Topic: Stevens & Williams ? Shell Dish Update Pictures

[Leni]

AFAIAA, the pattern book Marcus refers to (which I thought was in the Broadfield House museum  :? ) is the only remaining documentation on Boulton & Mills  :shock:  It seems less is know about them than many of the Stourbridge glasshouses around at the same time.  

From the auction pictures, I would say it's *possibly* B & M.  The feet are certainly a style I have seen attributed to them before - although I've also seen similar feet on glass by other Stourbridge makers  :roll:

The seller says the bowl has a polished pontil mark.  Anyone know if this is typical of B & M?  Some of the other makers with similar feet (I mean the glass items, not the makers!  :roll: I'm always doing that! :oops:  ) such as Walsh and Stevens & Williams, used a prunt over the pontil mark, didn't they?  

My books are not really helpful on Boulton & Mills and I don't have Manley's book    so I'd really like to know about this bowl!  

BTW, I used to watch 'Top Shelf's auctions on ebay, (and sometimes even bid on them!) but I don't any more 'cos it just depresses me 'cos I can't afford any of their items  :x   :cry:

Leni

[Sklounion]

Leni,
"Broadfield House museum" merely taken from DMBC's website, but I think the paper-work is shared between there and Himley Hall. I may have mis-read it.
If so, apologies.

Marcus

[Leni]

Aha!  Thanks Marcus - no need to apologise!  I was just quoting from what I had read in Charles Hajdamach 'British Glass 1800 - 1914'.

I checked the Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council website, and as I read it, it says their archive material could either be at Broadfield House, Himley Hall or at the Dudley MBC Archives Service - wherever that is!  

So either one of us could be right - or wrong!   :roll:  :lol:

Whose going to go and see?   :wink:

Leni

[mrvaselineglass]

Just to cloud the water a bit.....
I was always under the assumption that this was probably by Thomas Webb, but have no proof.
http://www.vaselineglass.org/vaselinepink1.jpg
http://www.vaselineglass.org/vaselinepink2.jpg
All 4 pieces are pink on the inner layer, vaseline over the outer layer, and the entire outside glows under a blacklight.  All four pieces have that alternating peacock feather style of mold-blown pattern.  The big bowl and the small posey in the holder have a polished pontil.  The two little ewers have a rough pontil. The frame on the big bowl is recent, as I have seen a lot of them.  To add another twist, there is a faint etching on the bottom of the big bowl of L.C.T. favrille.  Whoever decided to add the mark probably was not aware that FAVRILE only has one 'L'.  I bought both of the ewers at Camden Station in London.  I got the big bowl and the small posey at the vaseline glass convention last year.  I have also seen additional shapes using this same peacock mold pattern and pink and vaseline combination with the ruffled rim in vaseline.

The little posey in the stand looks a lot like the one shown earlier in this thread.

Any thoughts as to maker is always appreciated!
Dave

[KevinH]

For completeness, now that the auction is over for the possible Boulton & Mills "rose bowl" (ribbed opal body, amber rim and three amber feet), I can confirm that I never had a response to my query about the Id claimed to be as per Cyril Manley's book.

In the book, I can find no examples of bowls that resemble the one in the auction listing. However, on pages 68-69, a bowl is shown with a broad-ribbed opal coloured body for which Manley stated, "... so extravagantly designed, it can only be Boulton & Mills ...". It seems to me that this comment was in respect of the very wide and full folds in the rim, which are about half the height of the overall piece, and include all-over "nodules". This is nothing at all like the Rose Bowl mentioned, which is positively plain in comparison. Manley also added, "This type of design is at times the only way collectors can identify this firm's specimens." There was no comment on the style of ribbed body being an identifier for Boulton & Mills.

The "extravagant" bowl shown in Manley's book has a much paler shade of pink for the interior. Perhaps some of the pinks we see in online images are simply not the true shade? Or perhaps the book colours were not right? I have a bowl, of unknown maker, with pink interior that is between the shades shown in Manley's book and that in the auction listing. Maybe there were various shades of pink between the very pale and the very dark?

Although the auction rose bowl may have been made by Boulton & Mills, without definite proof we should consider that it could have been made by several other firms as well.

That's the trouble with much of the English (and elsewhere) "Victorian" decorative wares ... they often look much the same whoever made them.

[Frank]

Manley's book was not well printed and pink is in any case hard to reproduce well. I personally supervised the colour adjustments at the printers for Ysart Glass and they are still far from accurate.

[Connie]

From what I have seen, I am now leaning more towards Boulton & Mills rather than Stevens & Williams as the maker of this pitcher.

[Lustrousstone]

The toothpick is certainly uranium. The other two probably aren't

[Connie]

Sorry if bumping this up was obtuse.

It was trying to link to this inquiry by Leni

http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,7619.0.html

This thread is when I first posted my pitcher and other similar pieces.

I was trying to continue the discussion on whether my pieces and Leni's were Stevens and Williams or Bouton and Mills or neither or couldn't be attributed.

I do not know if the toothpick, hobnail bowl or shell dish contained uranium (or even if it is important) all those items have been sold.

The only piece that I have left is the pitcher with the acorn prunts.