ooookkk. Once more.
Topic: Any evidence of Whitefriars making this Varnish double walled glass.1) I am not sure if I added this information anywhere else in the thread but there has been ongoing discussion about whether or not J. Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) made Varnish glass.
I've been waiting to see if any of the museums or anyone in fact, can enlighten further on why this is often mentioned in their collection next to maker.
So far no more information added though.
2) I've gone back to Cyril Manley's book with a fresh eye (Manley, Decorative Victorian Glass, New Edition 1988).
I previously started another discussion on a separate thread on the GMB, on how these double walled glasses were made, given Manley's description of the making, here:
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,65710.msg367480.html#msg367480What I didn't do was type out all the information that Manley gave in the book on the subject of J. Powell & Sons possibly making these.
3) On page 45 he talks about a discussion he had with Mr W. J. Wilson (Managing Director and Chief Designer) and Mr Tom Hill (Master Glass Blower) of Whitefriars.
Manley says:
'I believe we managed to clear up an uncertainty about the London glassware (imho he makes an assumption it was made in London )
made for Varnish & Co., when the three of us discussed it's manufacture. The glass ware made for Varnish & Co. is shown and described on pages 98 and 99 . This type of glass was acclaimed in Art Journals when registered in 1849, and when exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851, it was copied in Germany and America, yet by 1852 it's manufacture had ceased. Why? (A misleading date as we know production was finished much earlier than this but at least he acknowledges that there was no further manufacture by 1852. Manley shows 4 marked pieces on page 98, two of which are stemmed goblets.)
The general opinion was that it was made at J. Powell & Sons (Whitefriars). (note he says 'The general opinion', so he too did not have concrete evidence for this comment and goes on to say that).
I think so too, but there seemed little substantive evidence. I have never liked guesswork, so the obvious move was to go to Whitefriars where Mr Wilson checked their records and Tom Hill listened to my surmises. Mr Wilson's search was abortive, he could not find any evidence of his firm making any of this glassware, but Tom Hill came up with the answer to what I believe is the most intriguing question - why had the glass been made for so short a period of time?' He then goes on to talk about Tom Hill's description of how the double walled glasses are made. That description Manley gave in the book included a '...su
ck as soon as the blowing operation was completed.'.
Manley goes on to say:
'After the demonstrations, he suggested why the production of this type of glass was of such short duration. The action of sucking hardened the blower's lungs, because the heat from the article entered the lungs. He remarked that only a fool would make more than one!'Conclusion:So basically, Manley went to Whitefriars and spoke to Tom Hill and W. J. Wilson. At which point Mr Wilson checked Whitefriars own records but could find no evidence of them making the double walled Varnish glasses.
And I don't find Tom Hill's explanation of why they stopped making them after a couple of years plausible or that it can be held as evidence that Whitefriars (J. Powell & Sons) made these goblets and glass items for Varnish.
I don't think there is any evidence that J. Powell & Sons made the glasses for Varnish.
Question:I read that those with the Varnish or Hale Thompson plug are heavier than for example my little Bohemian silvered pieces. That there is a noticeable difference in weight between similar sized pieces - or at least that is how I read the information.
This could mean they were made in different countries.
Or could it mean that the Varnish/Hale Thompson ones were made using heavier glass by say, Bohemian makers perhaps at one particular manufacturer, but then other Bohemian manufacturers developed a more efficient method of making them from lighter glass? There are lots of Bohemian pieces around. They were made for a long period. If I recall correctly, it is also probable Hale Thompson was silvering previously prepared Bohemian vases and then lining them on the inside once silvered (example at V&A and I thought another example was a lidded goblet?)
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