Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: chilternhills on April 13, 2020, 05:30:09 PM
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I bought two of these plaques in the original brass frames. They were architectural salvage from a shop called Tutty's in Birkenhead, England. A picture of the shop is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jjwillow/8413969427 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jjwillow/8413969427). I have asked the Wirral Society for more information about the shop and await their reply.
Back to the plaques. I took one of them out of the frame (very carefully!). It measures 19 cm x 22.7 cm and 7 mm thick, with the high relief extending a further 10 mm maximum. There are no signatures. I was hoping for something on the edge, but found nothing. All the edges are beveled.
Any ideas about the maker?
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More pictures.
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Not a design I recognise, sadly. In terms of finish, they do look very much like the earlier Walter Gilbert panels made byWalsh (e.g. Labours of Hercules, Egyptian Stork, Squirrel and Pine Cones, etc.); however, I'd expect Walsh production to be marked. I don't have the Reynolds book, but it might be worth looking there for something similar, or looking at the pattern names (no pictures) recorded in Phillip Medhurst's Works Arranged and Executed byWalter Gilbert to see if there's a possible match.
If they're not Walsh, then Jobling could be a possibility. They made moulded panels: e.g. the Alan Howes designed patterns. Baker & Crowe also state that Chance made similar panels, butI've seen no further documentation on that: maybe David Encill would know more?
Hailwood Ackroyd is another contender, but the few pieces of theirs I've seen have been marked. Continental producers are also possible of course. I can confirm that this design is not shown in Decelle's Sabino Catalogue Raisonné.
Seems panels such as this are hard to identify. I have a couple of moulded panels which look very like some of the more stylised Gilbert/ Walsh lighting panels, but as yet I've been unable to positively identify either.
I'm also interested to hear about Tutty's. I grew up on the Wirral and spent a lot of time in Birkenhead, but I don't remember the store at all.
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Thanks Steven. Lots of good suggestions. I will try to follow them up. We have the Reynolds book in the museum library.
I was wondering if these panels came from a door, since I have a pair of them, one on each side. I plan to mount them in a free-standing display that can be seen on both sides at the museum rather than fixing them to a wall.
Tutty's store on Oxton Road, Birkenhead, as shown in the picture in the link I provided, closed in 1937. Those premises then became Rostances, drapers, until it closed in 1977. The building was demolished some years ago (I am uncertain when at this point) and the panels were obtained by an architectural salvage company. They were bought by a local antique dealer about eight years ago, who intended to install the panels in his house, but didn't get round to it. And I have just bought them from him.
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Hi, have you had any luck with the Reynolds book? I have managed to locate my PDF of Phillip Medhurst's Works Arranged and Executed by Walter Gilbert and found a possible contender:
Item 15, citing pp.24-25 of "VESTA GLASS Made at The Soho & Vesta Glass Works of JOHN WALSH WALSH LTD. BIRMINGHAM ENGLAND
Established 1801" (presumably a trade catalogue?) mentions a series of three panels named 'In the Farmyard', described as：
"Three high-relief pieces of tranquil design and exquisite mould". The first one of these, Cat. no. GR 35, is listed as 'Doves'. The stated dimensions are 8 1/4 inches (20.95 cm) by 7 1/2 inches (19.05 cm) -- not an exact fit, but fairly close to your panels.
Sadly there's no picture...
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Thanks Steven. We checked Reynolds but no mention of a doves plaque. Thanks for the quote from Medhurst. It's a pity there are no pictures.
Anton