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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: Tony H on April 30, 2005, 08:17:13 PM

Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Tony H on April 30, 2005, 08:17:13 PM
Hi One & All
Here is a link to a photo of a glass plate with a chrome stand, this pattern on plates in amber and green also pink with a polished top and satin underside or satin all over.

This glass is quite easy to find here in NZ, who was the maker has bug me for quite some time, on the photo is a white spot this is a silver label ( was hard to photo ) Sowerby Tyneside Glasswear.

This may be common knowledge, but I wished to share it with all of you.

LINK (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v325/d554to/SowerbyTynesideGlasswareplateonchromestand.jpg)

Tony H
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Glen on April 30, 2005, 09:31:57 PM
Sowerby's 2455 (1/2) I think. Thanks for the photo Tony. I believe they are known on short metal stands and in two tier cake stands, as well as simply the glass "ruffled plate" by itself. Maybe Adam will be able to add some more info.

Glen
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Anne on April 30, 2005, 09:47:06 PM
Hi Tony,

Thanks for confirming this pattern as Sowerby. I have a double layer cake stand in green satin that I've been trying to name and you've confirmed it for me. :)

Mine is here:
http://yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/displayimage.php?pos=-4
http://yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/displayimage.php?pos=-5


ADDED NOTE:  After another look at mine I see that the top is smooth and shiny like Tony's and the underside only is satinised.
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Adam on May 01, 2005, 08:19:50 PM
I'm getting a bit rusty on some of the pattern numbers but I'm sure you are right, Glen.  We called it "crimped", not "ruffled"!

I'm not sure of the age of Tony's example but yours, Anne, is right in the middle of "my" period.  The T centre handle and extension were by Wm Lindop of the Birmingham area.  I have fond memories of him as he kindly re-plated the hub caps of my Standard Vanguard!  At that time the underside was certainly "sand" (i.e. less toxic abrasive) blasted before the star was polished off.  Pre-WW2 they might have been acid etched, but I'm not sure about that.  Acid work wasn't re-started after the war, at least when I was there.

Adam D.
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Glen on May 01, 2005, 09:18:44 PM
I just love hearing from Adam. I think we should declare him a National Treasure.  :lol: Adam thanks so much for adding that wonderful personal information - a magnificent touch.

As an additional update, this item was also made in marigold (Sunglow) Carnival. I took the liberty of including it and naming it "Tyneside Star" in "A Century of Carnival Glass". (Carnival collectors like names....we can't be doing with lots of pattern numbers  :lol: )

Glen
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Anne on May 02, 2005, 01:38:03 AM
Glen, I agree 1000% about Adam. :)

Adam, thank you for the extra info - it's lovely to be able to add details like you gave to my glassware. You say my cakestand is in the middle of your era - could you give me an approx date for that please? I must say that I do love this stand - it looks wonderful with a small cake selection on it.
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Tony H on May 02, 2005, 07:28:32 AM
Hi Everyone
Here is another photo to show the chrome stand, which is 2.5" high and the plate is 8"

My plate is like Adam says sand blasted and the star polished off, I will keep a look out for others and see if I can find any that where acid etched.

When was this pattern first made?



link (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v325/d554to/SowerebyTynesideGlasswareplateonchromestandprofile.jpg)

Tony H
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: GLASSMAN on May 02, 2005, 08:00:11 AM
Hi All
ADAM.......I was intrigued by your mention of chrome plating and wondered if you had any knowledge of Davidsons initial association and then take over by Abrahams of Birmingham. I have one of the 'BRAMA' catalogues showing Davidson glass on various chrome stands but I often wondered if they did chrome plate for other companies or used other companies glass.
Many thanks
Rod
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: ChrisStewart on May 02, 2005, 08:28:59 AM
Hi,

There were a number of companies doing plated ware who bought in glass and pottery from manufacturers and then sold on the combined article. Abrahams used glass from other manufacturers beside Davidson. Bagley for example.

You also find the same plated or chrome handles on cake stands made of both glass and pottery. For example the same handle appears on the plate discussed in this listing and on plates by Davidson.

Regards

Chris
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Anne on May 02, 2005, 04:39:24 PM
Question (probably a daft one, but I don't know the answer so I'll ask it anyhow!): How is it possible to tell if the bottoms are sand blasted or etched? The raised part of the star underneath mine is polished and Adam says it's almost certainly sand - how different would it be if it was etched, and would the star then not be polished?

Looking at my Bagley cake stands their metal parts are a totally different style to the Sowerby one, although Tony's Sowerby one is a similar shape to the one on my as yet unknown stand/comport/fruitbowl (the teal coloured one) but the latter has a dull finish like flat aluminium rather than polished chrome. I wonder who made the metal parts for those? Are there any catalogues for the metalware still extant?
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Adam on May 02, 2005, 06:38:04 PM
Hello folks,

What a lot of follow-up questions I trigger off every time I open my big mouth!  I'll answer them first and then add personal stuff.

First "my" dates.  I tend to forget our newer friends - the old ones have heard these ad nauseam.  I've updated my Profile to include my glass career dates where anyone can see them.

The metal comport (compote?) feet were obtainable in chrome finish or aluminium.  In my time Sowerbys were supplying the latter only (can't remember who made them) which I always regretted because they looked cheap and nasty (sorry Anne) at least after a short time in use.

Abrahams were big chrome platers and were very big customers certainly of Sowerbys and I think of Davidsons.  They took over Davidsons some time in the 1960s I think and moved some or all of their plating processes to Davidsons site.  I saw this myself in 1974 or 1975 as part of my later non-glass career.

I might have phrased my sand-blasting sentence in a confusing way.  The glass industry of course bought sand hundreds or even thousands of tons at a time so it was an extremely cheap material for sand-blasting.  However it was banned on health grounds (silicosis) just after WW2 I think.  Safer but vastly more expensive carborundum-type grits had then to be used but the process was still widely called sand-blasting.

It is not always easy to tell whether an article has been "sand" blasted or acid etched, especially if it is done right across one surface.  S/B is usually coarser but technically doesn't have to be.  I can't always be sure myself which is which.  Whether or not any bit of the bottom is polished afterwards is irrelevant.

Many thanks for the kind remarks.  I'm not used to being called a treasure by ladies.  "Vulgar, disgusting old man" is the term of endearment I'm most used to (my wife doesn't read these postings).  After I left the industry in the 1970s I hardly thought about glass until about ten years ago when I first discovered the Internet and then Angela.  I was astonished to hear that the cheap stuff which I had helped to make was becoming collectible and that people were actually interested in how it was made.  That revived my own interest, although I am still not a collector.

Although most of the technical stuff which I spout can be found in text books my objective has been and is to get as much of the details and personal bits and pieces which are not on record anywhere else into the public domain.

Keep the questions coming and I'll do my best!

Adam D.
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Anne on May 02, 2005, 08:41:11 PM
Adam, thank you for adding your dates - that's great as it ties down my double cakestand to a fairly narrow time span. I wonder what else in my collection I can tax your memory with? :D

As to the aluminium stand, I agree with you wholeheartedly!  It does look cheap and tacky, which is why it puzzles me all the more as the glass part of it is lovely - it certainly feels better made than some of the other pieces I've seen and is a beautiful blue - the photo really doesn't do the colour justice. I have a spare chrome stand which I was tempted to put onto the comport instead but am loathe to change it from its original state in a way even though the stand looks tacky. Crazy huh!?!
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Adam on May 02, 2005, 09:24:21 PM
Anne,

Be a little careful with your "narrow band".  Your cakestand could have been made from perhaps a couple of years before my arrival up to an unknown number after I left.

Adam D.
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Anne on May 03, 2005, 12:55:16 AM
Caution noted Adam, thank you. :)
Title: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Frank on May 05, 2005, 09:55:49 AM
There were several companies involved in manufacturing of decorative products such as these from Victorian times, and probably earlier, I listed a number of these from the discussed period in an earier thread.

It would be common practise to source glass and pottery from various glassworks, potteries etc.

Such companies were listed as giftware manufacturers, glass refineries, finishers etc. This is a huge area deserving more research than currently exists. Often they would mark the products with their trade mark.
Title: Re: Sowerby Pattern
Post by: Anne on March 22, 2008, 11:30:09 PM
Adding a pink single one on a chrome stand, for reference:    http://yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/displayimage.php?pos=-250
http://yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/displayimage.php?pos=-249