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Author Topic: Where has all the British glass gone?  (Read 10856 times)

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Offline krsilber

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2008, 03:59:37 AM »
I imagine, though, that the same people likely to have British glass are also those with access to the internet.

I don't know how big the British colony on Borneo was, but perhaps the smaller colonies didn't have big enough markets for the glass that it was exported there in large quantities.  And maybe it's more personally valuable to those that do have it because it was brought over by someone's great aunt, and they aren't so keen to get rid of it.  Sheer speculation, of course.
Kristi


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Offline ChrisStewart

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2008, 07:25:17 AM »
Hi,

According to the government 'blue books', India was a large importer of glass back in the 1870s-1880s. So there must be some out there.

Old Pottery Gazettes are a good source of information on statistics on glass imports and exports.

Regards

Chris
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Offline aa

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2008, 08:18:22 AM »
There could be a number of reasons, but awareness, or lack of it may be the most likely answer.
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Offline Frank

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2008, 08:19:58 AM »
Not forgetting that as most of the Brits got kicked out of those countries they would have taken their property with them. Any pieces that ended up on the poorer communities would have been used until broken. You can find plenty of glass in all of those countries in antique shops too and again I lot would have been shipped here. I knew several Indian dealers and they all shipped a couple of dozen containers to the UK and some to US each year. The better pieces would have gone to Auctions and the sellers would have been sophisticated enough to put them in lBritish auctions, certainly today the larger auction houses put pieces into the countries that they have rooms in where experience suggest the pre-sale export is worthwhile..

So the lack of pieces in those countries via eBay is hardly surprising.

Offline Ivo

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2008, 03:32:59 PM »
Please remember that statistics is only for the in-crowd. If "glass" is defined as 30% flat, 45% bottles, 20% packaging  and 5% misc then try and figure out how much is pressed or decorated, how much might have survived in 100 years or so, and how much was broken in the washing up.   

Offline Frank

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #15 on: April 17, 2008, 04:15:24 PM »
 :D Yep, the statistics I linked to above was "Domestic and Fancy Glassware " excludes containers, flat and bottles - so just that 5% misc.

Elsewhere in the Study other statistics are even more finely tuned to show the decline between 1924 and 1935
PRODUCTION AND EXPORTS OF STEMWARE (1935)
                    Th. cwt.    Â£â€™000
Total production    8.0        91
Exports               0.3            4
Home market share    7.7     87

About a third was handmade,

Offline Carolyn Preston

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2008, 11:46:52 PM »
Please remember that statistics is only for the in-crowd.

And remember Mark Twain's (or Samuel Clement's) quote,

"There's lies, d*mn lies, and statistics"  >:D

Carolyn

Offline Frank

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #17 on: April 18, 2008, 08:23:24 AM »
They do provide some important information particularly when compared with other countries, technological developement and economic and political data. Factors like breakage are likely to be fairly consistent across the globe and periods in time, except wartime. The second level after the numbers are governmental reports which use the statistics but importantly, look at the trends of fashion, design and the impact of the different approaches to manufacture - sometimes at a remarkably detailed level. The trigger point for such reports often being International exhibitions and economic recovery following wars. When illustrated they tend to illustrate types of glassware being produced at certain periods and thus also become a tool in dating approaches. Such reports did have an impact on the industry. Political changes are a real fuzz factor for this as they can go against the trend in the reports with taxation being changed due to factors not related to the glass industry.

With a broad understanding of the above, analysis of the business of a single glassworks can be more completely assessed - a deeper understanding does, as Ivo points out, have little value to glass research per se.

But in respect of Bernard's original question - the statistics are useful as they do show the ratios of exports and has Bernard has noticed this does not compare well with his experience of glass in the collectors market from those areas. But this could be more fully understood with statistics, yet again. It needs to encompass demographic and migration as well as technology levels of the target countries. But such a study would be very time consuming... perhaps one of our visitors has a relative looking for a Phd subject  ;), alternatively someone with a strong interest and the skill set could almost certainly get a grant to do such a study :spls:

While statistics do not offer detail of the types of "Domestic and Fancy Glassware" in those market, the retailers and wholesalers in those countries did use photographs of their showrooms in adverts and while usually not clear enough in the screened advert photographs, they do at least give a good impression of what was being sold there. One such I have of a New Zealand importer known to import Monart, shows almost exclusively tableware with a small percentage of vases, some of which are just possibly Monart. Finding original photographs in company archives would be a lot more useful - these are spread around in libraries and museum reserve collections.

Offline krsilber

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #18 on: April 18, 2008, 10:50:12 PM »
"India was a large importer of glass back in the 1870s-1880s. So there must be some out there."

I read somewhere that at least some of the glass that made its way to India was decorated once it got there, so wouldn't necessarily be known as British glass.
Kristi


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Offline Bernard C

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Re: Where has all the British glass gone?
« Reply #19 on: April 19, 2008, 07:05:27 AM »
Quote from: Frank
... the statistics are useful as they do show the ratios of exports and has Bernard has noticed this does not compare well with his experience of glass in the collectors market from those areas. ...

Thinking about this again, I just wondered how worldwide an eBay "Worldwide" search is.   Does eBay take your instructions literally and blindly, or does it attempt to "help", assuming that I am unlikely to want to buy my new frock or whatever from Jamaica or Singapore?    Also we have seen eBay punishing its clients in smaller countries like New Zealand, Ireland, and now Australia, using currency and/or payment method restrictions — I don't know why — so does this somehow extend to searches?

Bernard C.  8)
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