Topic: Stevens and Williams Alabaster

[flying free]

I love these pieces.  They need to be lit and show at their best under evening lighting.  There is something really ethereal about them because of the way they are made and the recipe for the colour I think.  The alabaster 'attachments' are the very best, slightly greyish, slightly translucent, perfect.
They are my favourites of all the opalines, next only to early French opaline glass 'gorge de pigeon'.

The green is a pale green.  I've only found  or seen one other in this lidded cup shape.   It's in the book (in Rose), although Manley also shows the cup without a lid. 
The turquoise is marked on the bottom and is a beautiful colour. 
As is the mauve bowl, which could be Puce (mauve) or Violet (pale mauve pink) according to The Crystal Years.
The green has the foot applied in alabaster and also has alabaster thinly cased part way up the cup. The same with the turquoise vase. But the part casing is done differently to a rose cordial I had where the stem almost appeared to be part of the bowl because the casing was drawn up over the base of the bowl.  On both of these two pieces you can see where the foot is applied but they both also have a fine thin part alabaster casing part way.
The mauve bowl is made in three parts.

It's fairly unusual to find marked Stevens and Williams pieces although they do come up.  The mark on my vase is not shown on either Great Glass or the Style site under their marks.  But it is the same as the one in CH British Glass 1800-1914, page 449.
CH says of the mark in the book
'15. Faint acid etched mark with the fleur-de-lys between the initials S W on a slender green alabaster vase with white alabaster foot, late 19th century, in the Broadfield House Collections.  Height 5/8 in. 1.7cm'

The Crystal Years discusses the Alabaster range for the years 1914 and 1916 but no start date is given. 
Charles Hajdamach also says in 20th Century British Glass that 'Bath Powder Bowls' first appear in the pattern books in 1919.

I've taken two pictures to show the different effects of lighting on these pieces
m

[obscurities]

I love this type of glass.... 

[flying free]

Adding a picture of my Stevens and Williams rose cordial to show how the alabaster is cased up the stem on these and the difference in colour between the Rose and the mauve (Puce or Violet)
m

[obscurities]

Yummy....   :-)

[Paul S.]

I agree, they are delicious and rather unreal in some ways  -  I do envy you the green lidded piece - very tasty.            They aren't common, and appear very rarely in the sort of outlets I visit, which rather contradicts R. S. Williams-Thomas comments that      "........must have been exceedingly popular - so much so that there are hundreds of specimens around the country"  -  perhaps Keith has most of them
According to the book, green continued to be made until 1938.

Could be wrong but get the impression that 'rose' turns up most often, and think I've yet to see a piece of the orange.

I think this product could be a good investment for the future, plus it's wonderful to look at - great pieces m

[Paul S.]

sorry, should have given details of the reference source............   

'THE CRYSTAL YEARS - A tribute to the Skills and Artistry of STEVENS & WILLIAMS - ROYAL BRIERLEY CRYSTAL'  -  R. S. Williams-Thomas  -  1983.

[Lustrousstone]

John (glassobsessed) had some orange

[flying free]

I believe the'orange' is the colour Cinammon. (see The Crystal Years page 25) where there is one cup without it's saucer and the author says it is Cinammon.  There has been one other cup and saucer in this colour for sale as well.
And as Christine says, John had a piece which I failed to buy 

Manley shows an 'orange vase' on page 64 which I also believe is Cinammon, as is the set that's been for sale for a while in Australia of 8 stemmed bowls and underplates, being sold as 'apricot'.

Reading the text in The Crystal Years my opinion is that they made a variety of different shapes and there was a range of colours
but in terms of quantity I think this Alabaster range is  fairly limited.
The Crystal Years was written in the 80's and he says there were 'hundreds' of pieces of this Alabaster range around the country ... as though this indicated there were prolific quantities.  But it's not at all prolific when you think there were c.20million households in the country in 1981!(source Social Trends 40 - Households and Families - Office for National Statistics)  and there are c26million now. 

Certainly there are some  colours/shapes I would like to get my hands on, as well as at least one of the very large (11" tall and 9 3/4" tall) lidded jars or vases in 20th Century British Glass  , that I have never seen for sale.

m

[keith]

Great photos M,
    Paul; I've only got two pieces but the Custard factory is on soon so....

[flying free]

Lovely Keith !  I think your green cup and saucer are the same green as my lidded cup, except yours are not part cased in the alabaster, which is what gives the lidded cup it's yellowish tinge to the green

m