British Glass 1600 to the 1830s

Hollow glass candlestick c.1690

The first glass in Britain was probably produced by the Romans and since then up until the seventeenth century most, if not all, British glass was produced by foreign workers from France, Germany and Italy. However in the latter part of the sixteenth century glass making was a prolific industry and with a great deal of wood being used to fuel the furnaces a shortage was beginning to occur. At this time much wood was also being used for ship building therefore an alternative had to be found. In 1615 a retired admiral Sir Robert Mansell got together with Thomas Percival who had developed the use of coal in glass furnaces. A particularly perceptive and fortuitous move as in this year a Royal proclamation was to ban the use of wood as fuel in glass making. Not fortuitous for the rest of the glass industry though as by 1623 Mansell had obtained the sole right to make glass in England. Consequently the small glass industry, producing general wares for the people, was virtually wiped out and the luxury glass industry boomed. The glassware being produced was probably quite similar to the Venetian glass if perhaps a little less fussy in ornamentation and it was commented by the Venetian Ambassador that the glass produced in Britain was of equal quality to that produced in Venice.

Early 18th century flasks

After the Civil War when Charles II was returned to the thrown, having realised the mistakes of his father Charles I, the glass industry was able to once again flourish and in 1674 lead glass was being produced by George Ravenscroft after much experimentation with fluxes and oxides. He used silica from English flint hence the term “flint glass” was adopted to describe his lead glass which was comparatively heavy giving a brighter light diffusion than soda or potash glass and having a solid and purposeful feel. Though this glass was more difficult to work it was excellent for mirror plates and for cutting. By 1700 there were up to a hundred glass houses producing lead glass in Britain. Much of Ravenscroft’s early production was plagued by a tendency towards “crizzling” this is where a network of tiny cracks appears over the surface of the metal. Ravenscroft persevered with his work and eventually overcame this problem thus starting a period when British glass was regarded as some of the finest in the world.

Early 18th century Baluster glasses

From the second half of the seventeenth century British glass was beginning to take on its own fashion and style and by about 1700 this had fully developed so that wine glasses of this time tend to be perfectly balanced and good to hold having a feel of simple quality. The first development was of the baluster wine glass where architectural styles were incorporated into the stem. As time advanced the degree of variation increased with acorn, cylindrical, egg and annular shaped knops just being some of the different kinds used. From about 1715 the Silesian stem was in fashion this being a many sided moulded stem sometimes having stars or letters on the shoulders. Beaded knops were used with a development of these being the air twist stems which were popular from the late 1730s and by the late 1740s opaque twists were being made.

A salt and an epergne basket c.1745

Around 1725 the technique of copper wheel engraving began to be used in Britain. Not widely used at first it became more popular as the century went on and the method developed. Some very fine engraving was done in this way and glass could be decorated with all manner of designs often showing what the piece was designed to hold such as hops and barley on ale glasses, jugs and decanters or grapevines etc. Wineglasses and tumblers were decorated to commemorate public and political events such as the Jacobite cause or local elections. Also used in the eighteenth century was the technique of diamond point engraving. Often done by amateurs to commemorate personal events such as marriages or births very often some time later than the glass was made. However some masterpieces of diamond point engraving were produced such as the famous Amen glasses which can fetch tens of thousands of pounds.

Tumbler with diamond point inscription of 1817. The tumbler c.1800

In about 1745 a tax was imposed on glass based on its weight so from this time a change in style occurred from heavy strong shapes to lighter more ornamented pieces. The amount of lead content was also reduced and cutting was more widely used thus shaving weight from the glassware. It is difficult to say how much the duty levied on glass played in the change as styles were changing anyway furniture was becoming lighter often with more refined ornamentation and so whilst the tax made some difference it can not be held completely responsible. Newcastle was a great centre for glass making as were the West Midlands and Bristol, due to coal deposits in these areas, Newcastle is known for its light baluster wineglasses often with borders engraved with floral scrolls, fruiting vines etc. Many of these though were engraved in Holland, with the Dutch already having highly skilled engravers, and shipped back for the British market. Though I am sure that there was migration of workers between these places so a mix of styles was probable and perhaps some “Newcastle glass” was made in Holland and some “Dutch engraving” was done in Newcastle.

In 1780 Tax was doubled on glass being made in England and at the same time in Ireland, which was under British rule, tax was removed thus jumpstarting the Irish glass industry. A number of the English workers went over there and consequently Ireland became a very important producer of glass in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Ireland was already producing good quality glass before this date however which I will talk about in my section on Irish glass.

Coloured glass late 18th and 19th century

Coloured glass was also produced in the eighteenth century the main colours being blue, amethyst, green, amber turquoise and opaque white. All manner of coloured glassware was made often being decorated with gilding or enamelling. Famous for gilded decoration were the James Giles workshop in London, Absolon of Yarmouth and Jacobs of Bristol. Enamelling was usually reserved for the opaque white glass but famous for the enamel decoration on clear glass are William and Mary Beilby from Newcastle during the 1770s.

Flat cut table glass from the second half of the 18th century.

Early glass cutting was done with the same equipment used for bevelling mirrors therefore it tended to be flat and wide in comparison to the later style when special wheels were being used run by steam power. Despite the lack of specialist equipment the early flat cutting is very attractive and a wide range of items were decorated in this way including cruet bottles, decanters, wineglasses, jelly glasses, sweetmeats, bowls and dishes. Some very grand chandeliers and candlesticks were produced through the eighteenth century the nature of glass lending itself perfectly to lighting purposes and I am sure that there was a magical quality to a room lit in this way particularly at a table set with silver and other glass items.

Decanters 1760 - 1780

A wide range of table wares were produced in the eighteenth century. These included the tazza, a stemmed and footed stand used for holding Jelly and sweetmeat glasses on, often arranged in groups of three one on top of another reducing in diameter upwards they would have stood on a table and made a grand display. Most items that could contain cold food or drink were made in glass even individual bowls for cooling and rinsing wineglasses were used on the table from the late eighteenth century onwards. In the first half of the eighteenth century decanters were either of shaft and globe, cruciform or octagonal form, usually without any decoration other than shape, developing into the club and tapered shapes in the second part of the century which were often decorated with engraving or cutting. By the last few years of the century the Prussian shape had developed with neck rings to help grip. Other shapes made in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries include square, cylindrical and octagonal. Usually reserved for use as spirit decanters they could fit easily into stands and boxes.

Decanters 1800 - 1840

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, with the industrial age, more powerful and precise cutting methods were being used. This meant that glass could be cut in a more elaborate and exuberant manner with deeper sharper cuts over a large part of the surface. This fitted in perfectly with the opulence of regency fashion and great deals of money were spent on superb quality services for stately homes and local organisations. This was a wealthy time for Britain the Empire was bringing in large amounts of money with many businessmen becoming very wealthy through industry during the nineteenth century.

Regency jug and mug

Early in the nineteenth century John Davenport invented a new way of decorating glass by applying a thin layer of glass paste over the surface through which a design could be scraped then the glass was fired to fix the pattern. These pieces are increasingly rare and can sometimes be mistaken for acid etched pieces. Other than this until the 1830s the only real changes were in cutting styles then in the mid 1830s there was a quiet period in glass making until picking up again in the mid 1840s with the Victorian period.

Tumbler decorated with Davenport’s patent technique c.1825