Glass The Decline in Pressed Glass Prices. Does this offer a good investment or buying opportunity for specialists who know their glass and know the market? Part I. A history and the current market. By John Ainsley In 1979, Colin Lattimore published his pioneering work, English 19th Century Press Moulded Glass, giving collectors, for the first time, line drawings of manufacturers’ trade marks and regis- tered design information on both the kite marks of 1842-1867 and 1868-1883 and the serialised design information from 1884- 1901. A second book, English Pressed Glass 1830-1900, by Raymond Slack extended the manufacturer information relating to pressed glass beyond 1883 to 1900. This was published in 1987 and built on Lattimore’s work. From the twenty years, say, from 1980 to 2000, pressed glass and particularly coloured glass was highly popular, Sowerby table centre sets of nursery rhyme figures reaching 4 figure sums at their peak about ten years ago. Since then prices have seriously declined and should present an investment opportunity, provided the collector buys only the very best and rarest pieces. This should usually mean buying decorative glass such as figures and animals rather than more mundane functional wares. Most dealers and auctions now agree Fig.1. A fine pair of high quality, fresh from a new mould, that flint glass i.e. clear, uncoloured pressed glass has became Stourbridge pressed glass swans, registered by Jane Webb and virtually unsaleable. There are exceptions to this generalisation Joseph Hammond in 1872-3. Bought as c.1930 for £8 in 2004, estimate £200 - £300. Swans are always good sellers. In recent years (see figure 1). the market has completely rejected what is commonly known as This article is intended to give the reader a brief historical survey ‘flint’, or clear glass. Domestic and tableware from the nineteenth of the subject and the current market. Part II which will appear century can be found in any charity shop or boot fair for next to in our July / August edition will cover recognition and a nothing. There are exceptions to the rule. Here is a subject matter in discussion of the pitfalls that might be encountered by a new universal demand. Here is quality at the very top of the market. Here collector entering the market. is pressed glass from Stourbridge, much, much less common than There are only three methods of manufacturing glass articles, either Birmingham, Manchester or north eastern wares. Even namely free-blowing, mould-blowing and press-moulding. In its Sowerby glass rarely achieves this quality. Editor’s Collection. simplest form nineteenth century press-moulding involved the gathering of a quantity of molten glass and dropping it into a mould. A plunger was then pressed onto the glass such that the object became impressed with the form and pattern of the mould on its outside and the plunger on its inside. Usually the only impressions left on the inside of articles were registration or trade marks. After cooling and solidifying the object was held briefly back in the ‘glory-hole’ to melt away the mould lines (fins) and to polish the finish previously lost to the object through its contact with the metal mould. The press-moulding of hollow ware developed in America in the late 1820s and was quickly imported into England. The first pressing machine was installed by T. Hawkes and Co., Birmingham in 1831 and pressing was underway in the West. Midlands by about 1835. In order to withstand the mechanical process, pressed glass objects were thick and as a consequence heavy. At the time glass was heavily taxed by weight, during manufacture - a tax which Fig.2. A blue pressed glass dog, length 7 in, height 4 3/4 in. Almost had been introduced as early as 1745. Glass historians have certainly John Derbyshire, c.1870s. bought for £11 in 2005. linked the late development of pressed-glass manufacture to this Estimate £40 - £60. Buying animals and other figures is always tax. Certainly production costs would have been high in those worth while provided the price is right. This example is quite large early years offsetting savings made through speed of production. and when placed on a windowsill display area, say facing east or No sooner had the industry established itself than fashion began west, provides for a dazzling addition to a coloured pressed glass to change. John Ruskin in the second volume of Stones of Venice collection when lit up by translucent light. Notice the dust in all of published in 1853 attacked cut glass as ‘barbaric’ and as a the crevices. The antiques centre from which it was bought clearly betrayal of the unique quality of the material to naturally form its didn’t rate it at £11 if they couldn’t bother to help it along with some own lines of beauty. By the early 1860s etching and engraving soap and water and of course a toothbrush. Editor’s Collection. ANTIQUES INFO - May/June 06 had become popular. Surface designs were set against abraided backgrounds. Part-frosted patterns became popular. A well known example is the Greek key pattern on a frosted ground registered by Molineaux, Webb and Co, Manchester on the 22nd December 1864. ‘Lacy’ designs were imported from America where the background to various patterns consisted of small hemispherical beads. This technique was particularly effective on commemoratives. The ‘Gladstone for the Million’ design Sowerby Queens Ivory Ware basket registered by Henry Greener of 31st July 1869 is an example. J Derbyshire & Co blue glass lion, moulded with peacocks (makers mark modelled after Landseer, with a plain & reg. no). Later the beading itself formed the raised designs set against glass model of a seated female. Lion Boldon Auction Galleries, Tyne & plainer backgrounds as in George Davidson’s Golden Jubilee 12cm, 4.75in. Rosebery’s, London. Wear. Sep 04. HP: £55. ABP: £64. designs of 1887. Sep 04. HP: £400. ABP: £470. From perhaps the early 1870s pressed glass manufacturers were to develop their medium beyond the production of mere utili- tarian objects. Indeed in the next twenty years art and industry were to merge. The boundary is not always distinct. There was contemporary recognition of the heights of ingenuity and art achieved by pressed-glass manufacturers and the part played by the mouldmakers. But it was forgotten. Only in recent times has 2 pieces Greener & Co purple there been recognition of the significance of this period in the malachite, 2 handled sugar basin of Pair of J Derbyshire pressed green history of pressed glass. holly pattern (1st mark), a butter dish glass lion models, on oval bases, (1st mark & reg. no) and a pair of Between 1870 and 1890 the industry was to develop the medium moulded initials & anchor mark PODR. purple malachite glass vases, 7.5cm. into exciting areas of originality. It embraced neo-classicism, July 1874, 7ins Gorringes, Lewes. Boldon Auction Galleries, Tyne & naturalism and nationalism: it embraced a whole range of Mar 03. HP: £230. ABP: £270. Wear. Sep 04. HP: £52. ABP: £61. contemporary subjects such as Kate Greenaway figures, Punch and Judy paperweights and the Landseer Lions at the base of Nelson’s Column. Although the bulk of pressed glass was produced for the homes of the larger population, both the quality and rarity of some pieces, particularly figures, suggest they were produced for a much smaller and more discerning market. Despite frequent claims that Victorian glassmakers had only an Pair of Greener & Co. amber glass imperfect understanding of the chemistry of colour their achieve- seated lions, 11.5 cm long and small Burtles & Tate opalescent glass swan ments in this respect equalled those achievements made in form Edward Moore vase of chained swan (unmarked) 8.5 cm long. Boldon and design. If this was as a result of trial and error then they are pattern in unusual white and brown Auction Galleries, Tyne & Wear. praiseworthy indeed. opaque mix glass, 17cm. Boldon Sep 04. HP: £40. ABP: £47. Auction Galleries, Tyne & Wear. Translucent colours were achieved by adding metallic oxides. Sep 04. HP: £190. ABP: £223. Other chemicals produced an opalescent or opaque effect. Highly rated today is Sowerby’s vitroporcelain. He called his ivory version Queen’s Ivory Ware and introduced it about a century after Wedgwood introduced his light density earthenware known as Queensware or Creamware. In 1880 Sowerby introduced his famous opaline glass called Blanc de Lait, a superbly lustrous colour which turned to a sky blue at its thinnest parts. Marbled glass, called slag today or end-of-day glass, was neither, Sowerby opaque glass vase of such a term is a complete misnomer. Rather it was made from Chinese lantern form in white and precisely controlled formulas. Sowerby called his blue and white Sowerby glass posy basket and vase black, 9 cm (no. 1170), 3 other small and various coloured glassware. version sorbini. Green and white was known in the trade as vases. Boldon Auction Galleries, Tyne Gorringes, Bexhill. Oct 05. & Wear. Sep 04. HP: £40. ABP: £47. malachite. In 1889 Davidson produced his famous pearline, HP: £85. ABP: £99. patent No. 2641, a transparent coloured glass whose extreme edges became milky then opaque when submitted to fire- polishing. During the 1890s iridescent glass arrived and was called carnival because it was given as prizes at fair grounds. Carnival was produced well into the twentieth century. By 1880 the fashion for coloured glass was declining. Technical advances in cutting techniques swung the pendulum once more into an even more sophisticated and ambitious brilliant-cutting Edward Moore vase height 18.5 cm, period, re-enacting with the utmost precision the late Georgian Sowerby purple malachite glass spill a jug vase and two salts in purple style.