Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: David E on September 13, 2006, 10:58:38 PM
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Just posted a 1961 Sherdley advert showing various types and designs by Alexander Hardie Williamson. Predates when Ravenhead produced this range.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-3301
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Hi, David, and thanks for posting this and other AHW designs.
I realised when I started researching Sherdley glass that I have been collecting AHW for a couple of years - when I came across this feature by the Cambridge Glass Fair (http://www.cambridgeglassfair.com/exhibitions/pastexhibitions/2005-09-slimjims.htm), I was amazed to see that I already owned three of the designs featured. I've been looking at 50s/ 60s glasses on e-bay and seem to have picked out AHW designs without realising the connection. I use them every day and get a lot of pleasure out of them.
I was particularly interested to see the list of glass shapes (pictures in the CGF feature):
- Conicals – renamed Coolers in the 1960s – a slightly flared tumbler
- Slim Jims – tall cylindrical glasses
- Chubbies – short barrel-shaped glasses
- Chunkies – a glass with a tapered, thickened base
- Gaytime – the ultimate party glass with a gold rim and gold decoration, strictly for entertaining the Jones's or the husband's boss!
- Toddies and Tots – modern design in miniature
I'm now hugely curious to know more. I've discovered that the Broadfield House Glass Museum held an exhibition of his work in 1996 and that the leaflet accompanying the exhibition (alas, b&w only) is available from their shop for the princely sum of 50p. I've also started saving pictures from e-bay listings - for my own use only, for copyright reasons. If anyone out there has others, I'd love to see them.
Does anyone know anything about the change from Sherdley to Ravenhead, which I think took place in 1964? Was it the same company re-named? And the same factory? I know both names were part of United Bottle and both seem to be associated with St Helens, but it's all a bit confusing.
Also, what is the technique used for applying the designs? I've seen it variously described as transfer printing and screen printing - but from what I've read on these message board, these are two different techniques. Some of the glasses I've got definitely look as though the different colours were applied in different stages (slightly misaligned patterns, faint marks of one colour smeared on top of another), so does that mean that they must have been screen printed?
One other thing I've noticed is that, although several of the designs seem to be available in different colours, all the sets seem to be in one single colour, unlike a lot of the other ?transfer printed glasses on e-bay, where sets have a single design in six different colours.
Sorry - a real screed for my first posting. I hope this isn't all too old-hat for more expert members - just blame the puppyish exuberance of the newly converted!
Heidi
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Wow, what an introduction to GMB! :lol:
I will confess that I'm not an expert in this particular field but as my on-going research into Chance Glass has led me to Broadfield House (BH) & Himley Hall for a good number of weeks, I have started to photograph any pages in the magazines that relate to transfer printed glassware. So I do have a few examples of their adverts which I can send on, and there will be more, no doubt, over the coming weeks (I've just finished up to 1966 in Pottery Gazette and Glass trade review).
In fact, I did take a photo of all the examples that BH held in their archive, although it was a single photo and doesn't feature much detail.
Anyway, to deal with your queries:
Sherdley and Ravenhead were both owned by the nattily named United Glass Bottle Co Ltd, but where totally independant companies at one stage. Why they switched production from one to the other (yes, around 1964) I cannot answer as it must have meant some additional publicity and rebranding.
All the designs were silk-screen printed. This is a very reproduceable method that's normally applied to flat areas (like Chance slumped glass before heating), so for irregularly shaped cylinders I think this could have been applied using a silk-screen imprinted bag that was rolled over the surface of the tumbler, hence the reason for overcoming any irregularities. Almost certainly machine-applied due to the sheer number of this type of glassware. If you use a magnifying glass you might be able to detect the tiny regular lattice pattern of the silk material on the surface of the enamel paint.
I can't answer why Sherdley/Ravenhead always packed the same colours into a carton, but perhaps their surveys revealed this is what the modern 1960s housewife asked for? Alternatively, it might have simply been a headache to ensure different colours from different lines were correctly packaged into one box?
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Thanks, David. It's so nice to find out how things were made - sort of adds an extra dimension to one's appreciation of them. I've never liked handkerchief vases (sorry - heresy, I know), but finding out on your website about the manufacturing process made me see them in a whole new light...
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I've never liked handkerchief vases (sorry - heresy, I know), but finding out on your website about the manufacturing process made me see them in a whole new light...
I can appreciate they are not everyone's cup of tea, but if you saw the Cut Pearl or ruby-flashed Bandel you might change your opinion! :wink: It's also very surprising to see the prices some of the silk-screen printed models are fetching... 8)
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Heidi, I don't like hankie vases either (except for the ruby intaglio one that is!) but don't tell David! :wink:
Welcome to the board - I find the AHW designs quite fascinating although I don't own any (yet! - as far as I know).
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Heidi: you might also like to follow this thread, if you hadn't already spotted it:
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,6981.0.html
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Thanks, interesting. So the advert on the top of this thread was placed by Johnsen & Jorgensen, rather than by Sherdley? Unfortunately I can't read the smaller print on it.
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That's right. I'd have to go through my records, but J&J would appear to have been advertising from the late-1930s as Sherdley's sole UK distributor. I'm not sure whether they also controlled the export market as well, but it is possible.
However, if you click on the larger photo within Anne's Glass Gallery, this will open up a larger photo and you can just about read the smaller print - wasn't sure you were aware of this.
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Doh - thank you! Not only can I read the small print, but I can see the designs properly too. So now I have a "designed before" date for two of my sets.
And I've just had an e-mail from Broadfield House telling me they're sending me a copy of the "Slim Jims and Tubbies" leaflet free of charge.
What nice people glass collectors are!
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And I've just had an e-mail from Broadfield House telling me they're sending me a copy of the "Slim Jims and Tubbies" leaflet free of charge.
... and I just spoke to Carrie there! 8)
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Have you seen this Ravenhead ad on the BH website: http://www.dudley.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums--galleries/glass-museum/information/archives. Unfortunately it's not dated (except that being Ravenhead it must be 1964 or later), which is a pity, as it seems to mark the introduction of the "chunkie" shape (which personally I don't like as much as the other three main ones). It also seems to have names for the four patterns illustrated - but unfortunately the picture quality isn't good enough to read them, even when I blow the image up really large.
Talking of shapes, I don't think I've ever seen "tot" or "toddy" glasses attributed to either Sherdley or Ravenhead - apart from the one shown in the Cambridge Glass Fair feature. Maybe they didn't sell very well? Or were a late addition to the range and therefore not produced in large numbers? Or maybe it's just that they all got busted at wild 60s parties?
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Here you go Heidi. :wink:
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-3426
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-3425
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-3424
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-3427
Ravenhead, sole distributor: Johnsen & Jorgensen Ltd.
:D :D
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Thanks, Max- I stand corrected! Actually, I have seen this design before, just never with packaging.
I must figure out how to use my digital camera, then I can start posting pics of the designs I have.
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Heidi said:
Thanks, Max- I stand corrected!
Noooo, you don't stand corrected, you were enquiring! It was just happenstance (is that a word??) that I'd received these about 10 days ago. Happy to help. :D
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happenstance (is that a word??)
It sure is Max:
Chambers gives: happenstance noun, N Amer something that happens by chance. ETYMOLOGY: 19c: happen + circumstance.
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Now that's an Americanism I like! Thanks Anne. :D :D
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Oh dear, sorry, Max - I didn't mean to sound miffed by your post. I'm always ready to be corrected. I've found that, whenever you think you've got something figured, life has a way of coming up with corrections. So best to sit back and enjoy them as a learning experience.
I think what I meant to say was "well I never, you live and learn, and thank you for going to the trouble of posting the pics".
Oh, and "happenstance" is a great word.
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J&J would appear to have been advertising from the late-1930s as Sherdley's sole UK distributor. I'm not sure whether they also controlled the export market as well, but it is possible.
I've just got my copy of the BH exhibition leaflet, and apparently until 1968 AHW was employed by J&J, who were responsible for design, packaging and marketing for Sherdley and then Ravenhead. In 1968, Ravenhead severed ties with J&J, bringing these functions in-house. AHW moved onto Ravenhead's staff until he retired in 1974.
Another theory: according to the ads David has dug out at BH, the chunkie design seems to have been launched in late 1964, when the Sherdley factory closed and production of the screen-printed glasses moved across to Ravenhead. I think it may have replaced the chubbie produced by Sherdley - I've not seen chubbies in any Ravenhead packaging or ads. But maybe someone can disprove this theory?
Personally, I much prefer the chubbie shape. But I do know from experience that it's quite fragile - I've had one fracture when I was trying to clean the inside.
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PS - re exports, most of my Sherdley/ Ravenhead glasses are unmarked. But I have one set of conicals, which came in the later pinky-purple Ravenhead carrypack, with the word England printed on them. So maybe that means they had started exporting? Or perhaps just playing the patriotic card at home?
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I always got the impression that J&J also handled the export side for United Bottle/Glass. They were definitely sole UK distis.