Topic: Powell-style tazza but not Whitefriars

[Bernard C]

Click on the above image for gallery with further images.

Lovely Arts & Crafts tazza, almost certainly by Whitefriars, I believe.

Height 7¼", maximum width 6¾", foot diameter 3½", weight 10oz 292g.   The twisted 16-rib stem was hollow blown, and there is a merese, a classic Whitefriars feature, at the join with the bowl.   The neat pontil scar under the plain foot was apparently lightly fire-polished to remove any sharpness.

Is it definitely Whitefriars?   Jackson suggests a rather lengthy 1870s – early 1920s for its manufacture — can this be tightened up at all?   Any chance of a pattern number or designer?

Thanks for your interest,

Bernard C.  

[nigel benson]

Hi,

Is it definitely Whitefriars?   Jackson suggests a rather lengthy 1870s – early 1920s for its manufacture

What Jackson reference are you using for the dates please Bernard? As it would shed a little more light on your thinking, to be able to help.

Thanks, Nigel

[Bernard C]

...   What Jackson reference are you using for the dates please Bernard?   ...

Nigel — Glossary, p.149, under merese.   That was the best I could find.

See also http://www.whitefriars.com/isit_contents.php?ID=7178

Bernard C. 

[Patrick]

Hi Bernard,
 I have noticed that Steve Leslie has commented on your 'Is it Whitefriers' entry.  He thinks it could be 'Powell" circa 1880 but I am not so sure.
The stem looks a bit on the heavy side but certainly a very similar stem design is in the 1906-12 design book (Pic. attached) Courtesy of Museum of London.
I would love to see it if you were able to bring it to the fair this Sunday.
 Be very careful with it because if it is Powell it is worth a lot of money.

All best wishes, Patrick.

[Bernard C]

Patrick — Grateful thanks.

...   The stem looks a bit on the heavy side   ...

I thought that when I picked it up for the first time before buying it.   However, there has to be a lot of glass in a twisted ribbed stem, perhaps three times as much as in a plain hollow stem, by virtue of how it was made.   So I reasoned that the 10oz weight was the equivalent of around 6oz in total for a plain stem, more like a W/F weight.

I actually bought it because it is so beautiful.   Whether it turns out to be Whitefriars, Walsh, or another maker, it's a delight which I might keep and enjoy for a while.   I will bring it tomorrow for you and others to consider.

Bernard C. 

[Bernard C]

Well, it turned out not to be Whitefriars.   Harry Powell's Venetian glass was much lighter in style, the pontil scar was generally ground out and polished, and the stem much slimmer.

Thanks to all at the National who explained it to me.

Patrick's image gives me a date to work around, which is useful.

So, being realistic, we arrive at any one of a number of Stourbridge manufacturers plus two or three others elsewhere like Walsh, with a late Victorian or Edwardian date.

Does anyone have any suggestions for such a piece with a lightly fire-polished neat pontil scar and a merese?

Bernard C.