Topic: E.Varnish mercury glass with embossed seal, circa 1849

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Kev, I need a second opinion on my reading and understanding of this piece in the Art Journal.
If you have time to read, I'd be really interested to know what you think about the way these items are described in this link?:

Page 75 and 76.
I have re-read this (I posted this link on page 16 of this thread much earlier).

Two questions/queries:

1) As far as I read, looking at it with a new perspective now, the article really does seem to say the pieces it is describing were made in two pieces including goblets and vases. It talks about fixing them together and says that was not as difficult as it sounds  (in one of the specifications of the patents, Hale Thomson describes fixing together and makes it sound simple). It talks about the interiors being made of yellow glass to produce a 'gilded' effect once the piece has been silvered. I don't think they are talking entirely about flat pieces stuck together either.  Although it does go on to mention that it would be good if looking glass makers used this silvering method because of previous methods dire effects on health.


2) This article really does describe the red as 'gold ruby'?  And could also, by  the way it is written, be attempting to ascribe the gold ruby glass to Messrs. Powell?



https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZxA8AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA75&dq=drayton+silvered+glass+art+journal+1848&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwitntukkIjXAhVHFMAKHbeyCu0Q6AEILzAC#v=onepage&q=drayton%20silvered%20glass%20art%20journal%201848&f=false

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And yet again please Kev

On page 94 of this link I am pretty sure  it is saying Bohemian glass was produced in gold ruby, but that red glass could also be produced by other means and the British exhibitors showed red glass produced by these 'other means' NOT gold ruby glass?

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=D7uDJiidJIkC&pg=PA94&dq=messrs.+powell+and+co+glass+1851&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8zvX9vsHjAhWhoVwKHRjRAtgQ6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q=messrs.%20powell%20and%20co%20glass%201851&f=false

[flying free]

From The Athenaeum: Journal of Literature no 1223
January 4 1851

page 391

A small paragraph titled 'The Stanley Banquet'

announces 'Now on view, the beautiful articles in PATENT GLASS SILVERING... so greatly admired by Prince Albert at the Royal York Banquet ...'
'Illustrated circulars available from Mellish Regent street, Millar Edinburgh, Livingstone Liverpool and in India from the Agents of Wheatley and Co.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pwZEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA391&dq=silvered+glass+york+banquet+1850&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib3J-v5cHjAhUltnEKHeToDpwQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=silvered%20glass%20york%20banquet%201850&f=false

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OMG!
From the Quarterly Review (London) September 1851

'Accepted in France by Louis Napoleon at the Parisian Fetes (acknowledged by the Prince in his complimentary letter to Mr Hale Thomson)'

says - can be seen at Soyer's,Gore House - wasn't it Soyer who took them up to the York Banquet?

Edited to add a link to the previous post about Soyer presenting the goblets at the York Banquet
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,65670.msg368109.html#msg368109


That's how they ended up in the museum in France collection presumably (discussed much earlier in the thread - will try and find link).
Photo added.

The announcement/advertisement also shows the silvered glass globes on their displays which were described in the Great Exhibition catalogue.

It discusses 'The Magnificent Goblet manufactured for Lord Falkland, Governor of Bombay.'

Under the REFLECTORS part of the advertisement it talks about trade requests only being available from The Works, Berners Street.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8Pq2J81usu4C&pg=PA61&dq=silvered+glass+stanley+banquet+1851&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwip9bbq6MHjAhU_SBUIHTqXDP0Q6AEILTAB#v=onepage&q=silvered%20glass%20stanley%20banquet%201851&f=false



I've no idea what Gore-House was (appears to have been described as a Villa belonging to Lady Blessington) but in this article dated 1861 reflecting back on the Great Exhibition of 1851 it talks about how Soyer used Gore-House as a 'symposium' and decorated it completely including hanging silvered glass globes from the ceiling of the library where they 'bobbed about like the pendant ostriche eggs in an Eastern Mosque'.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fY8eAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA471&dq=silvered+glass+soyer%27s+gore-house&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIl47n9cHjAhUQilwKHaQXBooQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=silvered%20glass%20soyer's%20gore-house&f=false

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Well this article explains very concisely what Gore-House was

https://comestepbackintime.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/victorian-cookery-hero-alexis-benoit-soyer/

It also mentions the 8 silver glass globes hanging from the ceiling and why they were designed to put there.

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1) Patent by Thomas Mellish for silvering Reflectors:

May 7 1851
No.13624

Page 221 and 222

Now, I can see Powell & sons making the glass for this patent and objects Mellish/Hale Thomson was making from this patent.
It's all about using glass tubes for making reflectors.
Glass tubes was something Powell and Sons were exhibiting at the Great Exhibition.


https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XWoiqpY8dZ0C&pg=PA221&dq=mellish+patent+silvered+glass+1851&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsm6Hv_8HjAhWKN8AKHW6YC_kQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=mellish%20patent%20silvered%20glass%201851&f=false



2) This is a description of glass exhibited in the 1862 exhibition. 
page 409
The Practical Mechanic's Journal Record of the Great Exhibition 1862

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2tu9gpuBdU8C&pg=PA407&dq=powell+and+sons+glass+great+exhibitions&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS1vr4gcLjAhX5QRUIHY8tB0wQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=powell%20and%20sons%20glass%20great%20exhibitions&f=false
What is interesting is the following comment:

'The Bohemian and German flint glass, is manufactured, generally speaking, without lead, but the colour is nevertheless remarkably good.  In this respect, as also in staining rubies and producing one or two other colours, our manufacturers have still a good deal to learn.' 


I have no idea what they mean about 'staining rubies' but in conjunction with the 'and producing one or two other colours' it appears to be referring to red glass possibly.  Interesting that in 1862 the implication was still that colour production of the British glass was not as good as Bohemian or German glass.  Where does that leave the Hale Thomson and Varnish goblets from 1851?

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Interesting set of Varnish & Co and Hale Thomson marked silvered pieces sold.

https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/stair-galleries/pair-of-varnish-co-amethyst-mercury-glass-vases-and-an-alethoms-sons-patent-green-mercury-glass-stemmed-compote-1026957

The amethyst vases, panel cut and marked Varnish etc. The Green footed bowl blown but not cut (6" tall) marked Hale Thomson.

The amethyst colour is remarkable.
The panel cutting on the vases is not easy to do from what I recall reading.  It would require a skilled cutter.  I wonder whether Bohemian or English?
I've remembered where I think I've seen that kind of diamond shape cutting around the rim as well.  I think it's seen frequently on Buquoy lithyalin or agatinopal (edited - it seems to mostly be seen on the pieces that come up under lithyalin or hyalith searches) pieces.  I have it on a small lamp or perfume bottle (dating c.1830s and probably Buquoy I believe because of the sapphire blue colour)

see here for link to the thread on my blue lamp or perfume bottle:

https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,61460.msg346264.html#msg346264

https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=61460.0;attach=183572;image

A hyalith piece in red here with diamond style cutting:

http://www.bohemianglass.org/katalog/flakon-cerveny-hyalith-2726/detail/

and here another piece

https://www.icollector.com/Lithyalin-Flakon-mit-St-psel_i116989

also a large red hyalith lidded goblet here in Walter Spiegl's document from Benedikt Vivat Glasfabrik
which has that style of cutting around the rim of the lid (page 4):
http://www.glas-forschung.info/pageone/pdf/lith.pdf

Not THAT easy to find

The OP's red goblet has panel cutting and is turban cut around the bulbous waist at the foot of the bowl and has that diamond shape cutting around the rim also.

See here for an example of Bohemian glass turban cut around the waist of the becher:

https://www.lotsearch.de/lot/weisses-alabasterglas-verziert-mit-schael-und-turbanschliff-bemalt-in-38474905?orderBy=lot-title&order=ASC

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ok that peculiar type of cutting around the rim of the OPs red goblet.
That is not easy to find.
I recognise it because of my little blue lamp/perfume bottle which I think dates quite early 1800s.
The similar cut pieces I've managed to find are also dated to the 1830s ish. So apparently quite a bit earlier than the silvered glass goblets from Varnish & Co, which are also cut.
Seemingly most of those pieces come from Buquoy (I think)

See this cabinet of red Hyalith glass in the Passau for a couple of examples with intricately cut rims:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MsOYTBXCHhY/TXnP76Z-oXI/AAAAAAAAB-8/RNE14sI6Lzs/s1600/100_7486.jpg

Here is an example I linked to earlier but in a format which can be enlarged greatly.  It's a red hyalith perfume bottle:
https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/dr-fischer/catalogue-id-srdrf10002/lot-d99aa27b-6dcc-46fb-ac7f-a3fc016e1403

Notably on the pair of amethyst vases I linked to earlier, one has the cut rim, the other doesn't:
https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/stair-galleries/pair-of-varnish-co-amethyst-mercury-glass-vases-and-an-alethoms-sons-patent-green-mercury-glass-stemmed-compote-1026957

According to Farbenglas II Waltraud Neuwirth, pp126 and 127, both Buquoy and Harrach produced Amethyst coloured glass - on the pieces shown in the book Buquoy's referred to as Amethyst and cased '(inside violet, outside colourless)', and Harrach's uncased and referred to as violet glass.

The other thing is, the silvered glass goblets, because they are chunky in shape, remind me of the Buquoy Agatinopal glas goblets , which are also chunky and oddly shaped.

Buquoy was supplying Egermann to make the Lithyalin pieces as far as I know, which were made using silver mixes.
Question to self - why were the Agatinopal glas goblets so chunky?  They are odd. I love them but they are definitely I would think 'decorative' rather than to be used.

According to the information in this book - A Dictionary, ...  John Ramsay McCullough
In 1837 Buquoy had five glass houses and Harrach one (SEE PAGE 231), so at least in 1837 it seems they were capable of providing glass to be silvered? Whether they did or not, and also whether they were still capable, size and business wise, of doing so in 1847-1851 who knows at the moment?  But it's a possible avenue to explore :

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vfERAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA231&dq=buquoy+glass+exports+1847&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0ldXqucbjAhWimFwKHR4cBjwQ6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q=buquoy%20glass%20exports%201847&f=false

I'm off to try and examine pics of the agatinopal glas pieces to see if they appear to be hollow in any way.

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Reading this book regarding stained glass windows of the same period as these goblets, there is nothing between pages 42 and 48 that might indicate Powell & co could have produced the colours and the goblets as far as I can see.
The author mentions the difficulty that Hardman had in procuring good quality pot metal and the experiments of Hartley with ruby glass and white glass.  Unless I'm missing something.  Anyone please comment if I might be wrong.

Stained Glass and the Victorian Gothic Revival, Jim Cheshire - 2004 Manchester University Press

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=X7DfzDRczhoC&pg=PA43&dq=ruby+glass+powell+%26+co+1850&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRr-vd6cbjAhWRilwKHZhVC58Q6AEIMTAC#v=onepage&q=ruby%20glass%20powell%20%26%20co%201850&f=false

In this book on page 41 it talks about Powell's making flashed ruby glass by 1861 and that was where Morris purchased his glass (for stained glass)

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=thW8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA142&dq=hardman+jug+ruby+glass&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu-vDk7MbjAhXAUxUIHR2iAOMQ6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=%20ruby%20glass&f=false

Perhaps it could be explained by the difference between making a cased glass object and flashed stained glass, but it reads as though they had difficulty procuring good quality coloured glass.


By contrast with the descriptions of the difficulty of obtaining good pot metal glass in Birmingham in the first book, this decanter I think was shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851 from Bacchus - it looks like it is red glass cased in clear then cased in white and cut through.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=936097001&objectId=3331850&partId=1


And Molineaux Webb pieces shown here are ruby glass shown at the Great Exhibition. 
https://sites.google.com/site/molwebbhistory/Home/history/5---the-great-exhibition-of-1851

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Re the red or ruby glass of the OP's Varnish & Co patent goblet:

Referring again to a piece in Willis's Current Notes: A Series of articles on Antiquities, Biography ... Selected from Original Letters and Documents Addressed during the Year 1852 to The Publisher, G Willis, Great Piazza, Covent Garden, London.


Under the page header 'FOR NOVEMBER 1853' , a letter appeared on page 87, that discusses red or ruby glass.  The respondent reply was from Apsley Pellatt and in it he refers to his book Curiosities of Glass Making,so his letter in reply must have been written after he published that book in 1849.
It doesn't read to me as though he was producing gold ruby glass at the time of his writing it.

It has some interesting/intriguing information in it regarding the production of red glass and gold ruby glass.  Specifically on how a separate pot would be necessary v those being used to produce flint glass.  And also supplies of red glass for casing.


https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CKhPAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA85&dq=ruby+glass+excise&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQ48_K9cfjAhUyrHEKHSTiC1kQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&q=ruby%20glass%20excise&f=false