speaker in the morning ses-

sion was David Reekie, a local resi-
dent, who took us through a lifetime

spent in glass, producing the char-

acteristic figurative forms for which
he is well-known
(Figs.1 & 2).
David

explained that his earlier influenc-

es at Stourbridge College of Art

were Harry Seager and Irene Ste-
vens, who together with Keith Cum-
mings enabled him to perfect his own

version of the lost wax technique.
The afternoon session was devot-

ed to the collections of the Castle

Museum itself and after a brief talk,

Senior Curator Dr Francesca Vanke

walked the party through the galleries,
focussing on the glass exhibits. One

highlight was a late sixteenth-cen-
tury bird shaped flask, made possi-

bly in Antwerp or Middleburg, that
was excavated relatively recently

in almost perfect condition, it was

found at Baconsthorpe, Norfolk,

having lain at the bottom of a well for

most of the intervening years
(Fig.3).

Glass decorated by William Absolon,
from nearby Great Yarmouth, who

Fig.1
David Reekie.

Something of a

Fig.2
David Reekie.

Relationship

Casual Bystanders V
was active around

the turn of the eigh-

teenth century, is

also featured in the
Museum. Predict-

ably, given their pos-
sible Norfolk origins,

several items show-
ing characteristic
Lynn rings are also on display.
At the AGM we were able to report

the good news that our application
for Charitable Incorporated Organ-

isation (CIO) status for the Glass

Society has been approved by the

Charities Commission. This means
that we can now begin the task of

merging the two groups in a legal and
fiscal sense. In the early days this will

involve appointing new Trustees as
well as writing ‘Rules’ to be used as
a guide for the day to day running of

the Society alongside the official con-
stitution. Eventually, you will receive
notification that all payments should

be made to a new GS bank account.
We must yet again urge you to

become actively involved in your

Society. If you can organise an event
in your area, involvement need not

be burdensome, and we are keen to

arrange more meetings and visits in
the Midlands and the North where

glassmaking history is so strong. Of

course, certain activities require more

specific skills that cannot be acquired
overnight, but any help would be

gratefully received. During the AGM,
reference was made to possible coop-

eration with The National Trust.

Our group contains a great depth

LEFT Fig.3

Late 16th Century Bird Shaped Flask

ABOVE Fig.4
Diageo Cellars. Barrels with Glass Collection
of knowledge relating to all types of

glass. The National Trust has with-
in its properties a huge collection of

glass from all periods, much of which
is unidentified. By bringing the two

groups together our members could
indulge themselves, whilst at the

same time delivering a lasting benefit
to the National Trust. One requisite

is that we’d need to provide assis-
tance in those regions of the coun-

try where the National Trust needs

help; so we’re asking you to register

your interest.
(For information see let-

ter from Nigel Benson in News section).
Traditionally one of the great

delights of our Society (Glass Circle

and Glass Association) has been over-
seas visits. A group of us have recent-
ly returned from a trip to Northern
Italy. Taking in six museums in four

days, as well as a few typically Italian

dinners, we managed to arrive back at

Milan airport without losing anyone,
although there were a few dose calls!

The highlight of the trip was a visit
to the Diageo (formerly Cinzano) col-

lection of European glass in Alba, just
outside Turin. Housed in the original

Cinzano factory, the collection com-
prises approximately 150 items which

are beautifully housed in specially
modified oak barrels situated in the
original cellars
(Fig.4).
It is often said

that the Italians excel at presentation,

but in this instance the quality of the
collection matched its surroundings.
Special thanks are due to Paul Bish-

op and Christine Glover for organis-

ing our day in Norwich, and to Judith

Gower, our Honorary Secretary who
has the shouldered the burden of
pushing through the CIO negotiations.

•

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

GLASS DESIGN

Chihuli at KEW:
Reflection on nature

Gaby Marcon – Clarke
BELOW (LEFT) Fig.1

Sapphire Star (2010) at night

BELOW (RIGHT) Fig. 2
Summer Sun

Cummings published in Issuel, Jan-
uary 2018. She concludes her arti-
cle by stating that
‘Seeing his work

is pure pleasure’.
I totally agree with

her statement. Whether you are
drawn to glass as a medium or not,

whether you are a connoisseur or an
aesthete, or whether you appreciate

art and nature, Chihuly’s work com-
mands attention, generates emo-

tions and a sense of wonderment.
The 32 art installations are locat-

ed across the gardens in 13 loca-

tions including glasshouses, vistas

and galleries. As you enter through

Victoria Gate, you are met with the

LEFT Fig.3

Paintbrushes (2016)

RIGHT Fig. 4

Chartreuse Hornet

Polyvitro Chandelier

ale Chihuly is back at

Kew Royal Botanic

Gardens 14 years after

his first enormously successful

show which attracted almost
lm visitors. I went to Kew

at the height of the summer

when the light was at its best
and the air still warm at clos-

ing time, so as to experience
the work in its dazzling splen-

dour. I was hugely rewarded

and so were the extraordinary
number of people who have

been flocking to the gardens
ever since it opened last April.
The exhibition has been

drawing people partly out of
curiosity and partly out of the fas-

cination for an artist who has used

the ancient tradition of glassmaking

to break the boundaries and create

objects that transform and enrich
the environment rather than simply

decorate it, inviting people who have
never been to such an extraordinary

national treasure and UNESCO

world heritage site that is Kew Gar-

dens, to appreciate its beauty and

admire Chihuly’s large installations.
I am sure most readers of ‘Glass

Matters’ are acquainted with Chi-

huly’s body of work, especially after
the very informative article by Janet
Sapphire Star (Fig.1),

its individual

blown glass forms radiating out-

wardly, the vibrant blue colour in
the centre becoming increasing-

ly opaque at the tips. To the right
are the fiery red and yellow swirls
of
Summer Sun (Fig.2),
set on the

lakeside by the Palm House. This
is just the beginning of an exciting
journey of discovery and apprecia-

tion of both art and plants and an

opportunity to admire nature in a

totally different way. In some cas-

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

Fig. 5

Beluga Boat (2018)

.5.
Fig. 6

Chihuly’s Persians
‘

GLASS DESIGN

1,882 separate, spiky elements
in yellow at the bottom and fiery
red at the top, the installation

seems to spring from the ground
upwards in line with the trees sur-
rounding it. It truly is a feast of

human and technical ingenuity.

Chihuly’s work is far more at

home in this setting than in a gal-

lery, although the Shirley Sherwood
Gallery of Botanical Art, in Kew

Gardens, featuring both drawings

and smaller works, from seashells

to vases of organic and intricate

forms, is not to be missed.
The

exhibition is open until 27 October.

es, the installations are mixed with

the plants as if they were made by
nature, as in the case of
Paintbrush-

es (Fig.3),
shooting up from the soil

like a cluster of candles and brushes,

interplaying with plants and flow-

ers.
Chartreuse Hornets (Fig.4)

and

the
Beluga Boat (Fig.5)

whose ele-

ments have been placed together

ever so cleverly so as to appear as

an exotic and bulbous plant, or as
Chihuly very aptly stated:
‘I think

a lot of it comes from the fact that
we don’t like to use a lot of tools, but
natural elements to make glass – fire,

gravity, centrifugal force. As a result,
it begins to look like it was made by
nature’ –
as with the stunning blue

chandelier, hanging from the roof

of the Temperate House, formed

BELOW (LEFT) Fig.
7

Niijima Floats

BELOW (RIGHT)Fig. 8
Icicle Tower
from

Chihuly’s Persians (Fig.6).

Most of the pieces on display,

spanning the artist’s 50 year career,
are not new work, although some
have not been seen in the UK before.
However, it is the choice of setting

that is so extraordinary, as with the
Niijima Floats (Fig.7):
large, brightly

coloured glass spheres, some weigh-

ing up to 60 pounds and inspired by
the Japanese fishing boats in the

island of Niijima, Chihuly introduced

them first in 1991 and since then

they have been appearing in a variety

of settings, both on water and on the

ground, indoors and outdoors. They

blend in so well within the Japanese
Zen garden with its stylized land-

scape of rocks, water features, moss,

sand, and with the Pagoda and the
Japanese Gateway dose by, that they

seem to have always belonged there.

Further along is the
Icicle Tow-

er (Fig.8),
standing tall with its

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

AMBIVALENCE

MATTER
of Ambivalence

Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk

0
n the 27th of June

2019, I was privileged

to give an illustrated

talk to members of The Glass

Society at The Art Workers
Guild in London, under the

title
Matter of Ambivalence:

Aspects of glass in Ancient Cul-
tures and the Middle Ages.
Large

portions of this presentation
have just been published in the
journal of the Bard Graduate Cen-
ter in New York’ and I therefore

hesitated to repeat my findings

in The Glass Society’s magazine.
However, Brian Clarke resource-

fully pointed out that I had com-

menced my presentation with

a picture of the intriguing glass

sculpture by Czech artist Jan Figar
(1933-2010), and consequently

asked whether I would be willing
to change the focus of an article on

ambivalence to involve this artist; to

which I gladly agreed. So, here we go.
Recently, a visitor to Glasmu-

seum Hentrich told me about the

emotional impact that artistic and

sculptural glass had on her, despite
it being such a cold, slick, and brittle
material. Looking at glass apparent-

ly evokes some sort of tension; as it

were, a matter of ambivalence. The

adjective
ambivalent
means to have

two opposing feelings at the same

time. It is much stronger than
ambig-

uous,
which is merely something

that has more than one possible

meaning – so, basically, everything.

The most obvious ambivalence

lies in the fragility of glass. While
being used to make the most stun-

ning artefacts, everybody knows

how easily these can break and thus

lose all their value. This seems to
have been a running theme through
Roman glass production. Think of

the delicacy that cage cups express

with every single detail. But even
Fig.1

Beaker, Roman Empire, 1st c. A.D., amber-

coloured glass, mold-blown, 20.7 x 10.3 cm,

Dusseldorf; Kunstpalast, Glasmuseum Hentrich,

gift of Helmut Hentrich (P 1966-329),
photo: Kunstpalast

ordinary drinking vessels were often

so thin that they threaten to shat-

ter at the slightest touch. That fea-

ture was not to everybody’s delight:

Clement of Alexandria (died before

AD 216), one of the Church Fathers,
fumed, “The elaborate vanity, too,

of vessels in glass chased, more

apt to break on account of the art,
teaching us to fear while we drink,
is to be banished from our

well-ordered constitution”
2
.

A very deliberate play with

the proverbial fragility of

glass, becomes evident with
the 1st-century, so-called

almond – or lotus – beakers

(Fig.1).
There is good rea-

son to believe that original-

ly, these were neither meant

to represent almond nuts, nor

lotus buds, but rather a segment

from Hercules’ club. Glass, the

most brittle material available to

Roman craftsmanship chosen to

picture the sturdiest weapon of

Roman mythology. Hercules was

known to the Romans not only for

his twelve deeds, but also his pen-

chant for bacchanalian celebrations.

This is therefore another level of

ambivalence; to drink from this
vessel seems harmless, but it smites
down even the strongest warrior.
If such a broken and corroded

drinking vessel could instill partic-

ular emotions – if only some pity for

its sad condition, or, in consequence
for the drink gone lost – then that

is certainly much more the case for

Jan Figar’s sculptures. His “Pieta”

of 1991 is one of the most figura-
tive pieces that he ever made, even

though only the cladding of the

figures are represented, but not

themselves,
(Fig.2).

The two-part

composition on a metal pedestal

shows a Christian devotional image
that was popular since the Middle

Ages: the Virgin Mary mourns over

her dead son Jesus on her knees. A
Bohemian pieta of about 1400 is

a good example for the tradition-

al rendering of this very touching

scene
(Fig.3).
In Figar’s work, Mary’s

presence is reduced to her mantle,

and Jesus’ to his shroud. The latter,
due to its stylized, coiled appear-

ance, seems to allude to Jesus’ birth;

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

AMBIVALENCE

“Ye shall find the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes” and thus brings
the Nativity and Pieta together into
one image that symbolizees the
Incarnation of Christ from begin-

ning to end. Seldom a work of art

is asking its viewers so expressed-

ly to fill its void with content.

Jan FiSar had been trained in

sculpting in the class of sculptor
Josef Wagner (1901-1957) at the
university of applied arts in Prague,
from 1953 through to 1959. He was

particularly impressed by the lat-
ter’s admiration for the pathos of
Baroque sculpture, which conse-

quently had a deep impact on his

own work, when he became a free-

lance sculptor in wood and stone. In

1966-1971, Jan Haar was engaged
as a metalworker at the glass factory
in 2elezt-47Brod, and was then asked
to assist the glass artists Stanislav
Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova

with their monumental sculpture for

the world fair of 1967 in Montreal,
Canada. Encouraged by this cooper-

ation, he started to work with glass
himself, making glass sculptures on
metal pedestals and in the 1970s,

architectural glass installations.
In 1980 in northern Bohemia, he
Fig. 2

Jan Fifar, “Pieta,” 1991, 56,5x 60 x 30 cm,

coloured glass, blown, sawed, kiln-formed, cut,
Dusseldorf, Kunstpalast, Glasmuseum Hentrich,

collection Frauke Thole (LP 2016-27),
photo: Studio Fuis

must have been rather tight-lipped,
but he states: “Glass is beautiful, but

it is dangerous. Glass is a technolog-

ical problem, and that is also danger-
ous.” Needless to say, such a quote

is open to a wide range of interpre-
tations. I should like to point out

that as much as the “technological

problem” poses a danger, so does
the beauty of glass itself. Hardly any
other material is as beautiful per se

as glass, before any choice or inter-
vention by the artist. Has anyone

scooped some glass from the furnace
pot and spilt it on the factory floor?

– it will take on an unblemished and
shining shape. Haar, as with Czech

glass artists in general, accepts this
inherent natural beauty of glass, but is also aware of its dangerous allure
to resist making something trivial.
In 2015, the German collector

Frauke Thole gave her collection of

Fig. 3

Pieta, Bohemia, about 1400, limestone with
polychrome highlight, 38.1
x 39.1 x

14 cm, New

York, The Metropolitan Museum, The Cloisters
Collection, 2001 (2001.78), photo: Public Domain

moved into an abandoned factory

in Polevsko, north of Novy Bor, and
from then on worked exclusively in

his studio, assisted by the glass cut-
ter Jifi Jelinek – who continues to

work in these premises to this day.

In 1995, a film was made on Maar

and two other artists from Polevsko,

which contains scant but important
information on the artist’s percep-
tion of his own work’. Jan Figar

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

AMBIVALENCE

Fig. 4

Jan Filar, ‘Me and
my

kin”
(Ja ti moja
1995,

40
x

69 x
38 cm, optical glass, sawed,

kiln-formed, cut, Dusseldorf Kunstpalast,
Glasmuseum Hentrich, collection Frauke Thole

(LP 2016-16), photo: Studio Fuis

27 works by Jan Filar to the Glasmu-

seum Hentrich in the Kunstpalast
in Dusseldorf. Including the three

works the museum already owned
before this donation, the museum’s
collection now spans the artist’s
ceuvre from 1967 (the year after he

had started to work with glass) to
2002, with a concentration on the

last 15 years of that period,
(Fig.4).

His work has not had extensive expo-

sure in published articles, though the
exceptions are a sumptuous monog-

raphy by the Czech, German-based

gallery owner Eli§ka Stoking’ and

a small exhibition catalogue of

Ms. Thole’s collection of 2017
5
.
AUTHOR

Dr Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk is

Head of the Glasmuseum Hentrich,
Dusseldorf Kunstpalast Museum

and was Curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass from

2004-2008.

EN MOTES

1
The Meaning of Glass: Case Studies

from Mesopotamia to Rome,
in:
West

86th,
vol. 26, no. 1, 2019, pp. 38-60

2
Paedagogos
[The Instructor], 2nd

book, 3rd chapter, 35, 3: On Cost-
ly Vessels

3.
Jul
f Havrda,

eeske
sklo trochu jinak

[Bohemian glass a bit differently],
Ceska televize, Prague and Art-
Film, Zurich, 1995, 30 minutes

4.
Jan FiS’ar:
Glass, Seevetal:
Glas-

galerie Hittfeld, 2006

5.
Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk,

Glas — Schon and gefahrlich. Jan Filar,

Sammlung Frauke Thole, exhibition
catalogue, Kunstpalast, Glasmuse-

um Hentrich, Dusseldorf, 2017

We’re opening our doors, welcome to the feast..!
The gallery will open to the public
on a request to view basis
(for the time being).

Discounts available for

CGS and The Glass Society
members

Bruntnell Astley Contemporar

Glass & Crafts Gallery Ltd

No 4 The Newhouse

Stuarts Works

High Street, Wordsley

Stourbridge
DY8 4FB

So if you would like to arrange a visit
please email:[email protected]

or Phone 07850 395193

viewings can be daytime or evenings

and at weekends
BRUNTNELLIDIASTLEY

www.bruntnell-astley.com

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

KIT-CAT?

The
serious misnomer
of

KIT-CAT GLASSES

Simon Wain-Hobson

F
or the collector of Georgian

drinking glasses, the Kit-

Cat glass is a drawn trum-

pet glass with a knop, which is

frequently an inverted baluster

some two-thirds down the stem.
The foot can be domed or conical,

occasionally folded; they are rare-

ly engraved. They can be exquisite

(Fig.1) and on their day the most ele-

gant wines of the early eighteenth
century’.
These balustroid glasses

have the same bowl as tall toast-

ing glasses. Their advantage is
that when filled two-thirds full –

the custom of the day – the volume
of wine or sack drunk was actually

rather small. In short, these glass-
es were ideal for toasting in any

club of the day. They are so named

for they are considered to be used

by members of the Kit-Cat club, a
highly influential group of Whig

gentlemen, mainly aristocrats,
who met in London from around

1702 to 1718. As Kit-Kat, Kit Kat,
Kit-Cat, Kit Cat, Kitcat and kit-

kat are encountered in the various

literature, Kit-Cat will be co-opt-
ed as it was used in the definitive

study of the club by Ophelia Field
2

Collectors are familiar with the

painting of Thomas-Pelham-Holles,

showing 1st Duke of Newcastle-un-

der-Lyme and his cousin and broth-
er-in-law, Henry Fiennes-Clinton,
7th Earl of Lincoln using fashion-

able glasses
(Figs.2 & 3).

It hangs

high up in Room 9 of the Nation-

al Portrait Gallery in London. The
painting was the last in a series of

43 portraits of Kit-Cat club mem-

bers by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-

1723). Born Gottfried Kniller in
the Free city of Lubeck, he stud-

Fig. 1

A balustroid Kit-Cat “like” glass in the

cabinet of the author
© Nicola Smillie

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

KIT-CAT?

Fig. 2

The Kneller double portrait of 1721. The 1st Duke

of Newcastle-under-Lyme (left) and his cousin the
7th Earl of Lincoln with their Kit-Cat glasses

ied in Amsterdam and moved to
England in c1674-5 along with his

brother
3
. This double portrait fea-

tures two glasses, whose form have
come to be called the Kit-Cat type.

There are several problems with

the above narrative. The first is

that the Duke and Earl’s glasses

actually have a round funnel bowl

with a solid base over a cushion
knop, true baluster, basal knop

and conical folded foot. This is evi-

dent from a 1918 woodcut of the

glasses made by Maclver Percev-

a1
4
. Writing in 1956 Hughes saw a

heavy-based pointed funnel bowl and

slender true baluster with the round

knop above, supported by a folded
foots.
In an excellent critique of

Kit-Cat glasses Martin Mortimer

made a sketch of the portrait glass-

es that was very similar to that of
Percevall. While there is always a

degree of artistic license in a paint-

ing, particularly when it pertains to

peripheral details – the face is para-
mount in portraits – the glasses are

remarkably true to baluster glasses

of the period which fits well with
c1721, the supposed date of the

double portrait. As Kneller died
in 1723 the glasses and the dou-

ble portrait were made before.
There is an obvious disconnect

between the balustroid drawn

trumpet glasses referred to as Kit-
Cats featured in figure 1, which are
c1730-40, and the baluster glasses

being held by the Duke and Earl.

How far back does this mix up go?

As modern Georgian glass schol-
arship starts with Hartshorne’s

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

KIT-CAT?

magnum opus
of 1897 what does

he have to say? He illustrates three
drawn trumpet bowled glasses that

are all lightly knopped yet makes
no reference to the club. A little fur-

ther on a Kit-Cat glass in the cabi-
net of the author is illustrated. It is

a tall three or four-piece construc-

tion with a trumpet bowl over three
collars, a true baluster and basal
knop on a conical foot, perhaps

folded. To the modern eye these

would be c1720-30, yet he dates the

glass to before 1711 because
…the

Duke of Newcastle, who died in 1711

from a fall out stag-hunting’.
It tran-

spires that Hartshorne confused

John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcas-
tle-under-Lyme (1662-1711) with

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke
of Newcastle-under-Lyme (1693-

1768) of the Kneller portrait. It was
John Holles who died childless in a
hunting accident in 1711. He left

his title and estate to his nephew

Thomas Pelham with the condition
that he added Holles to his family

name. By the by, Wilmer, Perceval,
Robertson, Elville & Frank Davies

all confuse the two Dukes, probably
reflecting Hartshorne’s authority.
Daisy Wilmer (1910) illus-

trates four Kit-Cat glasses, three
of which have drawn trumpet

bowls while the fourth has a waist-

ed bucket bowl. All have low stem

knops, some with collars or tears,

others with folded feet
8
. Without

ever mentioning the Kit-Cat Club,
Bate (1914) notes that
Some of the

most interesting glasses inscribed

with toasts are those which bear the
names of ladies, reigning beauties

who were the idols of their day and

generation.
Mr.

Albert Hartshorne

possesses one inscribed, “Mrs. Walpo-

le, June 27th 1716,”
9
.
As we will see,

this was indeed the case, although
Hartshorne doesn’t mention it.
Grant Francis refers to the seri-

ous misnomer of calling balustroid

glasses Kit-Cat glasses. Hartshorne

set off a heated debate about classi-

fication and authors corrected their

predecessors. Francis went on:
The
Fig. 3

An enlargement of the Duke’s glass. Kneller
captures remarkably well the tears in the bowl
base and true baluster as well as the folded
foot. Compare this to Figure 1 to appreciate the

disconnect between a Kit-Cat
Club
glass and a Kit-

Cat glass in contemporary collector’s parlance

result has been that the description is
frequently applied to any early light

baluster glass with a tapering bowl
and a single knop in an elegant stem,

something very far removed from
the glasses shown in the authen-

tic portraits of the Kit-Cat Club’.
Due to his stem classification of

Georgian glasses, the influence of
Barrington Haynes has been con-

siderable. In his first edition of

`Glass Through the Ages’,
Kit-Cat

glasses are classified under balus-
troids
in which an Inverted Baluster

usually appears and All date about
1740-50
11
.

This morphs to cover

both inverted and true balusters
in the 1959 edition where we find
the veritable Witcat’ glass, a rare

glass without knopping other than the
baluster, and without collaring (Pl.

67a)
12
. Apparently, more than one

has not studied the Kneller dou-

ble portrait or realized that it was
painted in 1721. Nonetheless, from
this time on the form of
the veritable

Witcat’ glass is that we know today.

T I M E L I N B S
From Ophelia Field’s extensive-

ly researched book we learn that
the Kit-Kat Club was active from

1702 to 1718. In the penultimate
chapter entitled
The end of the club

we
learn that rifts and rivalries

among the Whigs peaked over the

1719 Peer Reform bill, resulting in
Club members ending up on dif-

ferent sides of the debate. Addison

and Steele were at literary logger-
heads; the sharpest of words were
used.
With the Whig schism… the

men had stopped meeting months

before the Peerage Bill controversy”.
Steele and Walpole criticized the

bill, Addison answered for the gov-
ernment. The former were backed

by the Prince of Wales, the latter

by King George I. The Bill to pre-
vent the creation of peers in the
House of Lords was proposed by

Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sun-

derland and James Stanhope, 1st
Earl Stanhope. It was defeated in

the House of Commons on 28 April

1719 by the eloquence of Robert
Walpole. The Duke of Newcastle, of
the Kneller portrait, was frustrat-

ed by the failure of the Bill to pass

having much to lose if the Prince of

Wales came to the throne. Spencer,

Stanhope, Addison, Steele, Walpo-

le and Newcastle were all Kit-Cats.
Field writes that many hoped

that Tonson, the prime mover

would revive the Club when he
came back from Paris in 1719.
However, he stayed over. By ear-

ly 1720 The Mississippi Scheme

started to crash. Then the South
Sea Bubble burst in October 1720.
Everybody in London lost mon-

ey: Newcastle, Steele, Kneller and

Vanburgh, as did the King. London
was depressed. Club members were

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

KIT-CAT?

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

KIT-CAT?

OPPOSITE PAGE Fig. 4

The only Kit-Cat glass known, dated Mrs. Walpole

glass with the diamond point inscription Mrs
Walpole June 29th, 1716, sold Bonhams lot 615
December 2015. Note that Bate
9
gave the date as

July 27th. June 29th is clear in the image

Bonhams

dying, notably Addison in 1719 14.
The club was effectively over

by the end of 1718, with no more
meetings, drinking and toasts. Bal-
ustroid glasses of any form could

never have been used at the Club.

THE DOUBLE PORTRAIT.

All but three of Kneller’s series of
43 Kit-Cat member portraits were

made between 1705-1717. The

c1721 painting is special for several

reasons. First, it is the only double

portrait. Second, for all the raucous

drinking and toasting, it is the only
Kit-Cat painting showing glasses

and a wine bottle. Most of all, the
double portrait was made well after
the implosion of the Club for the
Earl is wearing the Order of the

Garter which he received in March

1721. The Duke was only 25 years
old by the time the Club folded. He

was up against phenomenal talent
and influence even though he was
one of the wealthiest landowners in
the country. Yes, he did help Steele

get elected to Parliament but up

against the likes of Robert Walpole
(1674-1745) he was a young man.

Was it nostalgia, was it that these

younger men wanted, needed, to
be associated with the giants of the

club, that they commissioned their
Kneller portraits even though the

Club had ceased to exist? Herein

lies the ultimate irony to our nar-
rative; the portrait glasses them-

selves are not Kit-Cat glasses at all
for, by 1721, the Club was no more.

SO WHAT WAS A KIT-CAT
CLUB
GLASS?

There are four lines of enquiry to
tackling this question. 1) Hughes’

point; 2) consult Bickerton; 3) Ton-

son’s remark 4) turn to Kit-Cat club

records, works of scholarship and
auction catalogues. Hughes made

the good point that
It is reasonable

to assume that these leaders of fash-

ion would have the newest style in
wineglasses associated with their
por-

traits
5
. Consultation of Bickerton”

or any book covering balusters

illustrates the glasses used by Club
members. The period 1702-18 is
that of heavy balusters where fun-

nel and round funnel bowls with

solid bases predominate with light-
er baluster forms starting to appear

around 1720. Knopping was every-

where although some had pedestal
stems. Bell bowls were appearing
towards the end of the Club’s days.
Next Tonson; as
he had been drunk

with every one of them
16
it is unlike-

ly that many glasses survived.
A custom of the Kit-Cat club

was to inscribe a toast to the beau-
ty on the very glass used to make

the toast. In December 2010, Bon-

hams sold a small baluster Kit-

Cat glass (14 cm) that belonged to

Albert Hartshorne9. It has a funnel
bowl with a solid base over a teared

angular knop and basal knop set
on an adopted wooden foot
(Fig.4).

It bears a diamond point inscrip-

tion to
Mrs Walpole June 29th,

1716
17
.

Her husband, Robert Wal-

pole (1676-1745) and Kit-Cat Club

member from early days had just

been appointed to the posts of First
Commissioner of the Treasury and

Chancellor of the Exchequer. As
the bowl of this baluster glass is

small it is understandable that it
carries only a short inscription.
Another glass with apparent

Kit-Cat connections is in the Wil-

liam Harding Collection in Christ
Church College, Oxford. It was

bought in an antique shop and

commented on in the Oxford Mail

(6th March 1953). It is an unusu-

al 18.3 cm drawn heavy baluster

with a funnel bowl over a conical
folded foot considered by Hard-

ing to be c1700. Indeed, it could be

anywhere up to 1720 18. It bears
two toasts in diamond point dat-

ed June 25th 1724, the first to
Mrs. Dunch, the second to Harri-

ott D, probably Edmund Dunch’s

fourth daughter, Harriet, who

would have been around 13 years
old at the time. Dunch (1678-1719)

was another distinguished mem-

ber of the Kit-Cat club and toasts
to his wife, a reputed beauty, exist.
Indeed, the four-line toast to Mrs.

Dunch on this glass is recorded.

By contrast, the toast to Harriott

[sic] is identical to the last four of

a six-line toast to another beauty
Mrs. Brudene1118, with her name

replaced by Harriott. The second

toast is unusual in that it starts

with
Dear Harriott D-
and is signed

by
H—y H—y
followed by the date.

Why disguise the toast? A club

member would have probably made
the connection. Why make a crass

spelling mistake in the first name of

your heroine? In addition, this can-
not be a
bona fide
Kit-Cat Club glass

for the toast is dated 1724, more
than 5 years after the club ceased

activities. Perhaps these are among
the reasons why Peter Lole” wrote
that the second toast was add-

ed later without elaborating. Per-

haps it is an inscription too many.
Finally, a Kit-Cat club decant-

er c1700 surfaced in 2003. The

heavily engraved decanter
(Fig. 5)

is in soda metal and probably hails
from Saxony
20,21.

It is extensive-

ly engraved with gents dining at
tables bestrewed with bottles and

glasses. It bears the inscription
Kitcat
and

James Tonson P,
proba-

bly the key organizer of the club.
We are left with a small wounded

baluster and a remarkable decanter

in soda metal from overseas — a far

cry from the gorgeous lead balus-

ters of the period. In the absence

of more examples we must under-

stand that Kit-Cat
Club
glasses

were heavy balusters and balus-
ters, some being large enough to

carry a 4 to 6 line diamond-point
toast. All were made before 1719.

Kit-Cat
like
glasses have to be the

same for nothing else makes sense.

The Kit-Cat
serious misnomer

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

KIT-CAT?

has been going on for almost a
century despite being critiqued

a number of times”-°. With all
the information now at our dis-

posal, it’s time to move on.

ENDNOTES

1.
Thorpe WA,
English Glass,
A&C

Black, (London) 1935) p188.

2.
Field 0,
The Kit-Cat Club: Friends

who imagined a nation,
Harper

Press, London (2008).
3.

https://www.britannica.com/biog-

raphy/Sir-Godfrey-Kneller-Bar-

onet

4.
Perceval M,
The Glass Collector – a

guide to old English glass,
Herbert

Jenkins, London (2nd ed., 1918)
p49.

5.
Hughes GB. English,

Scottish and

Irish table glass.
Batsford Ltd, Lon-

don (1956) p91.

6.
Treglown, GL and Mortimer MCF,
LEFT Fig. 5

Kit-Kat decanter c1700 sold

Bonhams lot 38 19 May 2010
Bonhams

Elegant and Elusive: wineglasses

of the Kit-Cat Club,
Country Life,

London, 2 July 1981.
7. Hartshorne A,
Old English

glasses,
Edward Arnold, London

(1st ed., 1897) p263.

8. Wilmer D,
Early English Glass,

The Bazaar, Exchange & Mart,
London (3rd ed., undated) p31.

9. Bate P,
English table glass,

Batsford, London (re-issued 1913)

p113.

10. Francis GR,
Old English drink-

ing glasses,
Herbert Jenkins, Lon-

don (1st ed., 1926) p34.

11. Haynes, EB
Glass through the

Ages,
Pelican Books, Harmond-

sworth (1st ed. 1948) p183.

12. Haynes, EB
Glass through the

Ages,
Pelican Books, Harmond-

sworth (2nd ed. 1959) p226.

13. Field 0,
The Kit-Cat Club:

Friends who imagined a nation,

Harper Press, London (2008)

p346.

14. Field 0,
The Kit-Cat Club:

Friends who imagined a nation,

Harper Press, London (2008)

p347.

15. Bickerton LM,
Eighteenth

century English drinking glasses, an

illustrated guide.
Antique Collec-

tor’s Club, Suffolk (2nd ed., 1986).

16. Field 0,
The Kit-Cat Club:

Friends who imagined a nation,
Harper Press, London (2008)

p368.

17. Bonhams catalogue, lot 6,15

December 2010.

18. https://opheliafield.com/the-kit-
cat-dub

19. Lole P,
Clubs and their glass in the

eighteenth century,
The Glass Jour-

nal (2001) N°9, p7.

20. Cottle, S.
The Kit-Cat Club decanter,

Annales du 16e Congres, Associa-
tion internationale pour l’Histoire
du Verre, (2003) p267.

21. Bonhams catalogue, lot 38,19 May

2010.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

ENGRAVING

Glass

higraver

From
RHODESIA
To the
UK

Lesley Pyke

I
was born in 1962 into a fam-

ily of painters and the smell
of turpentine was quite nor-

mal to me. This was then Rhode-

sia, now Zimbabwe in Southern

Africa. I always loved art and
drew and painted and dabbled in

anything arty. By the time I was

13, I was painting on commis-

sion, mainly African landscapes.
Then out of the blue in 1983,

when 21 years old, I stumbled

across an article in a South Afri-
can craft magazine. I recall the
feeling so clearly – it was of com-

plete amazement. It showed some

simple flowers scratched onto a
few glasses but I had never seen

anything like it. Two weeks later,

I was so lucky to find some indus-
trial diamond points during a

stocktake at the laboratory supply
company where I had just started

working. They used to use them
to mark petri dishes! Well, as this

was Zimbabwe, with no fancy craft
shops around where I could pur-

chase such items, I didn’t think I

had any hope of trying this mag-

ic medium of glass. But there they
were, industrial diamond pencils,
dusty and old, lying in a cardboard

box. Naturally I bought one imme-
diately and as soon as I got home,

grabbed a glass and scratched a
flower onto it. I held it up to the

light and tears came to my eyes;

they still do, even as I type. The
flowers seemed to dance as you

moved from a dark to a light back-

ground, changing from positive to
negative in an instant. I was over-

whelmed. This was like magic! I
immediately imagined the pos-

sibilities: Zimbabwe had limited

shopping for fancy gifts and in that
moment, I visualised a business.
And so it began. I joined the

Guild of Glass Engravers as an
overseas member and then having
purchased some books and vid-
eos from the UK on glass engrav-

ing, I proceeded to teach myself. As

I progressed, I bought a drill and
then added sandblasting equip-

ment. In no time at all, I was tak-

ing orders. By now I had married
and had my first child. Working

from home, I built quite a business,

engraving anything and everything,
from the smallest glasses to panels

and sliding doors. I didn’t buy any
stock – my customers brought their

glass to me. Though having been
completely self-taught, I managed

like this for the next nineteen years.
Then life became impossibly

difficult in Zimbabwe. In 2001

and having become divorced, my
ex re-married and took my little

children to live in civilised New
Zealand, leaving me struggling.

Then, not being able to obtain my
burrs from the UK and not able

to send my drills away to be ser-

viced anymore, inflation at an
unimaginable rate and all my cli-

ents leaving the country, with

local thugs threatening me — as
being a single, white businesswom-

an, I was an easy target – threat-
ening my life, demanding I pay

them off, I fled, as so many did.
Fortunately my father was born

in the UK so I had my British pass-
port. I landed in the UK having

sold the sandblasting side of my

business in order to buy my tick-

et; I left almost all I had behind,

bringing one small drill, a lap-

Fig. 2
Country House on a slab of glass

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

ENGRAVING

Fig. 3

Working on the Brougham & Vaux crest glass
Fig. 4

Bee Glass

top, a camera and some clothes in

a rucksack. I had a small number
of £10 notes rolled up and hidden

in my belt. I had bought them on
the black market for an exorbitant
price and was petrified, broken.

But in the end, of course, I survived.

After waitressing in a tearoom

for a year and engraving a few bits

and pieces where I lived, once again
I began to build my business from

scratch. Last year, I remarried, with
my two sons – who are now in their

30s and still live “down under” –
having walked me down the aisle.

My business is now settled in Hen-

stead, in a most delightful arts and
crafts centre situated on a peace-
ful farm, just off the Al2. I could
not ask for a more perfect setting.

Many fascinating clients from all

over the world have challenged
me over the years and continue

to do so with their wide variety
of tastes and demands. It is often
from them that I draw my inspira-

tion for gallery pieces which in turn
reflects my ever-changing mood.
I decided to stay working with

glass as I find it the most allur-
ing and baffling medium. I feel

as though I am painting, except

that the glass is the canvas, and
the different burrs are the differ-
ent colours. You paint in grey scale,

with all the shades and textures

you can imagine, depending on
which type of burr is used and the

size, shape, grit, pressure; whether
is it used wet or dry, and the speed

of the drill. The burrs themselves

change characteristics and effects

as they wear, and then after all that,
the lighting dictates how it looks.

It is 3D, especially when you have

engraved around a whole vessel.
Great glass engravers have

inspired me: the first book I stud-

ied in Rhodesia was
Glass Engraving

by Jonathan Matcham and Peter

Fig. 5
Roses are Green… Shown at the Biennale
Dreiser; the second, which has

become more specific to my meth-
ods, was
Drill Techniques
by Stu-

art and Shirley Palmer. I was most
fortunate to have met both Shirley

Palmer and Peter Dreiser – what tal-

ented, amazing and dedicated peo-

ple they’ve been; they’ll always stay

with me as idols. Another was the
late John Hutton, whom I great-

ly admire for the screen of Saints

and Angels in Coventry Cathe-
dral. That work took many years

and combined sandblasting and
hand engraving with enormous
flexible drive drills. On my sand-

blasting side, I was nurtured and

encouraged from afar, whilst stuck

in Zimbabwe, by another wonder-
ful engraver, Tony Gilliam, who I

have also had the great privilege
of meeting and hearing speak.
You
can find Lesley’s showroom at

11 Henstead Arts and Crafts Centre,
Toad Row, Henstead, NR34 7LG. The
display cabinets incorporate a gal-

lery of Lesley’s creative engravings,
ranging from highly decorative crys-

tal goblets to cameo engraved, colour
overlay, hand-blown bespoke pieces.

Lesley says that you will be most wel-
come to pop in, but please contact her

first through e-mail glass@lesleypyke.

com or telephone 01502 740400.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

GLASS FOR TEA

Glass Caddy Spoons
And Tea Caddies

Bill Millar

Unexpected and unusual uses of glass

are waiting to be discovered and

uncovered in the Dudley Museum Ser-
vice Collection held at Himley Hall,
a commanding 18th century build-

ing set amongst 180 acres of ‘Capa-

bility’ Brown, landscaped parkland,
just north of Stourbridge. Volunteer
researcher Bill Millar has recent-

ly brought to light these Tea Cad-
dy Spoons and related Tea Caddies.
M

ichael and Peggy Park-

ington assembled a

magnificent collection

of 18th, 19th and 20th centu-
ry glass. In 1997 much of the col-

lection, some 640 items, was

bequeathed to Broadfield House
Museum. This article is part of my

commitment to provide a reg-

ular article on the content of

what is now the Dudley Museum
Service Collection. The Parking-

ton bequest is too wide ranging

to describe it all in a single short

article, so in this piece, I have
restricted the descriptions and

pictures to tea-associated items,

largely because they are less com-
mon and many are of stunning

quality. Museum accession num-

bers are used throughout the

article in the format “BH1234”.

CADDY

S POONS

There are 10 caddy spoons in
the collection. They are all esti-

mated to date from the Regen-

cy period, 1811 to 1820. There

is no suggestion as to where
they were manufactured. All

bar one are blown and cut;
the exception is blown and
moulded. They are relative-

ly small, ranging from 6.6cms
to 9.7cms in length. The cut-

ting is sharp as you would

expect of cut glass of this peri-

od. Glass Caddy Spoons are

very uncommon items; this
small collection is a joy to the
eye and a pleasure to handle.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

GLASS FOR TEA

BH2939

•

Pr
f

‘
NL

‘*./`

_1 7.

Fig.1
Tea Caddy

BH2987

BH2937

BH2940

BH2938

BH2936
..

, ……..

L,.. ,.,

.6.

–…,

..,

_……

….
.

„

_………,

–

.:: ——–
—

I 8

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

Fig. 3

Tea Caddy BH2986

Figs. 4
Tea Caddy BH3346
GLASS FOR TEA

T
E A

C ADDIES

There are three glass Tea Caddies

within the Parkington collection and

a fourth from another source in the
Dudley Collection. The four range in

date from the middle of the 18th cen-

tury to the end of the 19th century.
In quality they range from stunning
to everyday, the techniques ranging

across blown, cut, moulded, enamelled

and pressed. Their descriptions, as
recorded on the museum records are:
Fig.1 Tea Caddy BH2987 (facing

page): Tea caddy and stopper, dear

glass, rectangular section with cant-

ed corners, facet cut on shoulder,

engraved on side “Green”, flat star-

cut stopper. Height 17.3cms. Date

of manufacture 1780-90. There is no

suggestion as to where it was made.
Bg
. s.2a-e Tea Caddy BH2841: Tea

caddy in white, opaque glass, rectan-

gular section with canted corners.
The main side is enamelled with a
goldfinch under the word `Bohea’

with rococo scrollwork. The reverse is

enamelled with a rose, passion flow-

er and honeysuckle. The two sides

are enamelled with sprays of flow-
ers, blue one side and red

the other. The top of the

metal cap is decorated

with Bilston enamel,
depicting a lady and

Figs. 2a-e

Tea Caddy BH2841

gentleman ascending steps flanked

with pedestal vases with a classical
temple in the background. Probably

made in South Staffordshire, 1755
— 60. Height 14.5cms. Note: Sohea’

is a category of black China tea .
Fig.3 Tea Caddy BH2986: Tea

caddy and lid, clear glass, rectan-

gular section with canted corners,
honeycomb moulded. Blown and
moulded. Date of manufacture

1760. Height 13.7cms. There is no

suggestion as to where it was made.
Fig.4 Tea Caddy BH3346: Tea cad-

dy and lid, clear glass, square sec-
tion, moulded with pattern of raised
rectangles and notched mitre cuts

in imitation of cut glass. Registra-

tion mark ‘Rd 340825’ inside caddy

and inside lid for 5 July 1899. Mak-
er, George Davidson & Co, Teams
Flint Glassworks, Gateshead on Tyne.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

Paperweight

Tree

Rabbit

SHENTON STATION

The
next chapter
in

STATION GLASS

Alan & Judith Cower

A
fter Richard Golding’s last open

day at Station Glass, we were
treated on the following day

to the Paperweight Collectors Circle

Christmas lunch, with Richard Gold-
ing and Kayleigh Young, both with
us to make keynote presentations.
The day began with a fascinat-

ing illustrated talk by Richard, cov-

ering his glassmaking career of

over thirty years. Beginning at

Brierley Hill College in 1978, he
told us that
‘a one year course was

enough’
to become hooked on this

wondrous material we call glass.
Over the years Richard moved

more than nine times to various

glassmaking premises, gaining
much experience along the way.

Three periods were spent in Queen
Street, Wordsley. Then he became
resident glass maker at Broadfield

House Glass Museum, where, due
to the poor quality of available com-

mercial and coloured glass at the

time, he learnt to make his own

coloured glass. On to Lightwater

Valley, then Lows Garage Kinver,
Enterprise Estate Merry Hill which

he described as ‘the Moorcroft year’

with seven furnaces and seven hot
colours to contend with. The next

step, to Ruskin Mill, Stourbridge

was followed by his last and final
move, to Station Glass at Shenton
Station. Now, after ‘feeding the drag-

on’ for the past 8 years, as Richard
described the process of operating

and meeting the costs of running a
production glass business, he is able

to focus on enjoying life and spend-

ing quality time with his wife, Sandra.
As one era ends, another is well

underway. Kayleigh Young has fol-

lowed Richard, developing the glass-
making business at Shenton Station.

Kayleigh spoke about her developing

glass career, which started at the age
of 18 at Stoke University after see-
ing Louis Thompson making glass.

Then followed a Glass and Ceram-
ics course at Sunderland Universi-

ty where she graduated in 2008 and

went on to accomplish her Masters

in glass at Wolverhampton Univer-

sity. Kayleigh’s particular interests
lie in glass casting and cold work,

but she also spent a period of time

working at Okra Glass, Queen Street,
learning the processes of iridising
and surface decoration. After Rich-

ard Golding left Okra, Kayleigh also

spent time at Top Glass, making
production glass and gaining expe-
rience from working with Richard

Fletcher. Then seven years ago she

moved to Station Glass to work

again with Richard. Kayleigh has
now taken on her own assistant,

Joy, which brings us to the present
time. We look forward with great

interest to
see

how this new chap-

ter in Station Glass develops and

we wish Kayleigh all the best for
her success now and in the future.
Kayleigh can be contacted at:

kayleighyoungglassegmail.com

C
–
5 R-

E to

O
Ol

A-

0
‘

0.
.z

§
O

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

SILVER OVERLAY

Silver Overlay Class

Michael Lines

T
he Antique trade has seen

numerous changes over the

past decade, with many deal-

ers retiring or deciding to cease

trading altogether. However, those

who have bucked the trend are
those who have gone ‘out there’

and encouraged a younger audience
to become interested in collecting.

This has been achieved by amal-
gamating new marketing tools and

keeping ‘ahead of the game’. Who

would have thought, just a couple

of decades ago, that postwar glass

would be more sought after than

Georgian and Victorian glass in its
many forms. Nonetheless, this is
nothing new – those glass compa-

nies still in existence today have a

long history of reinventing them-
selves and looking to the future.

Most passionate collectors of

19th and 20th century English
and European glass are probably
familiar with the considerable

number of glasshouses of the peri-

od that were trying to keep ahead

of their competitors in attracting
new clientele. The employment of

architects, painters, scientists and

sculptors was common practice at
the time, and the newly developed

industrialised techniques using
electronics, physics and chem-

istry were also readily utilised.
One such technique was that of

embellishing glass with precious

metals such as silver. The enhance-
ment of glass by attaching a silver

frame or sheet of silver is centuries

old and can still be seen today. Still,

the idea of having pure silver fused

to non-conductive surfaces such as

glass and porcelain must have been

seen as revolutionary. The success-
ful development of electroplating

on metal objects by George Rich-

ards Elkington and Henry Elking-
ton in the 1830s highlighted the
ABOVE Fig. 1

A rare art deco period vase decorated with a

stunning geometric design in silver overlay upon
a rich blue glass body. The silver stamped with
the early 1000/1000 Deusch mark. Friedrich
Deusch used glass by Jean Beck- but the glass is

unmarked. 15.5cm tall 8cm rim. Circa: 1920s
RIGHT Fig. 2

An early green glass specimen vase decorated in
the silver studios of Friedrich Spahr. The ground

glass is exquisitely decorated with an art deco
design in thick silver overlay. This is a heavy vase,
27cm tall 11cm rim. Circa 1930s

BELOW Fig. 3

An art deco period blue glass vase decorated in the

silver studios of Friedrich Deusch with a very intricate

& complex Persian design of an exotic bird in silver
overlay. The glass is possibly by Jean Beck 19.5cm

tall &13,5an rim. The silver is stamped with the

early ‘1000/1000 Deusch’ mark Circa:1930
possibility of achieving this. Many

decades later and after countless
experimental setbacks, the tech-

nique was finally mastered. Attrib-

uting the invention of the process

is hotly contested with some peo-
ple arguing that Silver Overlay was

initially developed in the UK, but
Patent Office records show the
near simultaneous Registration in

1885 by Oscar Pierre Erard work-
ing in Birmingham UK, and on

September 3rd 1885, by Edward

A. Thiery and Charles F. Crosel-
mire of Newark, New Jersey, hav-

ing
‘filed a patent for silver-overlay

upon
glass and other translucent or

transparent items’.
It is recorded

that the early work of overlaying
clear glass with silver failed some

months later, due to an unpleasant

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

411

-4

(9~
A

,
Of

•
91.1•..;;i7A

SILVER OVERLAY

Fig. 4

An Art Deco period vase decorated in the silver studios ofFriedrich
Deusch with a design in silver overlay upon a bright amber glass body.

The glass unmarked, the silver stamped with an early 1000/1000
Deusch mark 16.5cm tall 9.75cm width. Circa 1920
Fig. 6

A fine blue glass bowl and cover decorated in the silver studios
ofFriedrich Deusch with an intricate art deco design in silver

overlay. The glass with rectangular Jean Beck Munchen mark.

The bowl is 17cm tall to tip of finial & 11.5cm across. Circa 1920

Fig. 5

Fig. 7

A vibrant green glass vase decorated in the silver studios of Friedrich

Alarge and rare German glass vase decorated in the silver studios

Deusch with a design in silver overlay. The silver is further enhanced

of Friedrich Spahr with a striking floral design in silver overlay

with detailed engraving. 9cm tall 5crn rim. Circa: 1940

upon a simple smokey green glass. 37cm tall. Circa 1940s

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

SILVER OVERLAY

appearance of the interior of the
glass that had been electroplated.

Consequently, a new formula for
the flux had to be created and mas-

tered. In 1889 Oscar Pierre Erard

and John Benjamin Round work-

ing for Steven and Williams regis-
tered a new patent and a new flux.

John Sharling of USA patented
a

new formula in 1893 and Fried-
rich Deusch, the German inventor

whose name is most associated
today with the silver overlay tech-
nique, patented his process in 1895.

THIS IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE

TECHNIQUE OF SILVER OVERLAY
Most techniques used to create

silver overlay involve etching
the design directly into the glass
using acid or an engraving wheel;

this allows a slight outline of the
design to be formed. As both glass

and porcelain are non-conductive

surfaces, the engraved area is then
painted with a special flux, which

may contain silver flux powder,
borax, lead oxide, nitrate of pot-

ash, lime phosphate, white arsenic

and turpentine oil. After the paint-

ing is complete, the entire object
is fired under relatively low heat;

it is then cleaned and allowed to

cool. Following the cooling pro-

cedure the item is placed into a

solution of pure silver. An anode
and cathode are attached to the
item and a low voltage current is
run through it, this agitates the

solution and attracts the pure

silver to bind to the flux on the
engraved design, creating a perma-

nent fusion of the silver with the

glass. The length of time the item
remains in the processing bath

determines the final thickness of

the silver that becomes deposit-
ed. Designs that need to be embel-

lished with fine engraving are left

in the process for longer periods.
Recently, there has been an

upsurge in the number of people

who collect Loetz glass in its many
forms, especially pieces with strik-

ing Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts &
Secessionist designs in silver over-

lay. Pieces by Viennese silver firm
Max Schwarz can be found, as can
pieces decorated in silver overlay

by American companies such as

Alvin and La Pierre. Good perfect
pieces can demand prices into the

low to mid thousand-pound range.
For those who appreciate the

classic designs of the earlier peri-

od but lean towards more modern-
ist art and design, specialist firms

such as John Newton Antiques

are showing a whole new world of
glass collecting with their displays
of silver overlay pieces. Particular-

ly collectable are those pieces dec-
orated with Persian, modernist

and organically flowing designs in
thick silver overlay, created by such

silversmiths as Friedrich Deus-
ch & Friedrich Spahr. These two

companies, based in Schwabisch

Gmiind (Southern Germany), used
only superior-quality glass blanks
LEFT Fig. 8

An Art
Deco period pale amber glass vase

decorated with a superb design in silver overlay.
By Friedrich Deusch. The silver is enhanced

further with detailed engraving. 26cm tall

10cm rim. Circa 1920s

ABOVE Fig. 9
A scarce silver overlay glass vase exquisitely
decorated With stylised flowers upon a pale

green glass ground. This is a known design seen
on porcelain decorated by Friedrich Wilhelm
Spahr & Co. The glass is WMF. 15cm tall

7cm rim. Circa: 1940

produced by noted glasshouses

such as WMF, Jean Beck, Jose-
phine Hate and other manufac-

tories not too distant from them.

All of the porcelain and glass used
had to be of a good quality to with-

stand the rigours of the process.
The work by Friedrich Deus-

ch tends to follow a classic theme,

with thick overlay and the use of
engraving, whereas designs by Frie-

drich Spahr, who served his appren-

ticeship with Deusch, have organic
flowing themes. I’ve included pic-

tures of the range of styles that

are available; prices for this type

of work are increasing, but good
examples range from £200-500

to over £1,500 for pieces larger

than 30cm with a desirable design.
Michael Lines & John Newton

Antiques exhibit at a number of
National Antique Fairs. They welcome

your interest and can be contacted at
[email protected]

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

ATHELNY ‘LONZ’ MEMORIES

HGLASS
SOCIETY

Lonz Remembered

A
thelny Townshend — known as

Lonz to so many, volunteered

to design
Glass Circle News,

with Jane Dorner as editor. Their
first issue, newly designed, was

printed and sent out in December

2009. David Watts, latterly assist-
ed by Andy McConnell, had stepped

down from 32 years of almost sin-

gle-handed production of the infor-
mative GC News, presenting a
challenging task for Jane and Lonz.

As a collector of Georgian glass, with
an interest at the time in `balustroid’
gin glasses, wishing to spend more
time with his 18th century glass col-

lecting and dealing, and with a back-
ground in graphic design, Lonz was
well placed to re-design GC News
from the pinned-together news

sheet to a full colour magazine. He
excelled at designing the GC News

magazine for many years, and then

as the first step in linking The Glass

Circle and The Glass Association, we
joined together as editor and design-

er for
Glass Matters,

the new joint

magazine for The Glass Society — our
first issue sent out in January 2018.

Patsie wrote
‘He really loved doing the

graphic design for
Glass Circle News

and
Glass Matters.
The spatial chal-

lenge of fitting it all in was one of his

greatest pleasures. So glad he had the
opportunity to work with you on the

Glass Society logo. A legacy. I was by his
side when he slipped away in peace and
pain free, on Monday afternoon July

22nd’.
The new Glass Society logo

was the final piece that we created
together, Patsie searching for the
final update on Athelny’s computer.

The following remembrances were put
together by Lonz’s family and friends

and presented at the farewell ceremony.

Born in 1949 to Eva and Bobby,

Lonz’s childhood was in many ways

idyllic — growing up at Pine Tree
r7f.

t
i
A

Fig.
1

Athelny ‘Lonz’ Townshend

Cottage in Middleton, Suffolk with
brothers Jules and Richard, and

spending his time out and about in
the surrounding fields. It was a real

`boy’s’ lifestyle — his brothers’ wives

describe it as ‘feral’ — but it began a

lifelong love of wildlife and nature.

As well as his immediate family,
another important person in Lonz’s
childhood was his cousin Jenny: she

was like a sister, and they remained
close throughout their lives.

Aged five, Lonz followed in his

father’s and brother Jules’ footsteps

Fig. 2
Lonz examining a glass at a specialist fair
by going as a boarder to AS Neil’s

school, Summerhill, in nearby Leis-
ton. Unfortunately he wasn’t hap-

py and his mother Eva wasn’t even

allowed to visit when he was ill. At
the age of six he decided to grow

his hair long, preceding the hippies

by at least a decade! And when still

very young he collected birds’ wings.

This was then followed by human
skulls, which he found on Dunwich’s
collapsing cliffs. Later, his collect-

ing habit led him into antique glass.
He left AS Neil’s at eight and went
to the local primary school, where

he then learned to read in two

weeks. He’d responded positive-
ly to the headmistress Mrs Warm,

whose nature lived up to her name.
Leiston Grammar School was

next, where Lonz gave an early
demonstration of his independence

of thought and absence of religious

belief. Mumbling his way through
the prayers in assembly, Lonz was
picked out by the headmaster, who

asked ‘do you not wish to pray with
us Townshend?”No, sir’ came the
reply. ‘Then get out!’ responded

the head — a win for Lonz, I’d say!
At 16, a year was spent at Ips-

wich Art School before A levels,

and then he attended Enfield Poly-
technic, studying social sciences.

There, he became a worker-mil-
itant as a member of the revolu-

tionary International Socialists, a
forerunner of the Socialist Work-

ers’ Party, for whom he went on to
run the print shop. This was Lonz

the rebel, someone who stood up

for what he believed in — an atti-
tude that sometimes got him into

trouble and one that he’s definitely
passed on to his daughters. It was

his elder brother, Jules, that he fol-

lowed into revolutionary politics in
the sixties. Jules now says
‘We grew a

little older, tolerant and more pragmat-

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

ATHELNY ‘LONZ’ MEMORIES

ic, without however losing the values

of a common humanity, which formed
the basis of our youthful radicalism’.

Through the 70s and 80s Lonz

built a career in graphic design and
print in London, sadly marred by

his mother’s death in January 1980,

which Lonz took really hard. It was

in London that Lonz met Carol.

They married in 1982 and had two
daughters: Chloe was born in 1985
followed by Livi in 1987. In 1988 the

family moved to Suffolk; Lonz had

taken a job at Anglian Technograph-

ic in Saxmundham. They settled in
London Road and then at Holton

Terrace in Halesworth, which has
been home for Lonz ever since.
Lonz became a casualty of the

digital revolution in the design

and print industry, so he decid-
ed to retrain as a primary teacher;
for this, he studied at the Universi-

ty of East Anglia at the start of the
90s. Then in 1992 he accepted a job

at Ilketshall St Laurence Primary

School, where he spent the next 14
years. He played guitar to his class-
es and had a way of talking to his
pupils that was thoroughly engag-

ing — many of them still remember

him with great fondness. He did get
in trouble when teaching the chil-

dren about the great fire of Bungay,

which involved them making model

streets out of card, which they then
took out into the playground and

set them alight! Lonz loved teach-
ing, but not the bureaucracy or the

constant assessment of the children.
With the end of Lonz and Car-

ol’s marriage in 2000, Lonz became

a single parent. This was tough for
him, but he never complained and

he, Chloe and Livi became a team
of three. Lonz had realised when

his daughters were born that there

was now something more import-

ant than himself in his life, and he’d
have done anything for them. Life

changed again in 2002 when Lonz
met Pat through an internet dating

site. Patsie says
‘she knew she’d met a

very special person, though while Lonz
Fig.3

Athelny with Patsie dressed
up for the evening

was keen from the off she

was a little more reserved’.
Returning home to Kent
from their first date at

the Tate in London on

the Queen’s golden jubi-

lee weekend, she told
him not to ring until the
following Wednesday. An

impatient Lonz phoned

on the Monday and

by Wednesday Pat had
come up to Suffolk — a

decision she didn’t regret
for a moment! Three

years later, in 2005, Lonz and Pat

were married at St Peter’s Brewery.
With Chloe and Livi still teen-

agers and Pat’s children Simon

and Emily a little older, they took
their time to work out how to live,

but Lonz’s liberal and bohemian

approach meant that it wasn’t long
before Christmases included exes

and new partners too. He’d begun to
show early signs of Parkinson’s dis-
ease in 2007, so retired from teach-

ing in 2009. With Pat still working in

London he managed perfectly well

without her as he had so many inter-

ests to keep him occupied, though
they were also still able to enjoy holi-

days together, particularly in Greece.
Pat described Lonz as a poly-

math — as comfortable with science

as with the arts and never happier
than when he was learning or being

creative. Among the many things for

which he will be remembered are:

•
Collecting 18th & 19th centu-

ry wine glasses and ‘hag’ stones

brought back from the beach.

•
His love of wine and expensive

whisky — and how he loved to

open bottles of champagne with

a sword — the evidence of which
is still to be found in the garden.

•
A risk taker — driving fast cars.

•
Cookery — he made a mean curry,

Italian and Mexican dishes— he

loved trying new things, critiqu-
ing the results and deciding what

he could do better next time.
•

His ability to listen and

to offer wisdom and

advice without judgement.

•
His laugh, his mannerisms, his

mischievous nature and politi-
cal militancy, his playfulness, his

relentless teasing… his gentleness.

Though he had multiple health

problems, Lonz didn’t let them

hold him back — young at heart,

he refused to be defined by age
or illness. Jules told us
‘His deter-

mination to get a job done, despite

his Parkinsons, was on full display

last year when we three brothers
went sailing on the Broads. It was

a windy day, and the rigging on the
front sail got jammed. Immediately

he got out of the cockpit and lurched

slowly and unsteadily to the bow of
the boat with sails and ropes flapping

everywhere. He had nevertheless

decided to solve the rigging problem.

As he crouched down, with his rear

end fully exposed to the elements
and the ropes administering total-

ly undeserved lashing punishment,

he accomplished his mission after a
full five minutes, rejecting all offers

of help’.
But ill health did catch up

with him, culminating in an inop-
erable brain tumour diagnosed

in mid-June. Lonz was, however,

able to come home from hospital
to be comfortable, where he could

listen to music, watch TV and
enjoy seeing visitors. He is dear-

ly missed and fondly remembered.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

LEFT Fig. 1

Amethyst glass, free blown

bowl shaped with 2 points. The
whole surface sandblasted except

around the rim which is cut and
polished. Created in 1990 by

Jane Beebe based in North West

Devon. Height 28 cm

BELOW Fig. 2

BH3694 a & b. Pair of figures

in white opal translucent glass.
Venini SA/Murano designed
by

Fulvio Bianconi. Height 20cm

and 16.5cm

ART UK SCULPTURE

PHOTOGRAPHII G ITEMS in the

Dudley Museum Service Collection
All Millar

A
s a volunteer regularly work-

ing at Himley Hall on the

glass in the Dudley Collec-

tion, I spend a significant amount
of time photographing items in
the collection. The photographs

are mainly used to populate the
computer records. Even when you
know which shelf an item is on, it

is much easier to find if you have

seen a photograph of it before you
go looking. Some of the photo-

graphs are also used to illustrate
articles such as that on “Tea Relat-
ed Items” seen elsewhere in this

issue. If you have tried to photo-

graph glass you will understand it
is not straightforward. I am self-
taught and would describe my lev-

el of expertise as adequate at best

– and that is on a good day. So when
I was offered a day’s training by

Art UK I was delighted to accept.

Art UK is a cultural education

charity funded by the Heritage
Lottery Fund and Arts Council

England. Their website (https://

artuk.org) is a showcase for art-
works in every UK collection, rep-
resenting a collaboration between

over 3,200 British institutions. Of

the artwork in museums, univer-

sities, hospitals, town halls and
other civic buildings, close to 80%

is not on public view; the objec-

tive of Art UK is to provide photo-

graphs of all this artwork on their
website. If you visit their website

you will see that they already have
images of nearly quarter of a mil-

lion artworks by 40,000 artists.
They are now turning their atten-

tion to sculptural items and rec-

ognise that they need volunteers
to complete the project, hence the

offer of a training day at the Barber

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

ART UK SCULPTURE

Institute in Birmingham. Whilst

I had never previously thought
of glass items as sculpture, a

moment’s reflection will lead you

to the conclusion that ‘sculptur-

al’ is the only adjective that fits
some of the items in the collection.
As a working definition of ‘sculp-

ture’, I am using the criterion that

if it is not purely utilitarian in
function it is sculpture. So we can

include most items of studio glass.
If a marble bust of Queen Victo-

ria is sculpture why not a pressed

glass example? Pressed glass ani-
mals or posy glass troughs with
nursery relief designs could also

be grist to the mill. Cameo glass

items, produced by techniques

similar to those used to produce
the marble bust, where layers are

carved away, cannot be exclud-

Fig. 5

Figurine of a stylized fish, sculpted on a

rectangular base with geometric waves in green

and blue. Made using pate de verre technique by
Almaric Walter in Nancy, France, during period
1901 -1911. Model maker/artist A Houillon.
Height 12cm, width 23cm, depth 13cm
ABOVE (LEFT) Fig. 3

Glass sculpture with the figure of Triton urging on

his sea horses as they rise from the waves. On a
detachable wooden base. Made by Frederic Carder

at Corning in 1957, using the lost wax process.
Length 29.5 cm height 15.7 cm

ABOVE (RIGHT) Fig. 4
Glass sculpture,
Amethyst Wave Form
by David

Traub of Haywards Heath, Sussex, in 1986.
Height 19cm

ed. Amalric Walter’s pates-de-

verre animals should equally be
entitled to count as sculpture.
I’m uncertain where this list will

stop, but enough for the moment.
While many of these items in the

Dudley Collection have previously
been photographed, the Art UK

standard for sculpture is to take six
photographs from different angles.

The images must then be processed
using software such as Adobe Pho-

toshop. This task may not be com-
pleted in the immediate future, but

we have made a start. The project

will bring a huge benefit, as it will
start to populate the Art UK web-
site with images of items in the

Dudley Museum Service Collection,

which are then available for all to

view. My strategy will be to keep on
photographing, even if it pushes
the boundaries of what is consid-

ered sculpture, until Art UK realise

that like Mickey Mouse in the Sor-
cerer’s Apprentice, they have cre-

ated a monster! Since starting to
think about on-line images I have

discovered a well-kept secret site

which holds a number of images
of items in the Dudley Collection,

http://blackcountryhistory.org. If

you use the advanced search facility

you can call up all or specific groups

of glass. The site holds details of

about one tenth of the items in the
collection and we are now look-

ing to see how we can add more.
Having images on line will have

many benefits for those interest-

ed in glass. It could encourage
people to visit the White House

Cone Museum of Glass, when

open, to see items in the flesh. At

the very least, visibility of items

in the collection to people global-

ly strikes me as highly desirable.
You may have your own views on

what should be considered sculp-
ture. As a taster I include photo-

graphs of a number of items which

I consider to be sculptural. Do you

agree? – emails to the editor please.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019
27

– Ind

1. Raymond Berger’s previous articles on Bimi-
ni are in The Glass Cone, issues 58 and 108

Exhibiton and Sale
Delomosne & Son Ltd will soon be holding
a selling exhibition of

The Walker Collection of 18th century
English Drinking glasses.

Please contact us to register your interest and to be kept
informed of the sale date and catalogue details.

More information will be available on our website
when the sale details are finalised.

www.delomosne.co.uk

[email protected]
01225 891505

Court Close, North Wraxall

Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 7AD

NEWS & REVIEWS

An Introduction
R
aymond Berger is the son of

Joseph Berger and nephew

of Fritz Lampl, founders of Bimi-
ni Glass. Bimini and Orplid were

linked by one man, a poet, art-

ist and dreamer, a man of ideas
but with a streak of practicality,
enough to run successive business-

es for over thirty years. That man

was Fritz Lampl, an Austrian, born
in Vienna in 1892 and brought up

in a suburb of that city, where at

the time, there was a large Jewish

population. When war broke out

in Europe in 1914, Fritz, then a

known poet and his artist friends

would meet with other intellectu-

als at Cafe Herrenhof – here he met

Hilde Berger, Joseph’s sister. They

were married when WW1 was over.
Raymond has co-authored ‘Bimi-

ni Glass and the Politics of Surviv-

al’ with Angela Bowey, who runs
a website on glass from New Zea-

land (www.glass.co.nz ) ; both have

written extensively, Angela on

glass and Raymond on Bimini’. In
the book, he has contributed sub-

stantially with photographs and

background material, while Ange-

la Bowey has furthered the basic
story of a glass maker, to include

the escape from Nazi Austria by
Fritz Lampl and some of his artis-

tic relatives – Raymond Berger’s

own antecedents – and gives some

account of what happened to fam-
ily members. Being Jewish, they
fled from Vienna when Nazi Ger-
many took over Austria, leaving

behind their workshops, homes

and the stock of their creations.
Four of them settled in war-time

London and started from scratch

to re-establish their studios and

their lives. This book is their story.
irnini

Cfa.i4

and the
MI

Tofitied of

unvivar

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

(11R1‘,11

–

4.64%fflow or ,

gut

WWI,

1111.my Sold,

rortv:

‘kw Vsk

Smadry. December
9. I9kI9
NEWS & REVIEWS

Auction Catalogues
The CatalogStar is a compa-
ny registered in the UK in

1998, supplying old auction cat-

alogues. They offer catalogues
from the major auction houses

– Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams

and many others. Visit online at:-

https://www.thecatalogstar.com
Registered in the UK in 1998,

the CatalogStar is now, world-

wide, the largest online supplier
in this specialist field. The com-
pany’s stock of glass catalogues
ranges from 1950s to the present

day and apart from the most well-
known auction houses, includes a

selection of sales by Skinner (US),
Woolley & Wallis (UK) and Wie-

ner Kunst Auktionen (Austria).

There are very few companies in
the world offering auction cata-

logues, so the service is unique

for verifying provenance research

and supporting it with a docu-
ment such as an old catalogue.
CatalogStar is a sister compa-

ny to the Art Loss Register which

has registered as stolen, thou-

sands of unique pieces of glass,
many of which have been recov-
ered through due diligence search-

es by auction houses and dealers.

Contact Julia at office@

thecatalogstar.corn

Obituary

Stuart Carfoot 1953 – 2019
Memories from Keith Cummings

A
fter a long illness, Stuart died

quietly at home on Tuesday

12th February, with the support
of his wife and daughters. I knew

Stuart for over forty years, as a stu-

dent, then as a teaching colleague

and a close personal friend. He was

a student of the Stourbridge Col-

lege glass course in the early 1970s,
after which he went to the Royal
College of Art, where he took his
Masters by project, which allowed

him to concentrate on his inter-
est in glass processes, specifically

with reference to Design for Indus-
try. During his subsequent career,

he combined teaching with design
consultancy, producing notable
ranges of glass tableware for Rosen-

thal, among others. As a teacher at
Stourbridge and Wolverhampton,

he brought his special design skills

to the glass course, supporting this

with equipment which he’d built

himself. He was an original and

gifted artist who contributed his
unique presence to generations of

students, a valuable counterweight
to the predominantly craft ethos of

the course. He was forthright in his

opinions, leavening this with great

wit and insight. His exceptionally
powerful and dynamic character
made a lasting impression on all

who knew him. Sorely missed, Stu-
art was far too young and vital to

go, especially as the illness marred
his life and work for many years.

The First Moon Landing –

20th July 1969

50 years later

T
wo glass items have been hid-

den in collections of our mem-

bers. The Tudor Crystal piece,
engraved on a chunk of glass cul-

let, was sent in by Maurice Wim-
pory, it is No.25 of the edition

and the engraver was W.H.Cooke,
it is 20cm long x 11cm high, 4cm

at the base, tapering up to 2cm.

Another copy of this engraved
cullet, No.23, is in

the Dudley Muse-

um Services Col-

lection
(page 412,

20th Century Brit-

ish Glass, Charles
Hajdamach).
The

mug was giv-

en to Michael

Frohlich by his mother at the

time of the landing in 1969,

while he was living in the USA.

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

LETTERS

Letters
MetalMix
The Georgian Glassmakers
Mark Taylor & David Hill

replied to the query on the

glass used for 18th century
reproduction glasses

W
e

do use glass cullet from

Cumbrian Crystal which

has a 30% lead content. Once
heated, the cullet is too stiff to
use as it cools quite quickly. So

additions are made to the met-

al, which slows the cooling and
increases ductility. These are:
Potassium Nitrate and Sodi-

um Carbonate. Small amounts
of iron will often be mixed up

in the cullet, this come from
punty irons, blowing rods and

any other metal tools that have
been used. Iron will tend to give
a greenish hue to the glass. To
correct the hue from green to

grey, a minute amount of Cobalt
is added to the mix, but only

around 100 to 200 gm in a 10

Kg batch. Too much will make
the glass too blue and too weak.

A minute amount of Antimony
is also added to the metal, to
refine the quality of the glass.
A large part of the produc-

tion these days is of the 18th
through to 20th century glass

being used in the American
TV series ‘Outlander’. Large
quantities are being ordered

by the USA viewing fans.

Cold State Coach – enquiries
Members have enquired about

the glassmaking company and

the technique used to make the

Gold State Coach, published in
Glass Matters
No.5. David

Mulley provided further details.

he company was ‘Midland

1 Scientific Glassblowing’,

engaged in Laboratory Glass and
Quartz. Their Glassblowing Lab-

oratories were at Lichfield House,
Tyburn Trading Estate, in Bir-
mingham. The coach was known

as the
Lichfield Glass Sculpture.

David couldn’t find any ref-

erence to this company still

existing, so he wrote to Terri

Adams, the Librarian of the Brit-
ish Society of Scientific Glass-

blowers to see if they had any
knowledge of what had become

of them. Terri replied as follows:-
`This company has been

long since been dissolved.
As for techniques used to

manufacture it, in brief; the
process would have been very

similar to that of making a ship
in a bottle. The coach and hors-
es would have been handmade,

individually in borosilicate glass
and any finished applied such as
the sandblasting on the carriage

wheels and bodywork. The bottle

would have been made up leaving
the bottom of the bottle open to

enable the carriage and horses
to be placed inside. The coach

and horses would then have

been assembled ready for inser-
tion into the bottle before the

two are fused together and the

bottle closed off at the bottom’.

Question on Carnival Class
Derek Patch asked this question,

arising from the Carnival Glass

article in Glass Matters No.4.

O
n page 31, under ‘The Decline

and Re-Emergence of Con-

temporary Carnival Glass’ (left

hand column) reference is made
to ‘In the US this was mani-
fest as Stretch glass’. How does

this differ from ‘blown’ glass,
which surely is ‘stretched’ by
the act of applying pressure

internally to a gather of glass?

Trudy Auty of The Car-

nival Glass Society replies.
Many thanks for this ques-

tion and I can see why it was
raised. Stretch Glass was made

in America between 1915 and
the 1930s and is not often

seen in the UK. Unlike carni-
val glass, not much was export-
ed to this country. There is a

good description on the Stretch

Glass Society website www.

stretchglasssociety.org under
definition but in simple terms:-
“Carnival glass was often heav-

ily patterned and the glass was

worked into a final shape before
the iridescence was applied (Der-
ek can find out more informa-

tion about Carnival Glass on our

website www.thecgs.co.uk). In
the case of American ‘Stretch’

glass, the item was general much

simpler, without patterning and
was worked into a final shape –
flared out, ruffled or made into

a Jack in the Pulpit shape, for
example – after the iridescent

salts were applied. As a result
the iridescent finish took on

an ‘onion skin’ effect with fine

lined ‘stretch marks’ visible on
the surface
(this would not have

shown up clearly in the photo-

graph that was in the article).
So

the term stretch relates to the

‘stretched’ appearance of the
iridescent surface finish and
does not relate to any form of

stretching of the glass itself”.

Stretch glass comport

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

NEWS & EVENTS

Glass Identification Project with the National Trust

M
embers will be interested

to hear that the Glass Soci-

ety (GS) has started a discussion

with The National Trust (NT) in
order to help them identify the

glass they hold in their collec-

tions. The initiative is anticipated

to be mutually beneficial while at

the same time helping to raise the
profile of glass in the public
eye.

Much of the glass held by the NT

(and English Heritage) is uniden-
tified and appears to be unloved,

whereas other areas of the decora-
tive arts held by the NT appear to

be seen as ‘important’, with infor-
mation readily available. This under-

lines the ‘poor country cousin’ status
of glass and whether you are a collec-
tor, curator, or dealer this must be

seen as an unacceptable situation.

We have made a proposal to the

NT, offering our assistance to help

them. There is a vast combined
expertise in the GS; some mem-

bers have wide in-depth awareness,
others have extremely specialised

knowledge and then there’s ‘every-
thing in between’, so we all have

the ability to get involved. The

broad geographical coverage of the
membership within the GS and the
regional nature of knowledge mir-

rors the distribution of NT sites,

helping to make it inclusive to all
members; a big advantage to both

the National Trust and to our mem-

bership, encouraging and stimulat-

ing us to help our local NT property.
Susan Newell and I have had

an exploratory meeting with both
the Decorative Arts Curator of the

National Trust, James Rothwell

and Patricia Ferguson, ceramics

advisor to the NT. James received
the idea well and is currently
deciding on a House that we could

use, to be a test for both parties.
In order that we are ready for this

event we need to ask members of

the GS to join in and help with the

venture — all are welcome, so please
don’t hide your light under a bushel!
It is likely that the project will

start with a group of members

visiting an NT property to iden-

tify the range of glass involved;

this will be followed up by a vis-

it from a small party of members,
with the required knowledge to
be able identify the glass. In this
manner, all members can help.
The advantages to the GS are

several — publicity, visits to col-
lections held in reserves through-

out the country, helping to raise
the profile of glass and increas-

ing the membership of the GS.
We all start somewhere, so

please, if you’d like to help, con-
tact Nigel Benson at: kipper-

[email protected] or 07971 859 848.

GLASS
SOCIETY

London Meetings

at the AWG

Held in the Gradidge room at the

ArtWorkers’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 for Glass Society members

and members of related societies
is £15 payable on the night. Every-

one else will be asked for £20. Please

let the Meetings Organiser, Anne

Lutyens-Stobbs, know via email

([email protected]) if you

wish to attend one of the meetings.
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
12th
November 2019

Sally Scott, Architectur-

al Glass Engraver and Painter
`What goes into the Making

of large scale glass commissions’

This lecture will present land-

mark projects from Sally’s career

as a glass artist spanning three
decades, with a particular focus

on her commission to design the
new entrance to Ripon Cathedral

in 2012. Sally will introduce her

granddaughter Lily Guy-Vogel,
with who she travelled through-
out the UK visiting all 48 sites

of Sally’s glass work in church-
es and cathedrals. Sally taught

at Birmingham School of Art,
Hornsey College of Art, Middle-

sex Polytechnic and West Dean
College. Sally has concentrated
on large scale engraved and sand-

blasted glass since the 1980s.
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, Colin

has revised and enlarged our knowl-
edge of the earliest fine glassmak-

ing in Britain. This evening, he will

present 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 Katharine for

the
Museum of Contemporary Europe-

an Glass
at Rosenau, Coburg, April

to November 2020. Katharine is

an internationally renowned glass
engraver based in London, teaching

at Morley College, Corning Museum

of Glass and Bild-Werk Frauenau.

www.katharinecoleman.co.uk

Glass Matters Issue no.6 October 2019

CLASS

M A “1” R S

The magazine of

THE GLASS SOCIETY

ProwtothA,0 the utwderstavx-oti,v1,0 cv4 apprecisiti,o1A,
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