Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: MHT on February 12, 2022, 04:59:11 PM
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I have added a new page to my website which includes Sowerby pattern books from 1874 to 1960, other pattern books and a few more interesting items.
Please visit: www.victorianpressedglass.com/sowerby_archive.htm
Mike
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Brilliant, thank you Mike, such a useful collection.
PS I still owe you an email reply re the pattern books, I'll be in touch very soon.
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An excellent start, Book V, P.15, shows my No.689 9" candlestick.
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And on the same page my No.692 Chamber candlesticks.
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And my No.1032 Can ;D
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And even more interesting the No.733 Vase on P.50, very often described as Henry Greener.
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,69895.0.html
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A spectacular addition to 19th century British glass research... well done!
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Mike thank you so much for your generosity in sharing these. A fantastic resource and having looked at them on another thread Nev linked, the ones I've seen are fantastic drawings. A real pleasure to see.
m
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This has answered one puzzle. In 1881 Molineaux Webb launched the Duchess set, and there was what looked like a competing pattern seen rather more frequently which I knew had to be northeast from the density readings, but I didn't know who made it. I see it in the 1922 Sowerby pattern book as pattern 2390, very surprised it was so much later.
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Page 24 in Cottle states "The earliest surviving book of Sowerby designs, a short suppliment to Book V, dates from May 1874".
This shows that the the main part Book V from the archive was never lent to the Laign Art Gallery. Not really surprising as there is no cover and it is very flimsy.
The pattern book shows Sowerby's diverse production of glass at that date. Does anyone have an opium lamp? (page 33).
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Pattern book V also helped me with a puzzle. On my website under unknown makers there is a purple malachite lidded box which I thought was probably by Davidson.
It is on page 12 of the pattern book as a Biscuit Box, number 958. I can now re-list it as Sowerby.
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Hi Mike, what a fantastic resource! Thanks for making it available :)
The Jobling catalogue shown is particularly interesting. Due to the inclusion of Pearl and Jet colours, as well as the Fir Cone and Flower Suites but none of the subsequent Art Glass patterns, it likely dates from late 1932-3 and therefore is earlier than the catalogue pages reproduced in Baker and Crowe. Very interesting was to see the name of the iridised black glass which I had earlier found in the 1054 suite and Lambton vase. The catalogue describes this as 'Rainbow Jet'. Discussion of iridised Jobling here: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,30678.0.html
The fruit bowl that I had previously identified as Jobling due to the matching base pattern with the 1054 1/2 suite is shown as '2074 1/2'
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,70173.msg390803.html#msg390803
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Another big win from the 1874 pattern book, which is providing our first look at 1850s northeast pressed glass.
On this thread I noted that some manufacturer was putting pattern numbers on their pressed glass but we did not know who
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,70500.0.html
In the 1874 pattern book I see tumbler 330 which is one of the marked ones I have.
So these are Sowerby pieces and my 265 sugar bowl is earlier than most items shown in the catalogue.
The big surprise is all these pieces are really high lead content - 3.2g/cc - still being used by Sowerby in the 1850s when other firms had dropped to 3.07g/cc
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Some interesting finds in the Gradenberger book 1 too: 4714A, the centrepiece bowl with birds either side is a 1930s STS Abel (Zagreb) pattern.
Pattern 5056 appears to be the rare Jobling cigarette box and ashtray (cat. no. 2598), registered in February of 1935. The mould for the base at least ended up at Davidson in the 1960s as noted here: https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,68944.msg384442.html#msg384442 5057 appears to be a variation on the same design, but I don't believe it was ever produced by Jobling at least.
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I think I have another match, this time for pattern 2118 shown in the 1892 catalogue.
The uranium celery shown below is a pattern which has a Manchester whiff and some sellers list it as Derbyshire, but density readings have always shown items from this set as lead free and from the northeast. The celery matches with the pattern book with the exception of the rim. We know that celeries were often made with 2 or 3 rim variations, flared out, level, and turned in, so I think this is a variant of the one in the pattern book and a match.
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Can I ask a question Neil? In my head I always associate that particular curved scalloped foot with Sowerby. I feel I see it on other Sowerby items. Did other makers routinely use it as well?
Disclaimer - I know nothing at all about pressed glass as you know :)
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This 6" diameter fish ashtray in the photo is in the Gradenberger Book 1 No. 5046, unfortunately I've not yet been able to identify it.
http://www.victorianpressedglass.com/pdf/gradenberg_book_1.pdf
The No 8016 vase in Book 2B is I think this Rosice pair I recently posted. Some of the other vases may also be Rosice.
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,71627.0.html
http://www.victorianpressedglass.com/pdf/gradenberg_book_2b.pdf
I see the ashtray diagram tells you where to put your cigar or cigarette!
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ff, I've found pressed glass feet to be an unreliable attribution point, even though there are certain trends
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Ok thank you. That's good to know.
m
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Mike,
Fantastic, thank you very much for sharing these catalogues, I just set up some links for my father on his iPad as these catalogues will be very interesting for him as he has a large collection of Sowerby items and many he will never have seen in the catalogues. Nice to see the monkey Sweetmeat.And it’s great to have resolved a few mysteries for my own interest.
Cheers Mike
I just wish someone had some Henry Greener catalogues to share……..
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The ship tray in the Gradenberger Book 2A is shown on Glass Trinket Sets as Mystery 167, it has been suggested it too might be Rosice.
https://www.glasstrinketsets.com/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=172
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Thanks Mike, I've been able to update quite a lot on my website already
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Glad to see the page has been of help to people.
Forgot to say, if you see any errors like dates, I'm not very good with anything after about 1900, please let me know so I can make changes.
Thanks
Mike
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In the Gradenberg Book 1 there is a centrepiece bowl 4714/A which I've just spotted in the Yugoslavian section of Attributed Bowls here:
https://www.pressglas-pavillon.de/index2.html
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Another interesting find: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,607.0.html
This previously unknown three pears pattern bowl/ lidded pot is shown in the 1936 Sowerby catalogue on p.7, pattern name 'Enid'.
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One more mystery solved: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,26104.0.html confirmed as Rose Bowl T.2624 in Sowerby 1940 catalogue (p.9).
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Another interesting find, and confirmation for what I have long suspected: the 1960s Sowerby Glass Leaflet includes a '2685 Vase' which is clearly from the same mould as Jobling's 11800 Celery Vase.
http://www.victorianpressedglass.com/pdf/sowerby/sowerby_leaflet.pdf
I have previously seen examples of the vase with no reg. no. showing, and in some non-joblingy colours, including a non-uranium green. Several also have sandblasted interiors and flanged rims, and the colours seemed more consistent with those of the Sowerby versions of the 'Bird Vase', a.k.a. 'Bird & Panel' Vase.
here are some examples I've noted before which I had suspected to be Sowerby production: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,38352.0.html
https://www.yobunny.org.uk/glassgallery/displayimage.php?pos=-6115
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Another snippet of information that may be useful about Gradenberger. According to the company history from their old website,
"GMA Glasformen GmbH was founded in 1949 by Stölzle AG and then carried the name of “Gradenberger Formen-und Maschinenfabrik G.m.b.H."
[Source: OMCO (who now own Gradenberger) Company History of Subsidiaries]