Topic: Familiar objects but where when and who?

[Fuhrman Glass]

found a reference to "end of Day" in a book 1966 Glass Paperweights of the Bergstrom Collection. It stated it was was much like "macedoines". Lots of random chips or cane pieces that were used to make pieces randomly at the end of the production shift. These were normally strewn on the marver and rather than sort them or swish them away, they gathered them into a "conglomerate" of color.
I personally have done this many times as I may have used many colors of frit in a day making numerous pieces and at the end just pick a lot of them up together and make something of them.
Other books mention this technique using just 2 or 3 colors of frit decoration a being "mottled". 
I think the splatter/splotches term has come down from the ceramics trade that used this technique for decorating and it was literally splattered glaze on the piece of ceramic. many times done with flipping a brush full of glaze at the piece or  sometimes done in other ways.
The risk in actually combining all of these colors is that many will crack eventually because they have glasses that are not compatible with each other, i.e. different COE's, or different viscosities that don't allow them to adhere to one another correctly. Some shapes are more forgiving of this than others and will keep the glass under tension or compression and give better results. Some glasses will actually change their COE's dramatically every time they are reheated in the glory hole. Looking at some old glasses under a polariscope will show stress that you'd wish you'd never seen. Many new pieces will exhibit some of the same tendencies as well. Combining multicolors is not an easy process. Opaque colors, reds, oranges, pinks, yellows are the most notorious for not matching others. I have some pieces in my collection that I've had over 40 years and have noticed just recently that they have finally cracked. they may be 75+ years old or more.
I know, more info than you ever wanted for a small "rose bowl".

[obscurities]

So I have read through the thread and here is what I would add to all of this.

1) I agree that "End of the day" is a non existent "decor", and likely a term popularized by people that did not understand glass and how it is produced. Their knowledge lacked the understanding of rolling a gather in colored shards to create a desired decor.  Hence, "End of day for all of those pieces of broken glass and remnants at close of business. Nice concept, completely wrong, and has "stuck" to the degree it will likely never ever disappear.... Kinda like Tango glass and Michael Powolny.... an insurmountable internet myth....

2) "Spatter glass", to me is simply another term for "end of the Day" and simply is a descriptive term applied to a decor containing a variety of colors with no apparent pattern to their application....  in other words, they look like paint that was "spattered" on.  Likely a second term that has nothing to do with glass production, and everything to do with describing something to sell it.... at least originally......  now it seems to be a commonly applied term to all kinds of multi-colored decors.  This term and "End of the day" seem pretty randomly interchangeable depending on who is doing the description. "Spatter" type decors were made in a huge variety of countries.

3) "Cottage glass": This appears to be a term applied to what at the time was believed to be Stourbridge production. As far as I can tell the term really first became popularized in the late 1990's with a series of articles in the "Glass Collectors Digest", a now defunct American bi-monthly publication. The term appears to have been applied by the Author John Franks to described production he believed to be "one off" production made at the end of the day by glass workers for family and friends. I would assume that this term would derive itself from the concept that this type of after hours production was a "cottage industry". 

I am currently in contact with John Franks and he and I are discussing this glass and possible Bohemian origins for at least some of it.

It is my belief that at least a portion of what Franks described as Cottage glass was actually Bohemian glass, developed as a line of production tailored to British taste and imported heavily. I have identified a number of shapes in the Cottage Glass articles as being Welz production, and some of those shapes are also shown as Welz production in the photographic records of the 2012 Tango Exhibit which traveled in the Czech Republic.

This importation of Bohemian glass appears to have started as early as the 1880's and was done by at least one firm I have identified from US custom records. This type of glass is also found in large quantities in the UK, and found in very small quantities in the US market now. There is mention in an 1885 US Customs document of a firm by the name of Lazarus and Rosenfeld of London. It is stated in this Customs record that they not only imported glass to the US as the firm of Lazarus, Rosenfeld and Lehmann, but the firm based in London was also involved in the importation of Welz production to both the UK and also Australia.

So, to sum it up, IMHO, "Cottage Glass" is a term applied to production which in the 1990's was defined as being "one off" after hours Stourbridge production pieces produced by the workers, but is in large part glass that I now believe to have been produced by Franz Welz and imported to the UK by, at a minimum, the firm of Lazarus and Rosenfeld of London.

Hope this helps....

Craig

[Paul S.]

thanks Craig for taking the time to write, and appreciate what is obviously something you have better knowledge of than those on our side of the pond.

Ref. 2/............re the spatter.         As you say, a rather vague desriptive term that lacks technical accuracy - the problem is that it seems to have taken hold here in the U.K., and appears to have gained familiar status, especially for some of the gaudy eastern European less expensive glass made during the 1920 - 50 period.              Here in the U.K. it is not interchangable with end of day  -  which is either uniformly plain coloured or marbled, and (obviously wrongly) is generally applied to glass from the second half of the C19.        Like it or not, the word spatter does seem to be a useful word to describe the colourway.

Ref. 3/........Cottage Glass.       As you will have gathered from my earlier words, I was unaware of what is obviously a very modern piece of descriptive terminology.           
As far as the U.K. goes, it does appear that 'end of day' has been shown not to have substance at any time - certainly in the sense that most people use it.
I'm sure a lot of us in the U.K. would be very interested to hear from John Franks if he now has evidence to support this as being a bona fide Stourbridge practise.
My personal opinion is that the raising of new categories to define glass that probably already has adequate definition, is unhelpful, particularly as I indicated above that there was a genuine C19 London glasshouse bearing that name.

Look forward to hearing more, after your further discussions with John Franks - and again our thanks for your explanations.

[obscurities]

My pleasure Paul.  In some initial discussions with Mr. Franks, there have been a couple of generalities stated which I would likely take exception to, but way too early in the discussions to go there.  I am also not saying that all of his findings or observations were incorrect, only that some of the pieces he shows and owns are actually pretty solidly linked, IMHO, to Welz production.  It will be an interesting discussion that will occur over an extended period at this point. 

I also find to a degree, that we on this side of the pond have a tendency to use terms in a different manner. So it is really only that perspective from which I can speak.

I felt compelled to add....... As far as I am concerned we can never have "too much information" about anything....     

Craig

[Paul S.]

compel away Craig

[Lustrousstone]

I would say the rose bowl was most probably Bohemian. Cottage and end of day seem to my mind to be made up terms. Spatter is merely descriptive

[Paul S.]

quote from Paul S.................."there was a genuine C19 London glasshouse bearing that name".
I've just discovered that this is not entirely true, so before the error runs away with itself and causes further confusion - I can clarify as follows:

According to David Watts web site 'A History of Glassmaking in London' - as here....  http://www.glassmaking-in-london.co.uk/later-glasshouses
- see section No. 24 - the name of the company was in fact John McLachlan, in Lambeth, London.                 As you can see, it is part of the address that reads 'Cottage Glass Works'.

Thanks to David Watts for providing this very informative site.

[Aislingeanbeag]

Thank you to all !
My simplistic question seems to have been the key to a positive Pandora's box.
So my two small vases are in fact probably Bohemian and should be called rosebowls and probably date from the first half of the last century. They should be described as hand formed, blown glass, of random multicolour with mica in a clear gather.
However ......
They still fit nicely on the shelves either side of the small cabinet and we still like them so no change from last week!
Now where have we put those little 'Mary Gregory' jugs and things?