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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: flying free on October 22, 2014, 10:26:05 PM
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I apologise if this has been established elsewhere on the board but I have checked threads (and my memory) and I have not been able to find a definitive except that it was the 1930s. I 'thought' I had found somewhere that it was 1931 however I've just seen another thread here
(see link below) which shows a 'Catalogue of the Exhibition of British Industrial Art in relation to the home' which was held at Dorland Hall on June 20-July 12 1933 where within the catalogue it states
'...Stourbridge is represented ably by such well-known and long established firms as Messrs Stevens & Williams, Messrs Thomas Webb & Corbett, Messrs Thomas Webb & Co...'
Which seems to say that in July 1933 they were still known as Stevens and Williams...doesn't it?
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,57285.msg324576.html#msg324576
m
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Hello m, 1930's is the best I can find, I'd ask Arlon Bayliss who knew one of the S&W's family but he's not been answering his emails, well not the last couple I sent him, ::) ( he lives in Indiana so it's a bit far to visit :o ) ;D ;D
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Hi Keith
yes, 1930s seems to be where it has stuck date wise at least in threads here on the GMB.
But if that catalogue is a true representation of the names of the glass companies at the time, then we are now up to July 1933 with it still being Stevens & Williams.
m
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see my post directly above and
oh,I've found something else to back up that 1933 date:
In the book 'British Glass between the wars' - edited by Roger Dodsworth, page 33 there appears a picture captioned:
'Advert for Keith Murray's Glass from the Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review,1933'
and on that advert is titled
'Modern English Glass Designed by Keith Murray And executed by Stevens and Williams Ltd at Brierley Hill Staffs'
underneath that it reads
'British Industries Fair Olympia Stand No C9'
then at the bottom underneath the photograph of 4 clear glass pieces it states
'London Showrooms
Bath House, 59, Holborn Viaduct, E.C.1'
then in large typeface
'Brierley Crystal
by
British Craftsmen'
So it seems to me that in 1933 they were still known as Stevens & Williams
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Was not Royal Brierley Crystal Glassworks the name of the factory at first, not the company.
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I have no idea Frank.
But the fact that they say in their advertisement ' .. and executed by Stevens & Williams Ltd' makes me believe that is what they were still called.
In a more considered vein, why would it be called Royal Brierley Crystal Glassworks though? It wasn't based in a place called Royal Brierley, it was based at Brierley Hill wasn't it?
Therefore I can understand them promoting it in that advertisement as 'Brierley Crystal from British Craftsmen' (based on it being located in Brierley and producing crystal), or calling it Brierley Crystal Glassworks (based on location of factory and the product being crystal), but not Royal Brierley Crystal Glassworks before they'd changed their name to Royal Brierley. After they'd changed their name, then yes. That would make sense.
Also there has been mention that Stevens & Williams changed their name to Royal Brierley after a Royal visit. The only one I've found so far is one from the Queen Mother in 1925 (page 26 The Crystal Years).
There is a 'By Appointment' coat of arms on the bottom right of the Advert I mentioned in my previous post, so I would think that had they changed their name by 1933 then it would have been on that advertisement.
Edited to add:
According to the Gorgeous Glass (Broadfield House) website, they were awarded a Royal Warrant by King George V in 1919. And it says they were awarded Royal Warrants by every monarch after this the most recent being in 1985. Which would explain the By Appointment on the advertisement.
quote
'...Royal Warrants were awarded to Royal Brierley by every monarch since George V, the most recent being in 1985 when H.R.H. Princess of Wales visited the company.'
m
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mm this link here (you need to scroll down to find their advertisement)
http://www.glass-study.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:pggtr-1949-december-part-1-adverts&catid=26&Itemid=25
is from the Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review December 1949
and the advert has a bold heading over some cut crystal headed 'Royal Brierley Crystal'
but the bottom line of the advertisement says
'Stevens & Williams Ltd, Brierley Hill Glassworks, Staffs'
So, I understand from that, that the holding company (company name) was still Stevens and Williams and the factory was still called Brierley Hill Glassworks, but the products were being called 'Royal Brierley Crystal'.
Have I misunderstood?
m
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I have found this short reference in the archives links on Black Country History site
http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_DRBC_12_4_13/
I cannot access the archive documents for it but the title of the reference is:
'Sign: "Stevens & Williams Ltd, Brierley Hill, makers of Royal Brierley Crystal"
Ref No: DRBC/12/4/13
Date: nd
Description: Representative named as Mr G. L. Hill'
Does this not read as if Stevens & Williams are still the maker ? and Royal Brierley Crystal merely the 'product name'?
Therefore any product ranges produced after they started calling those specific ranges Royal Brierley Crystal, should actually be referred to as 'A Stevens & Williams Royal Brierley Crystal (then name of product range )' i.e. it is not either Stevens & Williams or Royal Brierley Crystal.
Therefore any product ranges produced before they started calling them Royal Brierley Crystal should be rightfully called 'A Stevens & Williams (then name of product range)
m
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According to L Angus Butterworth: British Table & Ornamental Glass, in the section on Stevens and Williams Ltd, the addition of Royal to their name of Brierley Crystal (as a brand name) came about after the firm received the Royal Warrant to supply King George V with glassware. LAB gives the date of the Royal Warrant as before 1925 when the Duke of York (later King George VI) visited the glassworks with his wife, and that was "shortly after this honour had been accorded."
However, a check of the London Gazette database gives the date of the issue of the Royal Warrant to Stevens and Williams Ltd. of Stourbridge for glass as being 5 years' previously, the Gazette notice being dated Friday 2nd January, 1920, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31715/page/34
The Coronation Exhibition website gives the following info, "The first Warrant was bestowed by King George V in 1919 and has been renewed by each successive Monarch since." https://www.coronationfestival.com/exhibitors?exhbid=18051-royal-brierley-crystal
Interestingly, the London Gazette notice states that the grant of a Royal Warrant does not give the grantee the right to use the name Royal! https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31715/page/25
According to Companies House, http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ - the following are the relevant dates...
Rbc Realisations Limited
Dissolved 19/02/2008
Date of Incorporation: 18/09/1931
11 Dec 2000 19/02/2008 Rbc Realisations Limited
28 May 1985 11 Dec 2000 Royal Brierley Crystal Limited
18 Sep 1931 28 May 1985 Stevens and Williams Limited
Originally the company was named Stevens and Williams (i.e. no Limited), having been formed in 1846 as a partnership. The glassworks was called Brierley Hill Glass Works (founded c. 1740), but the London Gazette notices clearly give the company name as Stevens and Williams Limited in 1920 and throughout the 1920s.
An earlier London Gazette mention of them in respect of a court case involving members of the Midlands Association of Flint Glass Manufacturers, dated 30 January, 1903, gives their name as Stevens and Williams, so that implies the change to limited status happened between 1903 and 1920. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27520/page/642
A further notice in the London Gazette, dated 18 September, 1931, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33754/page/6058 explains where the 1931 date fits into the company history,
"STEVENS AND WILLIAMS Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at The Brierley Hill Glass Works, Brierley Hill, in the county of Stafford, on the 11th day of September, 1931, the following Special Resolution was duly passed:
"That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Mr. Thomas Henry Gough, Chartered Accountant, of Dudley, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
(105) H. S. WILLIAMS-THOMAS, Chairman."
Hope this helps add a bit more to what we know about the company. :)
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Thank you Anne!
So, I am having a little difficulty ensuring I understand this properly :-[
Where you have written (my underlining) :
'According to Companies House, http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ - the following are the relevant dates...
Rbc Realisations Limited
Dissolved 19/02/2008
Date of Incorporation: 18/09/1931
11 Dec 2000 19/02/2008 Rbc Realisations Limited
28 May 1985 11 Dec 2000 Royal Brierley Crystal Limited
18 Sep 1931 28 May 1985 Stevens and Williams Limited'
does this imply that they were Stevens and Williams Limited from 18Sep 1931 to 28May 1985?
If so
how does this fit in? :
''A further notice in the London Gazette, dated 18 September, 1931, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33754/page/6058 explains where the 1931 date fits into the company history,
"STEVENS AND WILLIAMS Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at The Brierley Hill Glass Works, Brierley Hill, in the county of Stafford, on the 11th day of September, 1931, the following Special Resolution was duly passed:
"That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Mr. Thomas Henry Gough, Chartered Accountant, of Dudley, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
(105) H. S. WILLIAMS-THOMAS, Chairman."'
How could they wind up a limited company called Stevens & Williams Ltd and then still trade as Stevens & Williams Ltd from then until 1985?
Or was that winding up when they became Rbc Realisations Ltd as the overarching company?
And further question - does this mean they were only Royal Brierley Crystal Ltd from 1985 to 2000 under the overarching Rbc Realisations Ltd name?
If so does that mean all references prior to 1985 should refer to the glass as 'Stevens & Williams'?
I'm sure I've got that all wrong :-X
m
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This is my understanding of what happened...
The company that was trading as Stevens and Williams Limited in 1931 was wound up voluntarily and relaunched (restructured), I've not yet found out why that was done. Possibly as a way to refinance it? Possible a change from a private limited company to a public one? I'm just speculating as to the reason until I can find the evidence of that... that it was relaunched in 1931 is evidenced by the Companies House data, and that it was relaunched with the same name, i.e. Stevens and Williams Limited.
The company was called Stevens and Williams Limited right through until 1985 when it became Royal Brierley Crystal Limited, which in turn became Rbc Realisations Limited in 2000. Rbc Realisations Limited was dissolved in 2008.
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Thanks so much Anne.
I did read something in BGbtw page 33
'The lack of orders which reduced the firm to two-day working week in the early years of the 1930s was an economic fact for many British manufacturing industries'.
It could be read that they were in financial straits I suppose. Which could be a factor in why they wound up the company and relaunched.
So it's interesting that the company was not called Royal Brierley Crystal until 1985. I understand it then that they had a 'product range' called Royal Brierley Crystal by at least December 1949, according to that advertisement in the Pottery Gazette.
So :
- at what date they decided to call their products 'Royal Brierley Crystal' is still to be determined
- whether or not all their ranges/designs fell under their banner 'Royal Brierley Crystal' is still to be determined
- whether or not it is determined that a product fell under the 'Royal Brierley Crystal' product range, it means their glass can legitimately be referred to as 'Stevens and Williams and then range name ( i.e. Caerleon, alabaster(sic), Tortoiseshell)' up until 1985 then?
m
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I think you got it. You can call your company (your trading name) and your product ranges whatever you like but your accounts have to be filed under your registered company name and your board members are board members of your registered company. So yes everything was made by Stevens and Williams until 1985. Many of the company names we know today are really trading names. It's all about marketing
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Despite having company papers for Moncrieff I have never been able to penetrate the ins and outs of names usage. On top of all the 'legal' names, companies also had operational 'names' that bear little relationship to anything obvious. From the data given by Anne it would appear that they added Royal to the glassworks name between 1925 and 1931. Which ties in with the general statements in books. For simplicity it is probably desirable to use S&W until the final closure. Likewise with Powell that are often referred to as Whitefriars since the late 1990s by collectors. There are endless naming confusions around for glass companies with the name of their glassworks, in some books you even find the odd case where they are mentioned as entirely separate entities.
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Frank, I'm afraid I disagree with your comment here
'From the data given by Anne it would appear that they added Royal to the glassworks name between 1925 and 1931. '
In the London Gazette, dated 18 September, 1931,(source Anne's post - it's my underlining in the para quoted below) it specifically states
"STEVENS AND WILLIAMS Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at The Brierley Hill Glass Works, Brierley Hill, in the county of Stafford, on the 11th day of September, 1931, the following Special Resolution was duly passed:
"That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Mr. Thomas Henry Gough, Chartered Accountant, of Dudley, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
(105) H. S. WILLIAMS-THOMAS, Chairman."'
i.e. on 11 September 1931 the glass works was still called The Brierley Hill Glass Works.
and also
In this paragraph quoted from Anne's earlier post from L Angus Butterworth: British Table & Ornamental Glass, it says they added the word 'Royal' to their name of Brierley Crystal (as a brand name). It has no source for that assertion and it has no date for the addition of the word 'Royal' to their brand name of Brierley Crystal, and it doesn't mention that they added the word Royal to their glass works name:
'According to L Angus Butterworth: British Table & Ornamental Glass, in the section on Stevens and Williams Ltd, the addition of Royal to their name of Brierley Crystal (as a brand name) came about after the firm received the Royal Warrant to supply King George V with glassware. LAB gives the date of the Royal Warrant as before 1925 when the Duke of York (later King George VI) visited the glassworks with his wife, and that was "shortly after this honour had been accorded."'
There's a lot of confusion around this paragraph. The warrant was issued in 1919, the visit occurred in 1925, and there is no evidence I can find for the actual date of when the word Royal was added to their name of Brierley Crystal (as a brand name) and nothing mentioning the glassworks either.
Also, I think it is important for the correct company name to be used when describing items.
In summary I believe this is the chain of events and correct names for the company by date so far:
1740 - Brierley Hill Glass Works - a glassworks founded in c1740
1846 - Stevens & Williams - Were a partnership formed who owned the glassworks
called Brierley Hill Glass Works
1903 - Stevens & Williams - We know this was still the company name at the point of 30th January 1903
1903-1920 - Stevens & Williams/ - At some date between 30 January 1903 and 2nd January 1920 the Stevens & Williams company
Stevens & Williams Ltd became Stevens & Williams Ltd
- Date still to be determined
1920-1930 - Stevens & Williams Ltd - The company was called this between 2nd January 1920 and 1930 (Source – London Gazette )
1931 - Stevens & Williams Ltd - We know the company was called this on 11 September 1931
On 11 September 1931 that company trading as Stevens & Williams Ltd was formally wound up
1931-1985 - Stevens & Williams Ltd - The company was registered as this name between 18 September 1931 and 28 May 1985
(note - this is not an error, the company was wound up and renamed as the same name)
1985-2000 - Royal Brierley Crystal Limited - Between 28 May 1985 and 11 Dec 2000 the company was renamed Royal Brierley Crystal
Limited
2000-2008 - Rbc Realisations Limited - Between 11 Dec 2000 and 19 February 2008 the Company was renamed Rbc Realisations
Limited
Therefore:
- whether or not a product was made under a product range that Stevens & Williams had denoted as the range 'Royal Brierley Crystal' is irrelevant for the purposes of correctly identifying their wares from 1846 until 28th May 1985
as
- all products produced by Stevens and Williams from 1846 up until 28th May 1985 can legitimately be referred to as:
'A Stevens & Williams (insert range name or just insert item name if range name not known)' .
m
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Just to add a bit more....
2005-2007, Dartington ran the factory and gift shop, after this date production moved to N.Devon with a small team of ex RB'y workers still employed cutting and acid dipping, info' from Dartingtons, ;D
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in order to complete the early history of the company name in the list above, the outstanding question on this thread is:
1903-1920 - Stevens & Williams/ - At some date between 30 January 1903 and 2nd January 1920 the Stevens & Williams company
Stevens & Williams Ltd became Stevens & Williams Ltd
- Date still to be determined
Anne has added some further information on this dating to earlier than 1920 on this thread -
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,58268.msg348403.html#msg348403
Updated information Anne has added so far:
'I don't know if it helps or not, but there is a bit more info from the London Gazette:
7th June 1918 Supplement 30730, page 6713 (King's Birthday Honours List)
Joseph Silvers Williams-Thomas, Esq., J.P.; Chairman, British Flint Glass Manufacturers' Association, Limited; Chairman, Messrs. Stevens & Williams, Limited.
This entry states Stevens and Williams Limited and pre-dates M's previously earliest 1920 Limited status evidence.
And to take it back even further, in the Kelly's PO Directory for London 1914 (page 1658) is the following entry under Glass Manufacturers:
Stevens and Williams Limited, 57 Holborn Viaduct, EC
This will be their London showroom, but the fact that it has the Limited name is helpful!
I'll keep rummaging in my reference materials and see what else I can turn up for you... :D'
Keith has also added further information on the more recent history of the company:
''Epsom Enterprises' ran RBC from around 1999 then went into receivership 1999-2000 and re started in 2002 by Tim Westbrook and associates until they sold out to Dartington in 2005, info' from Tim Westbrook,...'
m
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Pertaining to this question on the summary post of dates I made:
'in order to complete the early history of the company name in the list above, the outstanding question on this thread is:
1903-1920 - Stevens & Williams/ - At some date between 30 January 1903 and 2nd January 1920 the Stevens & Williams
company became Stevens & Williams Ltd
- Date still to be determined '
to confirm Anne's additional information from the Kelly's Directory 1914, there is a link on Grace's Guide to a 1914 directory of Who's Who in Business that shows the company name as Stevens & Williams. Ltd.,
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1914_Who's_Who_in_Business:_Company_S
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Just adding a little bit of possible history to the timeline.
In summary I believe this is the chain of events and correct names for the company by date so far:
1740 - Brierley Hill Glass Works - a glassworks founded in c1740
1828-1829 - Silvers, Mills and Stevens - listed in Pigot's as at Brierley Hill
1835 - Silvers, Mills and Stevens - Moor Lane Glass Works (at some point before or during 1835 as this was listed in Pigot and Co 1835 -
Source: page 657 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Pigot_and_Co_s_National_Commercial_Direc/Fq5IAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=wordsley+glassworks&pg=PA657&printsec=frontcover
1846 - Stevens & Williams - Were a partnership formed who owned the glassworks
called Brierley Hill Glass Works
1903 - Stevens & Williams - We know this was still the company name at the point of 30th January 1903
1903-1920 - Stevens & Williams/ - At some date between 30 January 1903 and 2nd January 1920 the Stevens & Williams company
Stevens & Williams Ltd became Stevens & Williams Ltd
- Date still to be determined
1920-1930 - Stevens & Williams Ltd - The company was called this between 2nd January 1920 and 1930 (Source – London Gazette )
1931 - Stevens & Williams Ltd - We know the company was called this on 11 September 1931
On 11 September 1931 that company trading as Stevens & Williams Ltd was formally wound up
1931-1985 - Stevens & Williams Ltd - The company was registered as this name between 18 September 1931 and 28 May 1985
(note - this is not an error, the company was wound up and renamed as the same name)
1985-2000 - Royal Brierley Crystal Limited - Between 28 May 1985 and 11 Dec 2000 the company was renamed Royal Brierley Crystal
Limited
2000-2008 - Rbc Realisations Limited - Between 11 Dec 2000 and 19 February 2008 the Company was renamed Rbc Realisations
Limited
Therefore:
- whether or not a product was made under a product range that Stevens & Williams had denoted as the range 'Royal Brierley Crystal' is irrelevant for the purposes of correctly identifying their wares from 1846 until 28th May 1985
as
- all products produced by Stevens and Williams from 1846 up until 28th May 1985 can legitimately be referred to as:
'A Stevens & Williams (insert range name or just insert item name if range name not known)' .
m
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Another wee snippet from the London Gazette re the Royal Warrant:
Publication date:2 January 1920 Issue:31715 Pages:28/34
Issued from Buckingham Palace, January 1, 1920 by SHAFTESBURY, Lord Chamberlain to the Queen
LIST, of Tradesmen who hold Warrants of Appointment to His Majesty King George V., from The Lord Steward, with authority to use the Royal Arms. These Warrants do not carry the right
to fly the Royal Standard, or to use the word " Royal":—
Stevens and Williams Limited, glass, Stourbridge
And another one from the London Gazette which shows the company was Stevens and Williams Limited in 1918 :
Publication date:4 June 1918 Supplement:30730 Page:6713
Joseph Silvers Williams-Thomas, Esq., J.P.. Chairman, British Flint Glass Manufacturers' Association, Limited; Chairman, Messrs. Stevens & Williams, Limited
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A couple of things to say I guess.
I have always been under the impression that the company added the Royal Brierley after a Royal visit, with the suggestion of 1931, but this is just hearsay I'm afraid.
You can certainly take the use of the name Royal Brierley back to 1933, when Keith Murray started working for the company. Whenever Keith Murray pieces were marked they had the RB name, as well as the 'S' and 'W' either side of a fleur-de-lis etched to the base of an item.
So, both names were being used.
Nigel
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Hi Nigel :)
Thank you for confirming that. Searching isn't throwing up much but this did come up -
From the Royal Institute of Architects 1934 (I think - only a snippet view from google and these can be misleading - and it seems like an advertisement from Stevens and Williams)
a book called International Architecture 1924-1934 page xv:
quote 'Ask your dealer to show you Royal Brierley Crystal in Keith Murray's designs'
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/International_Architecture_1924_1934/r-VIAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=brierley+hill+glassworks+keith+murray&dq=brierley+hill+glassworks+keith+murray&printsec=frontcover
From what I'm reading (snippets in various publications/various dates) it seems to me that Keith Murray joined in 1932 (signed a contract to design for S&W). Absolutely not meaning to split hairs but I'm just wondering if when his designs started being made, that was when they launched the brand and named it 'Royal Brierley Crystal' and that might be why all the Keith Murray designs are marked with both the S&W fleur de lys and the words Royal Brierley Crystal.
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This bowl in the V&A appears to have been marked 'Keith Murray S W Brierley' with a fleur-de-lis, acid etched (Makers's mark)' i.e. no Royal mentioned.
However their description is remarkably confusing as it says it was designed in 1938-1939 but shown in 1935 ::) - I think it's not possible it was shown before it was designed :-X so it's equally possible that where it says 'Marks' it could be incorrect.
'BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Glass Bowl, Britain (Brierley Hill), designed by Keith Murray, for Stevens & Williams Glassworks, 1938-1939'
and
'GALLERY LABEL
Shown in the exhibition 'Glass, Pottery and Silver designed by Mr Keith Murray, Medici Galleries, London, 1935'
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O6545/bowl-murray-keith/
Bowl
1938-1939 (made)
ARTIST/MAKER
Murray, Keith (designer)
Stevens & Williams (manufacturer)
PLACE OF ORIGIN
Brierley Hill (made)
OBJECT DETAILS
CATEGORY
Glass
OBJECT TYPE
Bowl
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES
Glass
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Glass Bowl, Britain (Brierley Hill), designed by Keith Murray, for Stevens & Williams Glassworks, 1938-1939
DIMENSIONS
Maximum width: 27.3cm
STYLE
20TH GB
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS
'Keith Murray S W Brierley' with a fleur-de-lis, acid etched (Makers's mark)
GALLERY LABEL
Shown in the exhibition 'Glass, Pottery and Silver designed by Mr Keith Murray, Medici Galleries, London, 1935
This one is marked the same it appears (dated c. 1934/35) and also doesn't mention the word Royal:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O6541/bowl-murray-keith/
This one is just marked Keith Murray S&W with a fleur de lys - no mention of Brierley or Royal Brierley:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O6998/vase-murray-keith/
The other two I've checked in the V& A also have no mention of Brierley or Royal Brierley in the marks and date to the 1930s. :-\
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this cup was designed by Keith Murray 1938-1939 and engraved by W H Cooke and is called the Democracy Cup.
It was engraved and is the first mention of Royal Brierley Crystal as a mark that I could find (1939):
'Marks and Inscriptions':
'-The Royal Coat-of-arms and 'King George VI 'Queen Elizabeth' with American and Canadian emblems 'Peace Goodwill and Strength Unite our Great Democracies. To commemorate the First Visit of Britain's reigning Sovereign May 1939' (Decoration)
-'Royal Brierley Crystal England demovracy Cup no. 1 engraved by W H Cooke' (Makers's mark; engraving)'
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O6134/democracy-cup-bowl-murray-keith/
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So just a re-cap on the context of this most recent discussion about the use of the wording 'Royal Brierley Crystal' as of Nigel's recent post about Keith Murray onwards:
The company name itself was changed from Stevens and Williams and renamed Royal Brierley Crystal in May 1985.
However, prior to this the company Stevens and Williams seemed to have been using a brand name of Royal Brierley Crystal at some point in the 1930s onwards - and what we are discussing here is the first date of when this new brand name started being used.
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The Wikipedia entry for Keith Murray states ".... Though his ideas proved unsuitable for their style of glass, he worked as a freelance designer at Stevens & Williams of Brierley Hill in the West Midlands in 1932. The trial pieces were shown in London that year and the 'Keith Murray range' was produced. Between 1932 and 1939 he produced over 1200 designs though many were only issued in quantities of six or twelve." But no reference given https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Murray_(ceramic_artist) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Murray_(ceramic_artist))