Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: BJB on May 27, 2005, 02:02:19 PM
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Hi,
Have just got this lidded pot which I think maybe by Stevens and Williams. It has a ground pontil mark on the white base, and is a funny soapy kind of glass.
The lid is silver and has a mark for 1922 Birmingham.
The nearest kind of glass I can find is Stevens and Williams alabaster glass, but having never seen any in the flesh, so to speak, it is hard to say what it looks and feels like.
http://tinypic.com/5e8pdf
I'm hoping Bernard can help :lol:
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Is that the correct lid? Does it say 'Wendy' on it? How curious!
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Hi Max,
Yes it does say Wendy, it looks like a powder bowl, and some had silver lids.
I believe that "Wendy" was a made -up name used in Peter Pan, which then became popular, but I may be wrong (which is usually the norm :wink: )
Barbara
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:D Hello Barbara,
I've heard that too, it comes from baby-talk, "friendy-wendy". It might be an "urban myth", 'though.
Cheers, Sue.
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:D Hello Barbara,
I've heard that too, it comes from baby-talk, "friendy-wendy". It might be an "urban myth", 'though.
Cheers, Sue.
No, it's true. J.M. Barrie invented the name because a friend's daughter used to call him 'my fwendy', so he called her 'Fwendy Wendy'. She died aged six, and he named his character Wendy Darling in Peter Pan after her.
Leni
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Oh, thanks Leni,
I got something right :lol: , nothing to do with glass mind you, but still its a start :wink:
Barbara
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Barbara — S&W / RB Alabaster is difficult as there is at least one other range, probably more, all very similar. I don't even have a definitive list of colours, although orange is known. Documentation is poor, typical of most S&W / RB.
Of one point I am certain. I would be very wary of any identification of Alabaster from photographs, unless it matched exactly a well-documented piece. Your bowl is similar in shape to Sotheby's 1998 RB Collection sale lot #265, but the proportions are slightly different, possibly a function of size.
Best to take it to a glass fair and/or museum and obtain several opinions.
And please will all those putting up a piece for Id include country of purchase, any known provenance, dimensions, weight, and a photograph of the pontil mark. It may not help, but it could.
Bernard C. 8)
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Hi Bernard,
Here is the base, and it is about 4" tall and 5" wide.
http://tinypic.com/5eslyq
it is white, and does look like alabaster. It does have white inclusions in the orange (which is a pale tangarine colour really) that I think might have come when they added the base.
Hope this is of more help.
Barbara
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Barbara — In my inexperienced opinion you are the owner of one of the most beautiful and perfect examples of British glass I have ever seen. I have no doubt whatsoever that it is S&W Alabaster. I am green (or, perhaps, orange) with envy.
Please obtain other opinions, as I have seen and handled very little S&W / RB Alabaster.
... and please let me know if you ever consider selling it, although note that such glass rarely achieves a price commensurate with its fabulous quality.
Bernard C. 8)
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What does RB mean?
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Frank — Stevens & Williams changed name to Royal Brierley Crystal in 1931, although they may not have used the name Royal Brierley in the USA. You may recall my speculation on the previous Glass Message Board about the name Vernay (see a 1939 example (http://www.drawrm.com/3889.htm)), which could have been a RB trading name in the USA, or the name of a S&W / RB product range, USA only, USA and Canada only, or worldwide.
As regards Alabaster, it was made from 1914 (Jackson, 20th Century Factory Glass) to the 1930s, so should almost always be attributed to S&W / RB as it is usually impossible to date it within this production period. Barbara's fine example dates from 1922, so can be positively attributed to S&W as it was made before the change of name.
Bernard C. 8)
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Hi Bernard,
I am so pleased that you like it, and it seems to be be what I thought.
If you would like to buy it, I would love to offer it to you, so if you would like to mail me at
barbara.bowenat symbolntlworld.com
and we can talk tactics :wink: .
Barbara
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I like that Vernay one! Do you have one for sale Bernard :lol:
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I like that Vernay one! Do you have one for sale Bernard?
Not exactly, Frank, but I do have a wonderful RB tazza which is something of a mystery and may fit in with the Vernay theme.
As for S&W/RB Alabaster, I have just bought a small collection of five items in three colours, four lidded; and can confirm that all these examples have the S&W/RB top-of-the-range "Feature" pontil finish, like Barbara's.
Bernard C. 8)