Topic: ‘Mystery’ uranium glass box RD 190420 (circa 1982) – a detective story

[agincourt17]

Here are some photos of a press-moulded box of pale green uranium glass, the sides of the box ornamented with ‘curtain swags’, and the base of the box interior bearing the embossed Rd. No. 190420.  There a rim to the top edge of the box which makes me suspect that the box originally had a lid of some kind - a salt, or a trinket or pin box perhaps?

(Permission for the re-use of these images of the box granted by Kevin Collins).

RD 19420 does not appear in any of the standard reference lists of registered designs for glass, and the GMB search facility yielded no results for ‘190420’ either, so I took up the kind personal offer of GMB member Paul Stirling to search the design registers at TNA on my behalf.  We were somewhat startled by the results as they not only revealed that (as we both suspected) the design had been registered in Class IV (rather Class III for glass), and that the box was not only missing its lid but many other ‘bits’ too, because it was a small part of a veritable ‘concoction’ of glassware registered by Lazarus and Rosenfeld, (merchants) with an address of Bevis Marks, St. Mary Axe, City of London , on 2nd April 1892.

In preparing this post, I decided to search the GMB for ‘Lazarus and Rosenfeld’ and, lo and behold, came across this topic
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,4333.msg53538.html#msg53538
(now over 10 years old) about the Vaseline Gondola 12.5”( which was also marked Rd. No. 190420) and  which turned out to be the major component of this RD 190420 glassware set.!  The design representation shows the lidded box sitting centrally in a recess or compartment inside the gondola, and flanked by two ornate stoppered bottles.

Sadly, Max’s photos at reply #9 are no longer active.

I hope it takes less than 10 more years for someone to provide us with photos of the missing RD 190420 bottles (presumably in uranium glass too) to complete this extravagant glassware set. Any odds on the chance of that happening?

I imagine that the coming across finding the complete set of gondola, lidded box and two bottles are almost vanishingly small (like winning the National Lottery, though the monetary value of the prize rather less).

As to the manufacturer of the glassware itself, it looks as if it may be Austrian (Bohemian?)  because
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php?topic=52717.10 
mentions the importation of Bohemian glass into Britain, US and Australia by a London firm – Lazarus and Rosenfeld. The US extension of the company was Lehmann, Lazarus & Rosenfeld, which included an American based partner.

I have gleaned quite a lot more information about Lazarus & Rosenfeld (and their associates) from a variety of sources, but I will put some of the results of my researches into a follow-up post.

Fred.

[agincourt17]

Follow up on Lazarus & Rosenfeld:

I searched the online summary records of TNA for Lazarus & Rosenfeld design registrations , but their RD 190420 of 2 April 1892 does not appear in the list of results. There are, however, results forthcoming for three Lazarus & Rosenfeld registered designs:

RD 295851 of 31 January 1867- a design for an ornamental doll’s hat, registered under Class IV. See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/designregisters/propitemdetail.asp?item_id=205851&proprietor=124&page=6
which gives their address as 4, Houndsditch, London.

RD 16407 of 5 November 1884 – a Class III design for a frame in bone, wood ivory etc. for photographs or pictures. The registrants are described as Merchants, of Bevis Marks, St Mary Axe, in the City of London (the same description & address as RD 190420).

RD 19434 of 23 December 1884 – description of class, design, registrant and address as per RD 16407 above.

It would seem from a cursory consultation with Professor Google that Lazarus & Rosenfeld had their mercantile fingers in many business pies with a substantial portfolio of manufacturing businesses, including ceramics and glass [glass factories at Steinsehoenau and Kittlitz, Bohemia], in what was then Austria, to back up their import/export activities. This is of particular relevance to the possible manufacturer of the glassware suite/set described in RD 19420 of 2 April 1892. So, although Lazarus and Rosenfeld are simply described as ‘merchants’ in their design registration details, they certainly seem to have the full capability of manufacturing the glassware to their own designs.
 
For any GMB members who might be interested in investigating Lazarus and Rosenfeld further, here are some links and extracts that may aid their research:


From:
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php?topic=52717.10

“This importation of Bohemian glass appears to have started as early as the 1880's and was done by at least one firm I have identified from US custom records. This type of glass is also found in large quantities in the UK, and found in very small quantities in the US market now. There is mention in an 1885 US Customs document of a firm by the name of Lazarus and Rosenfeld of London. It is stated in this Customs record that they not only imported glass to the US as the firm of Lazarus, Rosenfeld and Lehmann, but the firm based in London was also involved in the importation of Welz production to both the UK and also Australia.”

From the London Gazette of May 24, 1889
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25938/page/2830/data.pdf

NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership hereto fore subsisting between us the undersigned, Zadea Lazarus, Sander Lazarus, Abraham Rosenfeld, Benedict Rosenfeld, Isaac Rosenfeld, and Sidney Rosenfeld, carrying on business as General Merchants and Exporters, at Bevis Marks and Bury-court, in the city of London, and at Steinschonau and Kittlitz, in the Empire of Austria, and at New York, in the United States of America, under the style or firm of Lazarus and Rosenfeld, and also at Melbourne and Sydney, in the Colony of Australia, under the style or firm of Lazarus, Rosenfeld, and Benjamin, and also at Altrohlau, .in the Empire o£ Austria, under the style of Victoria Porzellanfabrik, has been dissolved, by mutual consent, as from the 19th day of January, 1889, so far as regards the said Zadea Lazarus who retires from the firm.—Dated this 22nd day of May, 1889. Zadea Lazarus. Benedict Rosenfeld. Sander Lazarus. Isaac Rosenfeld. Abraham Rosenfeld. Sidney Rosenfeld.

From:
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1914_Who's_Who_in_Business:_Company_L

LAZARUS & ROSENFELD, Ltd., China, Earthenware, and Glass Manufacturers, Bevis Marks, London, E.C. Hours of Business: 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Established fifty years ago. Incorporated as a Limited Company. Directors: Isaac Rosenfeld, Sidney Rosenfeld, Isaac Lazarus, Alfred Rosenfeld, and Julian Rosenfeld. Secretary: W. H. Pick. Premises: Extensive works at Carlsbad and Steinschonau, Austria, and Stoke-on-Trent. Staff: Over 2000. Branches: New York, Toronto. Speciality: Useful and Ornamental Goods in China, Earthenware, and Glass. Connection: United Kingdom, Foreign, Colonial. Telephone: No. 568 Central. Telegraphic Address: " Rosenfeld, London." Bankers: London County and Westminster Bank, Ltd. (Lothbury).

From:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~prohel/names/pick/pick.html

Lazarus & Rosenfeld china & glass merchants went out of business during the [second World] war when Isaac Lazarus died and his son Cecil Langford was in the war. They also had a branch in New York which became Marks & Rosenfeld, but the present day firm of that name has nothing to do with the previous firm

From:
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php?topic=3331.10

"Lazarus and Rosenfeld, importer of Bohemian glass, operated a showroom and shop in New York City during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quartre of the twentieth century.  They were listed as cut glass manufactureres by the American Glass Trade Directory in 1918, but we have reason to believe that they did not actually cut their own wares.  At the end of WWI a brisk trade in cut glass developed with foreign factories, which was a contributing factor to the curtailment of this industry in America; the simple fact was that foreign factories could, and did, produce cut glasswares much cheaper than it was possible for American manufacturers to do."
From ‘American Cut and Engraved Glass’ by Revi

From:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980CE6D8103BEF33A2575BC2A96F9C94629ED7CF&legacy=true

CHICAGO, Sept. 27.[1893]  -- The Victoria China Works of Altrohlau, near Carlsbad, Bohemia, owned by Lazarus Bosenfeld, represented in New-York at 60 and 62 Murray Street, and in Chicago at 66 Lake Street, by Lazarus, Rosenfeld Lehmann, have been awarded the highest honors by the jury of awards in the conferring of medals and diplomas for china and Bohemian glass.

From:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/193748-czech-art-deco-tango-glass-jug

There are records in the US Congressional hearings regarding a London firm that was exporting Czech glass to the US, as well as to Australia as early as the mid 1880's. It is my understanding that company was in business until the early 1930's, so the appearance of Tango style glass in Australia is not surprising. The firm name was Lazarus & Rosenfeld. The US extension of the company was Lehmann, Lazarus & Rosenfeld, which included an American based partner.

From:
http://www.worldcat.org/title/victoria-china-works-altrohlau-carlsbad-austria-glass-factories-steinsehoenau-and-kittlitz-bohemia-london-house-bevis-marks/oclc/356291461?page=citation

Citation Styles for "Victoria China Works, Altrohlau, Carlsbad, Austria : glass factories--Steinsehoenau and Kittlitz, Bohemia ; London House: Bevis Marks."

From:
http://www.potteryhistories.com/empire.html

EMPIRE PORCELAIN CO. (LTD) 1896–1967 (Inc. 1963). Manufacturer of bone china and earthenware at the Empire Works, Stoke Rd, Stoke-on-Trent from about 1896. I have not been able to identify the founders of the business, but following the Second World War, the business was owned by Lazarus & Rosenfeld Ltd a European ceramics group and founders of the Victoria Porcelain Factory at Altrouhlau, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic). The pottery was acquired in 1951 by H. Kaufmann Ltd, a Suffolk-based manufacturer of lawnmowers, and by the Qualcast Group in 1958 as a result of its takeover of the Kaufmann Group

http://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/4614505-lazarus-rosenfeld-large-floral-decorated-glass-vase

Lazarus & Rosenfeld - large, floral decorated glass vase…. Ca. 1920, Steinschönau, Bohemia

Fred.

[Paul S.]

very interesting resume of the history of L. & R. Fred, well done.                   Had to say that it came as a very big surprise when we discovered the full extent of the multiple pieces that comprise Rd. 190420, especially in view of Fred's assumption he had a stand alone item.           This is no doubt a rare design, and perhaps remarkable that the only pieces yet to surface (as far as the GMB are concerned) are both in uranium.

I won't comment on Fred's thoughts re the Bohemian origin - am sure he's written adequately for the time being, and not really my area, but the discussion is open again then and we may discover more on this design in the coming days and weeks.

It's perhaps unfortunate that in the National Archives link for Rd. 295851, for the dolls hat, there isn't any description of the material from which the hat is made, although it matters little in truth, but looking at the CLASS IV classification provided, then it has to understood that the hat is ceramic, since CLASS IV is that material.             As we know only too well, mis-classification was apparently a common event.......    of course, the hat may have been some form of ceramic, but being a bloke I tend to assume doll's hats would be made from softer materials.

Quite how the other two Rds. - 16407 and 19434 - qualify as CLASS III (glass), doesn't seem very obvious since the materials quoted don't include glass, and can only assume that as photo frames it was assumed glass was the principal material, even though not mentioned.    At this period in the C19 were frames glazed as a matter of course?    Probably, but I don't really know.

[agincourt17]

Thank you for showing the photos from the design registers, Paul (though I think you have forgotten to watermark them). 

As to the classification of the Lazarus & Rosenfeld RDs 16407 and 19434 as Class III - the registrants either seem to have a habit of misclassifying their designs (with glass item RD 190420 ending up as Class IV), or perhaps it was merely shoddy work by the  registering clerk.

You will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief to know that I have no more 'mystery' design registrations awaiting investigation, at least for the time being.

Fred.

[Paul S.]

apologies Fred and thanks for pointing out............  I have the same pix in two locations - one set wtmkd. and the others plain.       Will the Mods. please delete the first pair and replace with the correct set  -  thanks.

My opinion is that if something has a U.K. Board of Trade Rd. then it should be filed under British - but it may not matter for research purposes.
I'm probably not going to be at Kew for 2 - 3 weeks, but you're more than welcome to save one or two and I'll do when next I'm there.

[agincourt17]

Thank you for the watermarked pics, Paul - I will add them to the GMB RD database a.s.a.p.

Fred.