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Glass in the 18th century, a time of great innovation.

Written by on February 9, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Peter Cooke – Author

Glass in the 18th century

The discovery of lead crystal galvanised the glass industry into a flurry of creativity as never before. This century, possibly more than any other, saw a bewildering proliferation of new styles, new techniques and above all decorative design of the highest order. 

 

 

The brilliance of lead crystal is due to a higher refractive indexPeter Cooke Author caused by the lead content. Ordinary glass has a refractive index of n = 1.5, addition of lead produces a range up to 1.7. The heightened refractive index results in increased dispersion (the degree to which a medium separates light into its component spectra), as in a prism. Crystal cutting techniques create a brilliant, sparkling effect as each cut facet reflects and transmits light through the object.

 

 These enhance properties, necessitated changes in style. The boss or knob of glass on the stem of a glass, is known as a KNOP. If the knop has a curved form, slender above and bulging out below, it is known as a ‘true baluster’. When used upside down, it’s designated as an ‘inverted baluster’. For for the next 35 years, the BALUSTER STEMS dominated the market, using designs cut into the bowl to enhance the brilliance.

 

The desire to cheapen the glass to please the less wealthy led to a decline in the quality of the metal used and the flamboyant styles gave way to glasses with smaller bowls and longer stems. This period of the BALUSTROID STEMS AND LIGHT BALUSTERS was to last from 1725-1765. The light balusters, better known as ‘Newcastle’ glasses, with their tall, slender, knopped stems had a far greater appeal than the earlier Balustroid stems. This style was pre-eminent from 1735-1765, when beautifully engraved glasses by Frans Greenwood, Jacob Snag and later David Wolff were in favour. The leading enamelers were William and Mary Beilby of Newcastle and last December a new world auction record was set for glass produced by an 18th-Century Tyneside craftsman. London auctioneers Bonhams sold a Prince William V of Orange goblet made by William Beilby for £117,000.

 

The largest group of remaining 18th century drinking glasses are the PLAIN STRAIGHT STEMS(1740-1770). The style was easy and cheap to turn out and was made in a variety of bowl shapes. During this period, AIR-TWIST STEMS were also produced for the quality market. There were also COMPOSITE STEMS.

 

 Overlapping this period from 1750 – 1780 were the OPAQUE WHITE TWIST STEMS often with engraved bowls and from 1755 – 1775 the MIXED AND COLOURED TWIST STEMS.

 

JACOBITE AND WILLIAMITE GLASS was produced in profusion during the mid-18th century to support the causes. Jacobite emblems were usually the rose with usually six petals and one or two buds. One very special type was the so-called AMEN glasses

 

 In 1777 and again in 1780 changes in the Excise Act resulted in the doubling of duty in England, but Ireland was granted free trade. Although there was already a large industry in Ireland, many English firms set up there and prospered. This period of grace lasted until 1845 when the Excise acts were repealed.

 

 

1760-1800 FACETED STEMS – diamond or hexagonal-shaped facets were the favourites, but vertical fluting and scale cutting were also used.

 

 Inevitably there was some run over in styles from different manufacturers and faceted stems were still produced into the new century.

Peter Cooke Author

Categories: Research

Glass – Everthing you need to know about it. by Peter Cooke

Written by on February 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Peter Cooke- Author

Glass

What is it?

The Principal ingredient  is SILICA, which- occurs naturally in great abundance.  The main varieties of silica are SAND, FLINT AND QUARTZ. When heated to a high enough temperature, they melt to form glass.   When the first atomic bomb was exploded in the desert at the White Sands proving ground, New Mexico, the heat wave from the bomb turned the surface of the desert to glass.  In the crater, the desert sand, which is largely made of silica melted and became a mildly, radioactive, light green glass, which was named Trinitite.The crater was filled in soon after the test.  Also, a dark natural substance known as OBSIDIAN, is often formed by volcanic eruptions, when silica is present.

Early glassmaking.

The temperature required to melt silica (about 1800°C) is higher than could be obtained in the primitive wood-burning furnaces used by the earl glassmakers. Man-made glass only became possible when it was discovered that the addition of soda ash or potash (obtained from burnt vegetable material) caused the silica to melt at 900-1100 °C. There is a story that this was discovered accidentally, by nomads lighting fires on sand.  The ash from the burned vegetation, combined with the sand to make glass.

The Mediterranean area favoured soda ash and Europe potash. Natural tints were removed by the addition of nitre, manganese or arsenic. This was not a precise thing because the additions produced tints of their own, explaining why there was a wide range of colours in early samples. Modern pure additives mean that a consistently clear and colourless product can be produced.

The molten silica is usually referred to as the METAL. Additions of COPPER, COBALT, IRON, TIN and other materials produce BLUE, RED, GREEN, AMBER, WHITE OR PURPLE colours.

Methods of manufacture.

Early glassmakers used MOULDING techniques. This lasted from about the 15th Century BC – 1St Century BC. Blowing was discovered during the 1st Century BC and by the 1st Century AD virtually every technique of manipulating and decorating glass had been discovered – moulding, free blowing, blowing into a mould, cutting, engraving, enameling, gilding, overlaying with coloured layers, enclosing the decoration between layers, millefiori and glass made to look like natural stone. All these were practiced 2000 years ago and have reappeared at various times down to the present day.

Tools.

The tools used in glassmaking have remained unchanged for many centuries, mainly because they are so simple that they allow for little improvement.

The main tools are as follows:

BLOWPIPE – a long hollow tube made of steel on which molten blob is gathered on the end and by blowing down the pipe a shape is produced.

PONTIL IRON – a solid metal rod. The end is heated and applied to the base of the vessel being blown, to support it when the blowing pipe is cut away.(when the pontil is removed, it produces a characteristic mark known as the PONTIL MARK on the base)

MARVER – a flat iron plate on which the vessel is rolled during the blowing process to smooth and shape it.

PUCELLAS – metal tongs with a curved surface on the outside and a cutting edge on the inside.-, used to shape anf trim the molten glass bowl of a drinking glass. 

CLAPPERS – a pair of wooden paddles used to shape the foot of a drinking glass.

CHAIR – the glass-blowers workplace – a bench with flat arms along which the blowpipe can be rolled to shape the vessel. Confusingly, in a glass-works making hand-blown glass, it also refers to a team of three or four men. Thus the size of the factory is reckoned by the number of chairs working in it.

If you have found this interesting, look out for the next part of the series, looking at the history of glassmaking.

Categories: Research - Tags: ,

A to Z of the Elizabethan era

Written by on January 31, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Peter Cooke – Author

J is for:

 

JEWELLERY

 

Pearls were Queen Elizabeth’s favourite and she literally dripped with pearls. She had six or more long ropes of pearls and one containing twenty-five nutmeg sized ones, as well as many other smaller ropes that were attached to her elaborate gowns and head-ware. None of her subjects could compete with her although that other formidable woman of the time, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury( Bess of Hardwick), did her best with four large, matched pearl ropes, coming to below her waist. The Duchess of Somerset also had a rope of more than a thousand seed pearls and two, more than two metres in length.

Many of the courtiers, ladies in waiting, noblemen and their wives, spent vast sums of money on clothes and jewellery.  The gulf between the rich and the p[poor, was even greater than today.  In an era when the average wage was five pounds per year, keeping up with the Joneses of the court could run in to thousands of pounds.

While diamonds were worn and prized, they were not the cut and faceted jewels of today. It was not until 1590 that diamond cutters developed the skills to turn the dull medieval gleam into the brilliant coruscating gems we know today. Other gems to be found at court were rubies, sapphires, emeralds, garnets and Jacinthe (red zircon). There were also a few Murano glass bead necklaces, Elizabeth herself had one, but only the wealthy owned them. Elizabeth’s necklace is featured in Blood-Red Goblet and there are details of how the necklaces are made.

 

 

Categories: Research

A to Z of Elizabethan times

Written by on January 25, 2012 · Leave a Comment

I is for:

INNS

In the 16th century, Inns were often sited conveniently close to the markets in London. A visitor might want to leave his horse or coach at the Inn, before he made his way through the narrow streets on foot. These Inns were perhaps the equivalent of modern hotels, being substantial establishments with stabling to accommodate a considerable number of horses. To quote a statement of the time, ‘Every man may use his Inn as his own home … our Inns are very well furnished with napery( household linen), bedding and tapestry. Table linen is washed daily and each comer is sure to lie in clean sheets and if his chamber be once appointed(booked in), he may carry the key with him. The host of the Inn was responsible for any loss sustained by the guest whilst on his premises. Unfortunately for the guest, a number of Inn employees colluded with highwaymen and cutpurses and if a robbery took place after he left the Inn, the landlord was not liable.

Categories: Research

Rember, remember the fifth of November.

Written by on November 5, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Since I was a small boy, this rhyme has always been with me.  However, in these enlightened? days it seems strange that so many bonfires and firework displays are taking place on days other than the 5th.  It seems to me that like Christmas, yes, Christmas, not winter holiday! – commercial interests are now paramount and tradition goes out of the window in the chase for money.  I know that fireworks can be dangerous in family situations and that organised bonfires are favourite, but surely, especially when the fifth is a Saturday, it is not too much to ask that it should be on the fifth!  Or am I a lone voice crying for a bygone age?

Categories: Personal

Amber Mills Revolution – The Shaw Years

Written by on October 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Here is an idea of what Amber Mills is all about. It’s a family saga set in the Regency and Victorian eras

From humble beginnings, the Shaw family become caught up in the exciting free-for-all of their own Revolution as the steadfast Obadiah and Mary his wife, lay the foundations of the Shaw dynasty. At the forefront of innovation and change, both in working practices and family life, they build up Amber Mills into a thriving community, despite many problems, including the Luddite bullies who threatened the machines and their lives.

The Industrial Revolution in the cotton spinning industry was in its infancy. Entrepreneurs like Obadiah Shaw and Jedediah Strutt followed the example of Richard Arkwright building mills and houses for the workers. The East Midlands became the cradle of the new factories. It was a time when mechanically minded individuals turned their inventive minds on the task of designing machines that could knit hosiery, weave cloth and spin the ever increasing amounts of cotton yarn needed by the ravenous maws of the new factories. Their vision of a new age changed the face of Britain forever.

Categories: Peter's Books, Publishing

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