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Greener, Wear Henry Greener, was born into the glass making industry and became the owner of the Wear Flint Glass Works after being an apprentice at both Pipewellgate and with Sowerby. In 1858, he formed a partnership with James Angus trading under the name of Angus and Greener
Angus and Greener frosted celery and sugar basin with lion registration mark and diamond - 26th June 1867 When Angus died in 1869, Henry Greener continued under his own name until 1884. The first design to be registered under this was the Gladstone for the Million tea set designs on 31st July 1869 to commemorate Gladstone's appointment as Prime Minister. From then on, registered designs were produced at a couple of year, with commemorative pieces being a particular favourite. Later on, in 1869 Greener produced some items to commemorate the US Philanthropist George Peabody on 7 December 1869.
Gladstone for the Million plate with registration diamond 31 July 1869
Commemorative items with writing on them naturally show up more mistakes than the patterned items. In Greener's Gladstone for the Million suite, there are two different designs of jugs, with one that is back to front with mirror image writing, like the one on the left, where the mould maker made the mould inside out. There are many Greener items that are badly finished and it is often said that they were a lesser firm compared to Sowerby and Davidson. Sheilagh Murray in her book The Peacock and The Lions said that they had bad quality control where items that had mistakes such as the above, or were badly finished (such as slivers of glass from inadequate pressing) found its way onto the market.
Small jug, flat tazza and stemmed bowl in flint, and below is a celery vase in turquoise marble of a similar pattern, all with lion registration mark and diamond registration number - 8th June 1878
Given the history of Greener being an apprentice at the Sowerby works, similarities can be seen in the designs and development of colours. By 1870 he had built up a wide range of colours such as green, blue, puce (a fleshy pink), black majolica and malachite. Henry Greener died in 1882 leaving his company in financial difficulties, which is not surprising due to the inconsistent quality in the glass. His son Edward Greener was among the executors and honoured his request to keep the factory in the family. From 1878, the company put more effort into making less intricate items such as pavement lights and slabs of glass and this was carried on by his son Edward until 1884. With falling
sales and increasing debts the company was taken In 1887, Greener and Co. advertised new designs including commemorative pieces for the Queen's Jubilee, many of which were incorporated into the star and daisy pattern which was also known as The Royal Star.
Soon, the company was producing over 600 domestic items in all colours, as well as commercial products, such as pavement lights and glasses and lenses for ships, railways, lighthouses, and tramcars.
Prince and Princess of Wales' Silver Wedding plate with registration number 91449 - 11 January 1888 Greener was also responsible for another glaring mistake in their commemorative ware. In their 1888 plate for the Sliver Wedding of the Princess of the Wales, the mould maker put an extra s making it "Wales's". The mistake was soon discovered and rectified, but the correction was done in such a haphazard way that the S can still be seen as a scratchy shadow on the plate. In 1888 there were a handful of designs registered, all found in the Greener range of baskets. Produced in seven colours - most have 3 registrations, one for the handles, and 2 for the patterns of March and April 1888 which were incorporated into each other.
Uranium Yellow basket, with three registration numbers
95935, 16th March
1888; 96776/96775 27th March 1888 with 'rustic handle'.
Flint plate giving examples of the design with two registration marks two registration numbers 96776/96775 27th March 1888 In 1890 they registered design number 160244 for a Pearline colour that was very similar to Davidson's Pearline range. Obviously they were trying to cash in on Davidson's success and this colouring is often found in the shape of baskets with a Fenton-like hobnail pattern. It was not in production for very long and it is not known if Davidson had anything to do with this. Jobling did not spend the time to grow the company and again it started to suffer from financial problems, but these were overcome when in 1902 Ernest Jobling Purser, nephew of James Jobling started to invest in the company and introduce technological improvements from Germany and the US. The most beneficial improvements was the licence from Corning and Co. in the US to manufacture and sell Pyrex, the well known heat resistant glass, to the UK and Empire (except Canada) in 1921. This allowed them to grow this suite of glass throughout the depression years when the other companies were suffering. In 1932 Jobling started to imitate the decorative glass ware that was made famous by Lalique and the Paris Exhibition of 1925. These art deco and art nouveau designs were cheaper than that of Lalique, but were also more appealing than the flint designs from the other companies and therefore warranted a higher price. During this time the glass was typically an opalescent colour called Opalique, but they also reproduced colours that Greener used in the 1880's. Now, many people collect this glass as an alternative to the much more expensive Lalique items. Combined with the inability to make a profit from this range and the outbreak of World War Two, they stopped production in order to concentrate on their Pyrex range and other glass for the war effort. Now Jobling still exists as trading as Corning and Co. on the same Greener site.
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FAQ -What
is Pressed Glass
Manufacturers What
was it used for?
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In
1875, they
registered the trademark of a demi lion holding a star. Their first
recorded design was for a dish registered in December 1858, followed by a butter
dish in August 1866.
over by James Augustus Jobling
in 1885. Jobling was a wealthy industrialist who owned the Tyne Oil and
Grease Works, he also supplied the glass making materials to Greener and was owed the majority of the money. With
this change of owner there was also a change in the registration mark which was
now a
demi rampant lion holding a halberd. 
