Glass News from Angela, March 2005

Hi,
Here at last is my long overdue Glass Newsletter.

I would like to share with you some interesting points about Glassworkers' Parades (comparing the USA and UK); about Stevens and Williams Royal Brierley glass; Colin Terris designs for Caithness; and Kings Lynn (Wedgwood) glass. There's also information about forthcoming glass conventions, shows, and other events; some recently published books on glass that you might have missed; and our glass on eBay. I do hope you find something here to enjoy.

Glassworkers' Parades
Did you know these were strikingly different in the USA and in Britain? It seems that in the USA hundreds of glassworkers wore white with sailor-type hats and carried glass walking sticks in Labour Day parades led by their trades union banners. In the UK they wore formal dark suits and hats and carried examples of their craft on long poles in parades led by their employer's banners. There are some superb pictures of American glassworkers' parades in a recent article by Dean Six in "All About Glass" published by the WV Museum of American Glass (volume 2 no. 3). Dozens of glassworkers, all dressed uniformly in white with white hats and ties or badges, are shown on parade each one carrying a glass walking stick. Three different branches of the American Flint Glass Workers Union are shown, with banners and flags denoting their Union and branch, and I'm told that when they marched they held their glass canes up like batons. It must have been a magnificent sight. If anyone has more pictures or first hand information about a parade, I'd love to hear about it.

In Britain Glassworkers' Parades took place on special occasions such as a coronation. There is a famous picture of a parade to commemorate the coronation of William IV in 1831, which shows glassworkers from the Phoenix Glass Company, Bristol wearing top hats and tails (one or two in the French equivalent) and each carrying a long pole with an example of their skill on the top. These were not just vases and bowls, but in one case a whole set of 3 decanters on a tray, and in another case a decanter with 2 glasses on a tray. This drawing is reproduced in Roger Dodsworth's little book "Glass and Glass Making".

But it wasn't just for coronations, and not just in the 19th century. There is a photograph in "The Story of Edinburgh Crystal" (by H W Woodward) which shows the glassworkers of the Edinburgh & Leith Flint Glass Works each in a dark suit with a dark trilby or cap, wearing a white apron under their suit jacket and carrying a long pole with elaborate examples of their work on top, dated c. 1926. Here again the examples of their work are elaborate, and I believe they held competitions to judge whose exhibit was the best. There are jugs and vases and tazzas and large bowls on stems, and at least four of them look to be tall vases in coloured crystal cut to clear. Again, if anyone has more pictures or first hand information I'd be very interested to see them. This is part of our history to be recorded and enjoyed. And I wonder if they held glassworkers parades in other countries, in Lorraine, Venice, or Bohemia for example.

Colin Terris
Coming right up to date, Colin Terris has been called the Father of Modern Glass Paperweights. Many of you know that the legendary Paul Ysart inspired Colin with paperweight making at Caithness Glass. But did you know that many years before it had been Vincent Ysart who first demonstrated paperweight making to Colin? Take a look at the new article on the Glass Museum website about Colin Terris Glass Designer at http://www.glass.co.nz/terris.htm. There are some beautiful pictures of Colin's paperweights, including two recent ones produced since he retired.

Stevens and Williams Royal Brierley
One of the oldest glass making operations in the UK, and certainly the oldest still operating today, Stevens and Williams, or Royal Brierley as they became, claims to date from 1776. Recently published histories of the area suggest an earlier date in the 1640s and possibly even earlier. This was the glassworks where Frederick Carder was trained and worked until he left for the USA and fame with Steuben glass; and where John Northwood worked so successfully on cameo glass (father of Harry Northwood who also found fame in the USA). There is a new page on the Glass Encyclopedia about Stevens and Williams Glass - click here to read it.

Kings Lynn Glass
This was the glassworks founded by Ronald Stennett-Willson and taken over by Wedgwood just a few years later. My latest passion is collecting Stennett-Willson candlesticks which are stunning. Wedgwood continued with the same designs until they were taken over by Waterford Crystal (Eire). There is a new page on the Glass Encyclopedia about King's Lynn Glass - click here to read it.

If the links don't work in your email copy of this newsletter, you'll find another version with all its links working here:  http://www.glassnewsletter.com/050306news.html

Designer Searches There's a very useful list of Designer Searches of eBay to be found at http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/ebay/searchindex1.html. I have started using it myself, and find it really helpful when I don't have much time and I want to check through the various types of glass that interest me.

Our GLASS on eBay:
If you want to see a quick overview, you'll find our auctions at http://www.myglassauction.com

Our theme this month is Scottish paperweights, so we have put up for sale some stunning pieces by John Deacons, Peter McDougall, and Alastair MacIntosh (Caithness). There are also two superb art glass bottles in this collection.

I have been working on a CD about Scottish Glass, and you will receive a copy of this CD with any of the Scottish items we are selling on eBay, as a gift from me.

Caithness - Alastair MacIntosh - Diabolo paperweight designed by Alastair and released in 1993 (now a closed edition) it is in perfect condition and comes with its original card and Caithness Glass box. On the base is written in script M 65674 and underneath that etched Caithness DIABOLO Scotland - on eBay at #7304522299

John Deacons - a delightful millefiori cartwheel design paperweight, medium size (2.4") with signature cane in centre and label on the base. It is in perfect condition, has a cranberry pink base cushion with five alternating circles of wedgwood blue and pink star-shaped millefiori canes surrounding the central signature cane. These are interspersed with five red, white and blue twists of glass to form a cartwheel effect. - on eBay at #7304619976

Peter McDougall - delightful millefiori paperweight with numerous different millefiori canes set upright in a "close pack" arrangement. It is signed with Peter's signature cane of his initials PMD hiding amongst the canes and also has a label "P McD Ltd Glass Studio, Handmade in Crieff Scotland" on the base. It is on eBay at #7304626349

Keith Mahy - a beautiful perfume bottle decotated with colored canes of glass which have been wound around the body of the bottle while it was red hot and molten. These stripes have been combed or "pulled" to create the feather-like appearance known as "pulled stripes", and then another layer of clear crystal glass has been added before the bottle was shaped and allowed to cool. It is signed on the base "Mahy NZ 2000" and comes with a CD about Contemporary New Zealand Glass Artists. It is on eBay at #7304936504

John Deacons bottle - with concentric rings of millefiori in both the bottle and the cap, this is the large size (5.4" tall) with signature cane in centre and label on the base. It has a cobalt blue base cushion and is in perfect condition - on eBay at #7305028720

And 3 more paperweights by John Deacons each in perfect condition and with signature canes and labels, they are:
- beautiful "Flower in the Rain" with yellow base cushion and blue flower, green leaves - on eBay at #7304635891
- concentric millefiori with blue base - on eBay at #7304951531
- another cartwheel millefiori design on a cranberry pink base, this one with 8 spokes - on eBay at #7304980062

Angela Bowey - and last but not least, there is a copy of our book "Bagley Glass", signed by one of the authors - on eBay at #7305894759. This is the 2nd edition of our paperback book with lots of new information including several designs that have not been seen before and registration numbers that were not previously recognised as Bagley.

Many of these auctions are put up without reserve and so far most of them do not have any bids. If you would like to see a quick summary with pictures, or keep in touch with the new items I am going to add, please go to http://www.myglassauction.com/


EXHIBITIONS, CONFERENCES AND GLASS SHOWS: