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4-/

The newsletter of the

Glass Association

ISSN 0265-9654

The Glass Association

Committee
Chairman:
Anthony Waugh, 7 Park Road West,
Wolverhampton, West Midlands.

Hon. Secretary:
Roger Dodsworth, Broadfield House Glass

Museum, Barnett Lane, Kingswinford,

West Midlands DY6 9QA.

Hon. Treasurer/Membership Sec:
Ronald Brown, 8 Chestnut Court, Warren

Close, Bramhall, Stockport SK7 3LH

Ordinary Members of Committee:

Ian Burgoyne, Pilkington Glass Museum,

Prescot Road, St. Helen’s, Merseyside.

Simon Cottle, Laing Art Gallery, Higham
Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE I 8AG.

Kieth Cummings, Senior Lecturer in Glass,

Stourbridge College of Art and Technology,
Hagley Road, Stourbrtdge, West Midlands.

Richard Gray, City Art Gallery, Mosley

Street, Manchester M2 3JL.

Peter Helm, 103 Dickenson Road,

Manchester 14.

Dan Klein, 11/12 Halkin Arcade,

Motcomb Street, London SW I.

Gill Wyatt Smith, Yew Tree Gallery,
Ellastone, nr. Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Editor of Newsletter:
Charles Hajdamach, Broadfield House
Glass Museum, Barnett Lane, Kingswinford,

West Midlands, DY6 9QA.

Editor of Journal;
Ian Wolfenden, History of Art Dept.,

University of Manchester, Manchester

M13 9PL.

Newsletter Design:
Pauli Cobb

Filmset in Rockwell and Times.

Printed in England by Jones & Palmer Ltd.,

Birmingham.

Membership Rates
Individual

Joint(2)
Student
Institutional

Overseas (individual)
Life
£10

£15

£5

£20

£15

£130 minimum

Registered as a Charity No. 326602

Cover Illustration
Cross-section of a 10 pot furnace.

From
Pottery Gazette,
August 1898.

The key to the photograph appears

on page
Z

New Telephone Number

Broadfield House Glass Museum

Kingswinford 273011.
The Glass

Association

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
With the Annual General Meeting

held on Saturday, 13th October, 1984,

the Glass Association completed its
first year.

It has been a very fruitful year, with
all our aims expounded at the

inaugural meeting, fulfilled.

Thanks to our Treasurer, Ron Brown,

we have obtained charitable status,

which is important to an organisation

such as ours. It enables interest from

any accumulated monies to be
received without liability to tax;

furthermore, your new committee

will be looking at ways of using a
covenant scheme for subscriptions.

Four issues of ‘The Glass Cone’ have
been published to what we consider

a high standard for a quarterly
circular. Charles Hajdamach, the

editor, has to be congratulated on all
his work and effort. Ian Wolfenden is
collecting material for our biannual

publication which will appear in late

1985.

Outings were arranged to
Pilkingtons’ where 68 members

attended, and to Bristol, including

Harvey’s Wine Museum, when 65

attended. Both meetings were, due to

the organising capabilities of our

Secretary, Roger Dodsworth, a great

success and enjoyed by all present.

In order to make the AGM more

interesting, Roger arranged a visit to
Beatson Clark, whilst Cathy Ross

welcomed us to Rotherham by
organising a room for our meeting,

and a short visit to her excellent

museum.

We have had problems with our logo,

but now all has been agreed and we

are in print, with a publicity handout

to encourage more people to join.

Regional meetings have been held in

the North-West (Manchester) with
four meetings arranged jointly by

Richard Gray and Ian Wolfenden. In

the Midlands, Broadfield House has

staged four meetings arranged by
Roger Dodsworth and Charles

Hajdamach. The first meeting of the
London group was held in early

November and hopefully a South-

West regional meeting to be
organised in Bristol, in early

December. The Glass Cone will give

details of future meetings to be held
in the regions, and we would hope

that you will contact the appropriate

secretary should you wish to visit

another region for their meeting. All

will be welcome.

A revised set of rules was agreed at
the Annual General Meeting. These

are available to all members on
request.

In conclusion I would like to thank

every one of my committee members
for their hard work and endeavour,

which has resulted in such a

successful first year.

A. Waugh
rob

jzzmt

p 2
Glass Societies —

p 3
Showcase—

The History of

Sandblasting,
C.R.
Hajdamach

p 6
Blowing Iron & Cutting

Wheel— A
Visit to Hartley,

Wood & Co.,
Ian Burgoyne

p 7 Shearings —
News

and Views

p 8 Facets —
Reports on Regional

Groups

Glass Societies

BRITISH ARTISTS
IN GLASS

BAG is a society which aims to

encourage and promote the highest

standard of creative work in glass

and communicate this work to a wide
public so that they can appreciate

and enjoy glass in the diverse ways

we present it.

Inspired by the Hot Glass

symposium, British Artists in Glass

came into existence in 1977. BAG now

has over 200 members, is non-profit
making and managed by an elected

committee. This committee organises

an annual conference in different
venues throughout Britain where

lectures, discussions, demonstrations

and at least one party are provided,
and where everyone has a chance to

meet, talk and generally enjoy

themselves. We produce three

newsletters a year which dissemi-

nate useful information, keep the

membership in touch with one
another and provide a platform for

the exchange of views. We also
organise at least one prestigious

exhibition of members’ work every

year.

This year, for instance, BAG organised

an ambitious five day conference at

Sunderland Polytechnic in September,

which included workshops, demon-

strations and lectures by Bert van

Loo (Holland), Durk Valkema

(Holland), Anna Carlgren (Sweden),
Pavel Molnar (W. Germany), Renato

Santarossa (W. Germany), Jiri

Suhajek (Czech), Steven Weinberg

(USA) and Joel Myers (USA). The
energy and enthusiasm generated
by a conference such as this, with

such a distinguished list of speakers,
was truly sensational. We also

organised an exhibition of members’

work which was first shown at the
Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead,
and will also be shown at the
Westminster Gallery, Boston,

Massachusetts.

If you would like a membership form,

any further information, or would like
to be put in touch with any of our

members, please contact us c/o The
British Crafts Centre, 43 Earlham

Street, Covent Garden, London
WC2H 9LD. Tel: 01-836 6993. Full

membership is £20 pa, and student

membership is £7.50. There is a

further category of membership, a

“Friend of BAG” which is £10 pa, and

entitles the member to the
newsletters.

Tessa Clegg,
Chairman

wca se

The History of Sandblasting

The invention of sand-blast
occurred in 1870 when an

American Benjamin C. Tilghman,

patented a sand-blast machine

which was exhibited three years

later in the Vienna Exhibition. The
patent specified “a stream of

sand or other abrasive powder,

usually dry, but sometimes mixed

with water, projected with more
or less force and velocity to strike

and pulverize the surfaces of
glass, stone, metal, and other

materials upon which it is

directed!’ The few 19th century

references to the technique

repeat the story that Tilghman’s

invention was a result of observing

the depolishing effect of sand

storms upon the windows of
houses on the American prairies.

The process was used initially to
obscure, decorate and perforate
glass but was applied to other

industrial uses, including remov-

ing scale from metal castings and

forgings, sharpening the teeth of

files, frosting and granulating

electro-plate, carving on stone,

slate and granite, cleaning grime
from buildings and paint from

ships, and even drawing on
lithographic stones.

The early machines worked on

the principle of a closed iron
drum with an opening at the top

where the object was blasted.

Within the drum a central tube
ran vertically from the bottom to

the top. Sand was fed from a
hopper into the bottom of the

drum, where an extraction pipe
drew air out of the machine

causing the sand to be drawn up

the tube and bombard the object
held at the top of the machine.
The vacuum effect also served to

extract the dust resulting from the
action of the sand upon the glass,

while the heavier sand and

particles of glass fell to the bottom

of the drum to be re-circulated.

Several machines could be
connected to one exhaust and

were normally used for small

work such as bottles and glasses
although large sheets of glass

could be decorated if they were

held by two or three workmen

and moved across the opening.

By the 1890’s a number of innova-

tions to the equipment had been

developed, most of which
consisted of better control of the

air pressure and the amount of

sand available to the decorators,
as well as reducing the escape of

sand from the apparatus.

The main development consisted
of an enclosed chamber with a

viewing window and two armholes

with rubber gloves in the front of

the machine which contained the

sand-blast dust, allowed it to be
recovered, and also gave greater

flexibility of decoration. The

operator controlled the flow of

compressed air by a foot treadle

while holding the glass through

the rubber gloves, directing the
sand onto the glass with a nozzle
known as a “sand pencil!’ By

mixing the sand with the air blast
inside the nozzle itself much of the

excessive wear on the feed pipes

was eliminated, but also gave the
operator far more control of the
quality of his work. These major

design improvements had been

developed by the 1890’s and form

the basis of modern sand-blast
equipment in the glass industry.

The abrasives used in the
process consisted mainly of sand,

sifted into various sizes, but use

was made of sharp builders sand,

powdered glass, emery, chilled

iron-sand, and steel shot. Air

pressure could be achieved by

steam, by exhaust air, by blasts of

air, and more conveniently by

compressed air, which is the

method used today. The term

livo versions of

the `sandpencir

of 1895 from an
article on

sandblasting,
Pottery Gazette,
1899.

(S=Sand,

A =Air).

IMPROVED SAND-BLAST APPARATUS
(1VIATFIEVITSON’S PATENT)

For Frosting, Perforating, Lettering, and
Ornamenting Glass and Pottery of

all descriptions.

OPERATED BY AIR OR STEAM-BLAST.

PRICES AND PARTICI; LA RS )N APPLICATION TO

T LOHMAN’S PATENT SAND-BLAST CO

. –

LIMIT14:11,

BROADHEATH,
NEAR

MANCHESTER.
Advertisement

from Pottery

Gazette 1899.

Late 19th century

pressed glass
tumblers and
water jug with

sandblast
decoration.
sand-blast implies a fairly strong

air pressure which was possible

certainly after the introduction of

compressed air or gas in the mid
1890’s but the earlier exhaust air

systems could only give a

working pressure of about 1 lb
per square inch, which could be

increased to 20 or 25 lbs. with the
use of steam and very fine sand.

Pressure in modern machines

ranges from 10 to 15 lbs. up to a

maximum of 80 lbs. per sq. inch.

In glass decoration the design

was applied in the form of a
protective overlay or stencil

which allowed the cut-out design

to be sand-blasted while the
remainder of the surface was left

untouched by the abrasive. The
19th century overlay resist was a

quick drying mixture of glue,

dextrine, glycerine and any
powdered colouring matter to

give body, very similar to present

day resists. This particular
combination provided a strong

resist to the sand-blast while

maintaining a flexibility during

application onto the glass. When

Vase decorated

by sand-blasting

for the firm of
Webb Corbett.

1950s. height 11

ins.
Geisha Girls•

The Dance of

the Fans. Vase,

sandblasted

cobalt on

crystal, 14” high
by Chris Smith

1980 at Webb

Corbett,

Stourbridge.

design had to be repeated a

number of times the simplest and
quickest method of producing a

stencil was to print the resist from a

copperplate and transfer it onto

the glass with tissue paper. Stencils

were also made from soft rubber
and lead foil, while modern plastic-

backed adhesive papers are ideal

for
one-off designs. A writer in

Pottery Gazette in 1895 stated that

“for figures and original designs

the glass is entirely covered with a

sheet of paper dipped in the

mixture (i.e. glue, glycerine, etc.)

through which, when dry, the
design is cut out with a pointed

knife; sometimes numerous

morsels of the prepared paper are

separately attached to the glass.”
The same writer was also aware of

the possibilities of sandblasting
cased or cameo glass when he

wrote that “the sand blast is in
constant use for the decoration, in

which the pattern or the field may

be left bright and transparent, one

being on glass of two or more

thicknesses of different colours, to

leave the design of one colour on a
field of another.” The tedious job of

painting stencils onto sheet glass
by
hand was quickly automated so

that the stencil was printed onto the

glass
by rollers, the resist was then

covered with a protective drying

agent the glass moved over the

sandblast machines and finally a

set of brush rollers removed the

resist leaving the decorated glass

ready for drying and packing.

Once the stencil had been applied

to
the glass the speed of

decoration was very quick, for
example lamp shades could be

decorated at between 60 to 100 an
hour. Using a compressed air

machine worked by a 1/2 horse
power gas engine the Weights and

Measures offices of the London
County Council could mark
publicans half-pint glasses at the

rate of 1,200 per hour using only

one employee. Even with the less
efficient older machines with less

pressure the numbers of half pint

glasses marked in an hour was still
500, and with some machines

which were hand-powered and
required two men to operate them,

the
average number of glasses

marked per hour was 650. The

average cost of decorating 1,000

glasses varied from 6 pence to

2/11d depending on the type of

machine.

Although glasses decorated in this

way were made in vast quantities,
today they are difficult to find. Such

objects were the cheapest form of

decoration and if they were
chipped or cracked would be

quickly discarded. The present

shortage of examples makes it
impossible to judge how popular

the technique was for glassware.

The few existing glasses, mainly

tumblers but with the occasional
goblet, are usually of cheap

pressed glass and bear

commemorative inscriptions e.g. A
Birthday Gift 1886, or Queen

Victoria’s Jubilee 1837-1897, while

historic events such as the opening

of the Manchester Ship Canal in

1894 inspired a number of cheap

souvenir glasses decorated with

sand-blast. Sand-blast decoration

can be recognised by the granular
frosted texture of the designs; the

lettered glasses also show the
problems with stencil plates where

isolated solid portions such as in

the centres of numbers 8 or 6 and
letters A or B had to be retained in
position with bars or ties, but for

better work this was overcome by

using two or more tinfoil stencils,

the first giving the design and the

second pierced with holes only,
corresponding to the ties.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s

sandblast became the most

popular and efficient method of

producing decoration on acres of

architectural glass. Some idea of

the scale of production can be

estimated from the catalogue of the
London Sand Blast Decorative

Glass Works. The list of examples

of their work mentions 22 hotels

and restaurants including

Claridges, the Ritz and the Savoy, 5

theatres including the Odeon
Cinema, Cairo, 7 institutions

including the Royal Institute of
British Architects,
and no less than

33 liners including the Queen

Elizabeth, the Queen Mary and the

Mauritania.

Today the attitude of the glass

decorator to the sandblast

technique has been completely

reversed with the realisation that

the technique can produce fine
results and all the major glass firms

involved in decorating glass,

especially in the Stourbridge area,

rely mainly on sandblast to the

exclusion of acid-etching.

Charles R. Hajdamach

(A
version of this article first appeared in

the exhibition catalogue ‘Cameo Glass by

David and Chris Smith’ 1982).

A Visit to Hartley, Wood & Co.

Within a short driving distance of

Jarrow where stained glass dates

back to the 7th century is the

company of Hartley Wood in
Monkwearmouth, Sunderland. The

company was acquired by Pilkington

Brothers in 1982 as a wholly owned

subsidiary but it has a long and

interesting history of its own.
Following the demise of Hartley’s

Wear Glass Works, also in

Sunderland, Hartley Wood was

started in 1892 as the Portobello

Glass Works by the original partners

James Hartley junior and Alfred

Wood, an expert in coloured glass.

The purpose of my visit was to find
out how Hartley Wood’s high quality

glass is made. Here I met and talked

at length with Norman Barker, the
General Manager and Arthur

Thompson, the Works Manager.

Raw Materials
Batches of raw materials are made

up during the day ready for melting

in pots overnight so that glass is

ready for use the following morning.

A typical mix for clear glass is sand,

soda, barytes, lime and soda lime

glass cullet. The proportions of each

are accurately weighed then
thoroughly mixed in a large mixer

before being placed in batch
containers. Only clear glass cullet is

suitable which is acquired from local

glass merchants; coloured cullet

from production in the factory is not

suitable and cannot be recycled.
This puts even greater pressure on
the workforce to achieve a high yield

from the melted glass.

The Cylinder or Muff Process for
Antique Glass

To make a coloured sheet of antique
glass a gather of clear glass is

covered with a gather of coloured

glass and the two are mixed together

on the blow pipe. To shape the
gather it is formed in an open block

lubricated with bees wax. A third
gather of clear glass is taken over the

two mixed glasses and the whole
blocked again. The third gather is

not mixed with the first two because

in the final sheet there will be a layer
of clear glass adhering to a layer of

mixed clear and coloured glass.
Final shaping of the three gathers in

the block provides the right shape
before blowing and helps to maintain

uniform wall thickness.

The first inflation is achieved using
compressed air after which the
bubble is shaped with mouth

blowing. Reheating is necessary at

this stage to make sure that glass is in

a workable condition again and then

the bubble is elongated by swinging

the blow pipe. The neck at the end of
the bubble furthest away from the

blow pipe is marked with a pair of

tweezers and by blowing cold air

onto this mark the neck is broken off

to leave a hole in the end of the

bubble. After reheating, this hole is

opened out by rotating the bubble
clockwise and anticlockwise while

the bubble rests on a former. A stick
is used to open the hole to form the

bubble into a cylindrical shape.

Sawdust is sprinkled on the former

which burns to form carbon and acts

as a lubricant between the glass and
former.

The punty, with a disc of glass on one
end is adhered to the opened out

end of the cylinder and after the
blow pipe has been cracked off, the

other end is opened out in a similar
manner to form the complete

cylinder called a muff. Completed
muffs are placed in the annealing

lehr for about one hour to cool slowly
to avoid stress being set up in the

glass. After being inspected muffs

are split longitudinally ready for the
flattening processes.

To be flattened muffs are loaded
onto the conveyor of the kiln where

they are heated to softening point,
and placed on a flattening stone

within the kiln to flatten under their
own weight. To avoid the cylinder

falling in on itself the edges are
manipulated with a long bar having a
rounded end. To complete the

operation a wooden block on the end

of a metal rod is used to smooth the
glass, the wood carbonising to create

lubrication so that the glass is not

scratched and has a good fire-
finished surface. Finally, the flat

glasses are annealed, inspected and

cut to size.

Rolled Glasses

The rolling machine consists
basically of a pair of rollers set at an
angle so that they can receive glass

poured from a ladle. If a mixture of

coloured and clear glass is required

then the mixing is done in the ladle.
Plates of glass approximately
910mm x 760mm and having a

thickness varying from 3 to 4mm are
rolled out onto a stone table and
passed into the annealing lehr.

Cast Glass Slabs
Moulds for slabs are made of

stainless steel and consist of a face
plate and a rectangular ring which

forms the open mould. Molten glass

from the pot is ladled into the mould

and formed into a slab which has one
moulded face and one free formed

face. Slabs are annealed in the lehr

in a similar manner to other glasses.

Bullions — Crown Glass
The first man gathers a pound or two
of glass on his blowpipe from the pot.

He allows it to cool and then dips it in

again to increase the quantity,

repeating his operation until there

are eight or nine pounds on the pipe.

He then rolls it on the marver to give
a cylindrical form. An assistant blows

through the pipe, forming the glass

into a pear shape when it is handed

to the blower who successively

heats, blows and shapes the bubble

of glass until it is the required size

and thickness. The side opposite the

pipe is flattened either by being

exposed to heat or by pressing

against an iron plate.

A punty is attached to the flattened

side and the blow pipe removed,
then the glass is reheated. While the

glass is in a hot workable state it is
rotated on the end of the punty to

form it into a bell shape, and finally
yielding to centrifugal force it flares

out into a disc of glass called a
bullion. Great skill and strength is
required because if the worker

falters in rotating, the bullion will be

lopsided or twisted.

The bullion is cooled in the lehr to
relieve stresses and since it has not
come into contact with another

surface while it was being rotated it
has a highly polished fire finished

surface.

Ian Burgoyne

Preparation for Cameo Making

The second part of this article has been delayed due to a number of

technical problems experienced by Peter Howard in his attempts to
produce three colour cameo. The difficulties have now been resolved

and the article will appear in the March issue.
(This article first appeared in the Spring

issue of Stained Glass 1984, the magazine

of the British Society of Master Glass-

Painters.)

Exhibitions at Broadfield

House Glass Museum
“VARIATIONS ON A THEME’
Engraved glass by Jiri Harcuba and

Ronald Pennell continues until

15th January, 1985.

“1180° CENTIGRADE”

Glass sculpture by seven
West
Midlands;

Artists Financed by West Midland Arts

22nd January to 10th March 1985.

Glass Making and Decorating

Weekend
–
Fri.

28th-Sun. 30th June

1985. Based at the Glass Centre,

Brierley Hill which is part of Dudley
College of Technology. The course, run

by the principal Fred Bridges with

Cohn Gill and John Davies, will allow

direct participation in glass blowing,
cutting and engraving in the Glass
Centre workshops. Tuition in stipple-

engraving will be given by Doug
Burgess of Cheshire. No previous

experience is necessary although some

drawing ability would be beneficial for

the stipple-engraving section. The
course is limited to 24 delegates.

Booking forms and details available from

David Radmore, Central Library, St.

James’s Road, Dudley, West Midlands.

Go
News & Views

A New Gallery
A local glassmaking gallery has recently opened at Sunderland Museum. The

display examines the techniques of glassmaking, explains why a glass industry

started on Wearside and traces its history.

Cheap coal and the presence of the River Wear provided economically

favourable conditions for a glass industry to start in Sunderland around 1700. Keel

boats brought coal (used for firing the furnaces) down river from pits to the glass

works, sited on the banks of the Wear. Finished glass was crated and sent out in

coal ships for London and Europe. The ships returned with sand, often from the
King’s Lynn basin, which was sufficiently pure to be used in glassmaking.

From 1700 to 1900 the manufacture of

industry collapsed. The area’s sea

trade was no longer relevant as the
country now had a railway network.

Works were slow to modernise and

were hit by cheap imports.

In this century two firms – Turnbull and

James A. Jobling (who had taken over

Greener) continued to press flint wares

but the latter became more famous for
‘Pyrex’ made from 1922 onwards. From

1973 the business has been owned by

Corning. A ‘Yankee’ side lever-press,

c.1912, used by Joblings is displayed in

the gallery.

Today only one other glass works
operates in Sunderland. This is Hartley,
Wood and Co., which uses traditional

methods to make sheets of coloured

glass used by stained glass artists.

The gallery includes contemporary

developments such as studio glass-

making at Sunderland Polytechnic.

For further information contact John

Baker, (Senior Museums Officer) at
Sunderland Museum (Tel: 0783-41235).

Glass Weekends
Dudley Leisure Services has organised

two glass weekends based around the

Stourbridge glass industry and
Broadfield House Glass Museum. Both

weekends are centred at the Station
Hotel, Dudley and run from Friday

evening with dinner and a social

evening until Sunday lunchtime. Prices

will be approximately £55 inclusive of
all
meals, accommodation, transport

and
visits. Non-residential rates are

also
available.

Glass
Collectors’ Weekend
–
Fri. 26th-

Sun. 28th April 1985. Speakers will
include Colonel R. Williams-Thomas,

Ian Stuart, John Davies, Jeanette

Hayhurst, John Brookes and Cyril
Manley, plus visits to the newly-

restored Red House Glass Cone and

Stourbridge College of Art. At

Broadfield House Glass Museum the

delegates will have access to the

collections in the form of working

groups.

Identification Service

This new service is intended to assist members to identify any “mystery” glasses in their
collections. If in the first instance members will send photographs to the Editor every effort

will be made, using the Association’s members and friends, to identify those enquiries. There

is no charge for the service but a stamped-addressed envelope would be appreciated.

Cuver Illustration

A – The siege; some of the large
firebricks weigh several

hundredweight each.

B
– The crown or dome of the furnace.

C – Pots for crystal glass.

D – Oval pots and dandies for
coloured metals.

E
– The arches round the furnace.

F – The flues.

G – The chimney or stack.
H – The eye or firehole which holds
the fuel.

I – The bars forming the grate at the
bottom of the fire-hole, through

which the ashes and cinders fall

and sometimes the molten glass

when a pot breaks. It is a fine sight

(although not very profitable to the

glass manufacturer) when a pot

does happen to break, to see the

shower of molten glass running out
of the furnace through the bars into

the cave below, and vividly calls to
mind the showers of burning lava

during a volcanic eruption.

J – A patent feeder in the centre of the
grate, by which the furnace is fed

with fuel pushed up from

underneath by a hopper worked

by machinery. Some of the old

furnaces in work at the present

time which have not the patent

feeder, are fed from the inside of

the glasshouse, the fuel being
pushed down a narrow tunnel into

the firehole.

K – The cave which runs underneath
the furnace, and is connected with

the open-air at each end entrance,

which creates an underdraught,
and supplies the necessary amount

of oxygen for the combustion of fuel.

L
– The entrance to the cave.

The size of a ten-pot furnace is 19 feet
outside diameter of siege, 4 feet

6 inches in height from the siege to the

inside centre of the dome, and the
arches under which the pots rest are

3 feet 1 inch wide by 3 feet 31/2 inches

high.

These furnaces are attended by two

sets of men called teazers, there being
two men in each set, one called the
head teazer, the other the under teazer.

One set is relieved by the other set

every eight or twelve hours, night and

day continually. These men work down
in the cave underneath the furnace,

and it is their duty to wheel out the

ashes and work the patent fao.d
,
.r.

From Pottery Gazette, August 1898.

bottles and window glass predomina-

ted. For a short period tablewares were

made at a glass house established

c.1769 by John Hopton previously of the

Whitefriars Glass Works. During the
‘boom’ period of the 19th century (when

at
least 23 glass works operated), high

quality tablewares were made, many
engraved with views of the famous
Wear Bridge of 1796. In 1824 the

Marquess of Londonderry commis-

sioned the Wear Flint Glass Works to

make a cut and engraved table-

service, items from which are displayed

in the gallery. Curiosities like glass
walking sticks and hats are also

displayed.

The 19th century was marked by

increased mechanisation. In 1847
Hartley’s Glass Works introduced a

cheap method of rolling plate glass for

roofing and two firms – Greener and

Turnbull – made pressed glassware.

Towards the end of the century the

Ceb Regional Reports

A.C.M.
Forty members gathered at The Arts
Centre in Rotherham on Saturday, 13th

October, for The Glass Association’s

first A.G.M.

In the morning there was a visit to the

Beatson Clark automatic container

factory which specialises in amber

bottles for the pharmaceutical industry.

The fascinating tour showed everything

from the raw materials to the inspection

and packaging of the bottles. Our

thanks go to David Clark, Chairman;

Jonathan Clark, the Managing Director

and to other members of the manage-

ment staff for a most enjoyable visit.

Following the A.G.M. members visited

Clifton Park Museum to see a display
illustrating the history of Beatson Clark

and also a special display of Yorkshire

glass. We are very grateful to Curator

Cathy Ross, whose organisation and
enthusiasm made the day such a

success.
North West

The third meeting took place on Saturday, September 22nd at Heaton Hall,

Manchester. This took the form of a collectors’ afternoon on the theme of Glass for

the Table, and the dining room of the 18th century house, proved a delightful setting
for afternoon tea at the end of the meeting.

The afternoon began in the music room, where James Lomax, Assistant Keeper of
Decorative Arts, talked on “Domestic Life at Heaton’.’ Mr. Lomax entertainingly

outlined the daily life of the Egerton family, proprietors of Heaton from the late 18th
century to the earlier 20th century, when the house passed to the Corporation of
Manchester. There was then opportunity to see something of the City’s rich

collection of 18th century table glass, in particular glasses associated with wine

drinking and with the dessert. Members’ own glasses connected with food and

drink were then discussed and some interesting ideas emerged about the function

and date of specific pieces. Eventually even the glass collectors’ well known passion
for discussion yielded to the demands of the palate and the group retired to the

dining room, which had been dressed for the occasion with creamware and glasses
from the Art Galleries collection and a reproduction silver nef as a centrepiece.
Several members had kindly produced refreshments of sandwiches, cakes and

syllabub to recipes in 17th and 18th century cook books, and these were duly
washed down with wine served from old decanters. The day was rounded off with
a

tour of the house, enthusiastically conducted by James Lomax.

Thanks are especially due to James Lomax and the Manchester City Art
Galleries

for the opportunity of holding this meeting at Heaton and also to those members

whose refreshments helped to make this such a memorable afternoon.

Midlands

The third meeting of the Midlands
group was held at the Faculty of

Education, Castle View, Dudley (now
part of Wolverhampton Polytechnic) on

Saturday, 6th October. Champagne

was the topic under discussion.

Dominic Marechal, who runs his own

wine business in Stourbridge, began

the afternoon with a witty and sparkling

talk which outlined every aspect of the
production of champagne and de-

mystified some of the legends associa-

ted with the drink, Today traditional

methods have been transformed into

the most modernised trade in the
drinks market, turning out 2 million

bottles per year. A new process has
reduced some production times to a

mere 4 days from harvest to bottling.

Tips were given on opening and

serving followed by some shrewd
observations on wine-tasting including

a spectacular performance of drawing

air through wine in the mouth while
bent double. The success of Dominic

Marechal’s talk was reflected in the
many eager questions which eventually

gave way to a sampling of Chevalier

Demi-Brut and Sec.

Jeanette Hayhurst from London then
examined champagne glasses and

antiques. Wine labels, corkscrews/

wire cutter combinations, vesta boxes,

cruet bottles, cigar cutters and

champagne taps were some of the

champagne bottle- and cork-shaped

objects given away as advertising
mottos. The two shapes most associated

with champagne, the flute and the

saucer, were used for general drinking

long before bubbly champagne was
Copy dates for the next issue

are:-

Mon. January 21st for March
Issue.

Mon. March 25th for June Issue.

invented. An entry in the Betts bill of
1755, one of the earliest records of

champagne glasses, mentions “1 oz.

1/2 moulded egg green champagnes!’
For the last 25 years that shape has

been called a ‘Mead’ glass.

During the early 19th century the flute

was used both for champagne and for

ale. The first known reference for the

saucer in the 19th century is in 1832 in a

letter from Disraeli to his sister.

Contemporary pattern books suggest

these to be squat champagnes. The
description “hollow stem” in the

pattern and order books was for a

hollow dumb-bell knopped stem while

the true hollow stem was described as
“hollow through bowl down stem!” An

illustration from The Graphic of 1874

showed the new style of tulip shaped
glass which, by the end of the century,

had ousted the traditional flute shape.

The problems of identifying champagne
glasses, which Jeanette Hayhurst so

ably coped with, were finally high-

lighted by an illustration from the Silber

and Fleming catalogue in which three
different glasses are described as

champagnes on the same page.

Both speakers travelled from London to

create a fascinating atmosphere with

fresh and original talks and many
thanks are due to Jeanette Hayhurst and Dominic Marechal for a memorable

occasion.
South-East

The inaugural meeting of the group

was held on Friday 2nd November at
Dan Klein’s Gallery, Halkin Arcade,

London. The many ideas which came

out of the discussions will ensure some
varied meetings during the next year.

Ms. Paddy Baker agreed to be

organising secretary and anyone who

was unable to attend the meeting but

who may have ideas for visits, etc.

should contact her at West Surrey
College of Art, Falkner Road,

The Hart, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS.

Tel: Farnham 722441.

FUTURE GROUP

MEETINGS

The last of the current seasons events
took place during November but plans
are already afoot for next year’s

programme including the national

meetings. The formation of three new

groups based on London, Bristol and
Newcastle will provide activities within

easy reach of virtually every member

of the Association. 1985 therefore

promises to be a busy year.

Wishing you

all a very Happy

Christmas and a

Prosperous New Year.

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The Glass Cone_No.4.December 1984

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