| With Christmas just around the corner I have been | | | | Sowerby were also one of the forerunners to |
| looking for some decent glassware to adorn the table | | | | produce coloured glass. The first colour produced was |
| this year. | | | | turquoise, then "opal" which was a delicate transparent |
| I have always had a fascination with glass. As a child I | | | | opaque colour, also jet black and white. |
| remember admiring all the beautiful rich ruby and | | | | In 1877 another extremely popular colour was Ivory |
| emerald green glasses that took pride of place in my | | | | Queens Ware. It actually had the appearance of |
| grandmothers china cabinet. | | | | carved ivory. This was very expensive to |
| As time went on I began to collect it myself. My | | | | manufacture and they had to reduce the price of |
| interest was in the early pressed glass from the | | | | these goods as they were not selling. However the |
| Victorian era. What started out as a small collection | | | | pieces have stood the test of time and many intricate |
| soon became quite extensive and varied. There were | | | | examples can be found today in mint condition. |
| such a diversity of designs to collect and it was great | | | | Another of my favourites was something called "slag" |
| to actually discover another "gem" on my travels. I | | | | glass. On 29th May 1878 they patented this purple |
| suppose the main source of finding this glass was at | | | | malachite glass and later the range extended to green, |
| auctions, antique fairs and even if lucky car boot sales. | | | | blue, red, black, grey and a very rare brown. This |
| It always seemed amazing to me that these delicate | | | | streaky appearance was made by adding an opaque |
| pieces had actually survived for 150 years or more | | | | white glass to the mixture. |
| and I often tried to imagine where their journey had | | | | I have heard about the gold and blue nugget colours |
| taken them before they ended up in my collection. | | | | that were added in 1883 but as yet have never |
| The main manufacturers of this glass were Sowerby, | | | | discovered any of this glass. The pictures of these |
| Davidson and Greener. My favourite is probably | | | | pieces look stunning they look like gold sovereigns |
| Sowerby. The family had been manufacturing glass | | | | could have been added to the glass but in fact the |
| since 1760. It was in the 1820's when John joined the | | | | effect was achieved by adding cadmium to the |
| firm that business really took off. By 1863 there were | | | | mixture. |
| over 450 employees who were producing 30 tons of | | | | Nowadays most of our glassware is still mass |
| pressed glass a week. This "pressed glass" became | | | | produced but nevertheless there are still beautiful |
| affordable to even the poorest of the population who | | | | examples of glassware to be discovered. |
| up until then were not able to afford the finer | | | | On my quest for the glasses I was looking for this |
| tableware that the wealthier people enjoyed. | | | | Christmas I came across this site and I guess some of |
| Most of this glass is identifiable by the registration | | | | the pieces, in particular the black glassware bear a |
| marks that they used. Sowerby used a peacocks | | | | similarity to some of the glass produced 150 years or |
| head as their trademark, but many pieces also had a | | | | more ago. I think I have found what I am looking for. |
| lozenge and you can identify a piece right down to not | | | | My question is, how well will these modern |
| only the year of its manufacture but the month and | | | | counterparts survive compared with the glass that |
| the day. This continued up until the 1930's when the | | | | was produced in the 1800's and indeed even further |
| lozenge was replaced with black glossy labels. | | | | back in time? |