My profuse thanks for your magnificent efforts again at Kew, Paul.
This little night lamp may not look like much, but I think it is probably the earliest extant piece of British glass (pressed or hand blown) bearing a registration lozenge - unless one of our redoubtable GMB members knows otherwise.
It is imteresting that you mention Osler's candelabrum as appearing in the same 'Representations' book, because Defries & Sons went on to become manufacturers of very high quality chandeliers that held their own alongside those of Osler and Baccarat (see below).
A little time spent with Professor Google has revealed a few facts about Jonas Defries & Sons that might be shed light (pun!) on the development of this humble little lamp into some of the most opulent chandeliers ever seen.
There is a Notice in the Jewish Chronicle that Jonas Defries died on 24 August 1860 at his residence, 147 Houndsditch, in his 55th year. There are also numerous notes about members of his family, including mention of three sons, Moss, Coleman, and Nathan.
In November1866, there was a court case at the Central Criminal Court where Moss Defries was the chief prosecuting witness. He described himself as “a chandelier manufacturer, carrying on business with my brothers in Commercial Street, Whitechapel.
There is an undated illustrated trade card for
J. Defries & Sons
Crystal glass Chandelier Manufacturers.
Lamps for India and other Markets
Manufactories, London & Paris
Birmingham Show Rooms,
Exchange Chambers, Carrs Lane.
Swan & Wade, Agents
Between 26 June 1846 and 7 June 1883, the following designs were registered by either by Jonas Defries or Jonas Defries and Sons , all of Houndsditch, and most with an address of 147 Houndsditch, City, London:
35778 26 June 1846 – P3 Night lamp
50942 18 March 1848 Reflector
50943 18 March 1848 Reflector
50944 18 March 1848 Reflector
51882 10 May 1848 The Brilliant Reflector
73917 29 November 1850 Holder for mortars or night lights
84137 4 March 1852 Pine Moon reflector
84138 $ March 1852 Moon reflector
85540 29 June 1852 Instrument applied to the tops of candles
93185 5 November 1853 Design for lamp glass
96543 2 August 1854 Shade for moderateur lamp to be called “Globe and Tulip” shade
96898 21 September 1854 Glass hydraulic chandelier
97249 17 October 1854 Glass chandelier for moderateur and candle lamp to be called the “Victorian Chandelier”
103739 13 February 1856 Stand for moderator and other lamps
109909 14 May 1857 A mirror to be the “Prism Mirror”
130975 20 March 1861 Gas shade to be called “Prismatic Moon”
139706 20 March 1861 Gas shade to called the “Albert Moon”
158400 15 December 1862 No subject
158401 15 December 1862 No subject
170523 24 December 1863 “Alhambra” chandelier for India
170524 24 December 1863 Registered prismatic chandelier
170526 26 December 1863 Registered crystal candelabrum
180385 25 October 1864 No subject
21696 21 February 1868 No subject
216997 21 February 1868 No subject
223307 21 October 1868 No subject
277150 13 October 1873 No subject
320276 9 April 1878 No subject
358798 23 November 1880 No subject
359104 29 November 1880 No subject
359237 3 December 1880 No subject
359238 3 December 1880 No subject
359239 3 December 1880 No subject
360486 7 January 1881 No subject
360487 7 January 1881 No subject
361810 16 February 1881 No subject
368638 19 August 1881 No subject
374432 6 December 1881 No subject
374773 15 December 1881 No subject
378298 28 March 1882 No subject
378997 29 March 1882 Electrolier
382838 1 July 1882 No subject
383007 5 July 1882 No subject
387075 26 September 1882 No subject
387076 26 September 1882 No subject
387077 26 September 1882 No subject
399063 7 June 1883 No subject
Although describing themselves as manufacturers of chandeliers, there is no record at
http://www.glassmaking-in-london.co.uk/glasshousesof Defries having a glass works, so they may well simply have bought in blank pieces from other glasshouses for final finishing in their own cutting or polishing shops.
Defries does not appear to have exhibited at the great 1851 exhibition at crystal Palace, but at the Paris exhibition of 1867 the small British contingent was represented mainly by Powell & sons and J. Defries who exhibited some ornate chandeliers.
It is interesting that Defries’s trade card makes particular mention that they manufactured “Lamps for India and other Markets”, because there is an Anglo-Indian Defries emerald glass Hundi hall lantern at
http://pinterest.com/pin/264727284316151378/ featuring an emerald blown glass globe with brass terminal, all suspended by a metal collar, chains and glass smoke cap. Originally used for candles, this fixture could be easily electrified with a candle socket.
By the late 1870s, furniture for Eastern nobility was made by several European companies that specialized in this area of production. The principal manufacturers were F. & C. Osler in Birmingham, England, and Baccarat in France. Other English companies that made glass lighting and furniture for the Eastern market were Jonas Defries & Sons of London and the Coalbourne Hill Glass Works near Stourbridge. For the rest of the 19th century, world’s fairs continued to display chandeliers, glass cabinets, and chairs designed by Osler, Jonas Defries & Sons of London, and Baccarat of France.