Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: JOK on March 21, 2012, 11:30:57 AM
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I recently found this very Art Deco style decanter made by Walsh. The silver collar is dated London 1923/4 (May 1923-May 1924) and is made by Mappin and Webb. This would seen to pre-date Art Deco and the design is so unlike any of Walsh's other designs of the time.
I know there aren't any designer records before about 1933, but since Farquharson joined the company in 1924 is it possible that this is one of his first designs?
I also have a Stuart decanter dating from about 1935 with a very similar zig-zag design, but 10 years later in date.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/jok23/101_0036.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/jok23/101_0029.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/jok23/101_0028.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/jok23/101_0035.jpg
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Thats a shame i sold the glasses to your one about eighteen months ago after keeping them many years . :'(
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Is the silver-collared one marked as Walsh?
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is this fig 119 page 50 of Eric Reynolds book The Glass of John Walsh Walsh? has the number 9859-9861 and is marked as Walsh. But the one in the book does not have a silver collar.
m
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Is the silver-collared one marked as Walsh?
Unlikely, Christine, as I've yet to see an example of a Walsh mark on a piece that was sold to the metalbashers for mounting. However, the body/bottle part is a perfect match to the all glass decanter shown in Reynolds at fig.119, but which has a flat-topped stopper engraved with the same zigzag design. I had one through my hands about five or six years ago.
The design was named Luxor, and we now know that the all glass version was pattern A3422 (Reynolds' caption relates to later additions to the suite), described as a "Whisky Bottle". Walsh described Luxor as "Glassware in Egyptian Design", so I think it safe to describe it as Walsh's response to the enormous publicity following the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. JOK's hallmark date is spot on for this. JOK's observation that it is a Deco design is interesting as elements of the Tutankhamun discovery and of Pharonic Egypt in general found their way into mainstream Deco design. I've yet to see either Walsh material on or examples of matching Luxor Whisky Glasses.
... I know there aren't any designer records before about 1933, but since Farquharson joined the company in 1924 is it possible that this is one of his first designs? ...
Unlikely. You first see Farquharson's influence emerging in the gradual updating of old suites to new shapes and styles around patterns A5100–A5200, much later. There are some earlier Walsh records — in the Pottery Gazette, for example.
I hope that's useful.
Bernard C. 8)
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Thanks for that information. The decanter isn't marked at all, but I have a vase in the same pattern and shape which is. The Egyptian influence makes sense. It looks as though a lot of the decanter designs shown in the book were made for silver collars as some are drawn without lips. I am guessing it was retailed through Mappin and Webb in London. The stoper just has a star cut top (which I think is the same as the one shown in the book).
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Interestingly I have just seen this Kenilworth pattern decanter with a similar silver collar by Mappin and Webb dated 1926 on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beautiful-MAPPIN-WEBB-Crystal-Decanter-With-SOLID-SILVER-collared-pourer-1926c-/140744361560?
I guess Walsh was the main (or major) supplier for Mappin and Webb in the 1920s.