It could be said that Sowerby's were lucky in the 's. Cadbury's chocolate company bought thousands of their bowls and sold them made up into a fancy packages containing chocolates. Queen Mary took a fancy to their glass and bought many pieces at trade fairs which she visited.
She was a popular figure and this gave Sowerby's welcome positive publicity. Their success did not really survive the second world war, and after the war they had too many employees and not enough work. By they were going bankrupt, and the company was taken over by Suntex Safety Glass Industries Limited. They continued to make household glassware, ornaments and vases until , when the coloured glass part of the company's operation was moved to Nazeing Glassworks in the South of England.
Few of the Sowerby moulds made it to London. The weight of the heavy iron moulds caused the base of the delivery truck to collapse on the way! The site in Gateshead is now a supermarket. Suntex have moved to the nearby Team Valley, where they make safety glass for windows. Like their neighbours Joblings now Corning they have found a high technology form of glass which has a strong market, without the fashion swings and uncertainties of coloured glass for the home.
But the company has left behind a legacy of beauty and creativity which we can all admire. If you are looking for Sowerby glass, you can usually find pieces on offer on ebay. Click Sowerby Glass to see some examples. A new book on Pirelli Glass. Including many original catalog pictures and dozens of photographs. NOW available - this is the new second edition of this book and it covers the fascinating history of glass in New Zealand, the story of Crown Crystal Glass, NZ bottles and an overview of contemporary New Zealand glass artists.
Available as a paperback or as a Kindle book. The 1st and 2nd editions of this book sold out in a few months. The 3rd Edition is now available and has received a rave response - more information, more and better pictures, new items identified as Bagley for the first time, a helpful index, and more compehensive coverage; - and even better news - the price is lower!
This book is a truly comprehensive guide to help you identify Bagley Glass. Click on the picture for more details. If you have any questions about glass that you think we can help with, please ask at the Glass Club Message Board. And special thanks to all of you who share your knowledge by answering questions on the Message Board.
Web site designed by: Angela M. No material from this website may be copied or reproduced without written permission from Angela M. Please respect our copyright. The extremes were broken down and what could be called the middle cut was for normal stock. That left some borderline stuff which was saved up until June when the showmen arrived for the Newcastle Town Moor fair. They always cleared up for us. Today, a company by the name of Tyneside Safety Glass still resides on the site, its nondescript brown building blending in seamlessly with blocks of similar structures, suggesting nothing of the shimmering beauty that once flowed out of Gateshead, brightening the homes and lives of thousands.
Your email address will not be published. Skip to content Carnival glass, famous for the iridescent oily-rainbow shimmer that dances colours wildly across its surface, was once one of the most popular forms of decorative glass on Earth, produced on every continent except Africa and Antarctica.
Leave a Comment Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. I have noticed that it is often missing from white vitro-porcelein plates and baskets. But it must be the most widely used English glass trademark of all time. Sometimes it can be very hard to find. The yellow posy vase below, with two swans and a design of bullrushes, is based on another Walter Crane design.
Again the detail of the design is a very accurate reproduction of the original Crane swan drawings. The vase below right is the same vase in a kind of glass which Sowerby called "Queen's Ivory". You can see the detail of the design better in this picture thank you to John Bell for letting me use his photo. These artistic designs were almost entirely on the surface of the glass. The posy holders and vases were attractive, imaginative, with beautiful decoration.
But the art went mostly into design of the moulds, and the pieces were then produced in their hundreds by hand pressing the glass. During an earlier period, from to around , Sowerby had a hand blowing workshop, initially staffed by workers brought from Italy, and making a range of Venetian-style glass. The jug on the left, from Sheilagh Murray's collection, is an example of these Venetian pieces.
They were never signed, but the colours and shapes are quite distinctive. Sowerby art glass was highly regarded at the time, but the company's reputation for pressed glass later completely over-shadowed this period in their history.
The little bowl below, another Sheilagh Murray piece, has the lions head mask and Italian design features typical of the glass which can now be attributed to the Sowerby art glass studio. The lion's head mask is a particularly interesting feature of Sowerby art glass, because for many centuries the lion's head mask was associated with glass made in Murano, Italy. The jug below, which has a textured surface that feels like rough stone, is another Sowerby art glass piece again from Sheilagh Murray's collection , and clearly shows the lion mask.
The exact reasons why Sowerby chose to mark their glass in this way remain a mystery. John G Sowerby, who joined his father's company as a manager in , was a successful painter and illustrator of children's books in his own right.
He was closely involved with the artists of the "Arts and Crafts Movement" and the "Aesthetic" movement which prevailed in Britain at that time. The aesthetic movement, which encouraged artistic freedom of expression for artists, would have embraced Sowerby's efforts in setting up a studio and bringing glass makers from Italy.
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