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What is Pressed Glass
The introduction of pressed glass
revolutionised the way in which glass was both manufactured and its
availability to the masses. Soon people were able to buy affordable
glass decorative ware as well as domestic ware. Sowerby started to producing items
in coloured glass and eventually launched a range that looked like porcelain
from the Wedgwood factory.
Pressed glass has been dismissed
throughout the years because it was made for the mass market with critics
ignoring the groundbreaking techniques in glass making and their artistic
quality. In the past, the glass was dismissed as
junk purely because some of it was ugly - only the Victorians could have
created a vase decorated with animals that have swans heads, lions feet
and huge wings!
Frequently Asked Questions
How was pressed glass made?
How can you tell what is pressed
glass?
What is so special about this type of glass?
How
much is it worth?
Should
I buy something chipped?
Where can you find it?
What should I start
collecting?
Any
tips on buying a piece of pressed glass?
What is Vaseline glass?
How did they acid
etch the glass?
Are there any pressed glass reproductions?
Are there any books or
websites about the pressed glass?
Where can I see collections pressed
glass?
How was pressed glass made?
In the Sowerby - Gateshead Glass book there
is an account by the Newcastle Daily Chronicle on 21st October 1882
describing how the glass was made after visiting the Sowerby glass
house. The account is below because it gives a wonderful description
of the glass making process.
"A
workman dips a gathering iron into the molten metal contained in one of
the pots and withdraws on its extremity a ball of white hot semi-fluid
glass which he deftly swings round to the mould close at hand. As the
melted material flows into the mould a workman ships off with a pair of
scissors the exact quantity and nether more not less than required for his
tumbler, glass or dish and brings down upon the mould the plunger in a
press fixed above it. This squeezes the metal into every crevice of
the mould, which is at once opened, showing the tumbler, let us say,
perfectly formed but half cold and dull in surface from contact with the
surface of the plunger. The glass is picked up on the end of a
forked rod by a lad and is placed for a few seconds in the intense heat of
the furnace by which means a brilliant surface is given to it. But
it is a slightly warped in shape by the heat and it is necessary to touch
it again with a working tool. Thus the boy brings it to a workman
who refits it upon a mould and finishes it. The glass is then
carried by the youth to an annealing oven or 'leer' where with scores of
dozens more of its kind it is gradually drawn on trays through a series of
chambers each of which is of decreasing heat until it is landed in a cool
state at the further end of the oven. It is then washed and enclosed
in paper by women and is ranged in its place in a small open box ready for
the packer."
 Art
Deco image of a glass presser from Davidson's 1928 catalogue
Sometimes the pieces of glass needed
additional work before it was finished, and this was done with a pair of
pincers before the glass had cooled. This included turning in the
handles of baskets, creating lips on jugs and even fancy edgings.
A photo of a press can be found here
at the Tyne and Wear Museums website
How can you tell what is pressed
glass?
You can identify a piece of pressed
glass by the seam that is where the glass was
pressed together. Another telling factor are
registration marks that often go unnoticed, these can be a trademark, a registration number,
or a diamond or lozenge mark. For more
information on this, go to the Registration Marks
page.
What is so special about this type of glass?
As the glass was
so cheap, when the domestic items used everyday became chipped or cracked, people simply
discarded it. Today the glass is
often dismissed as junk, or relegated to the attic or shed. One of
the fascinating things about the glass is that you can determine the exact
day that the design was registered via the registration number or lozenge
impressed into the glass,
How much is it worth?
Pressed glass can be worth a lot of money with items in
mint condition reaching thousands of pounds. Coloured items, particularly
blue and yellow are very sought after and will also command high prices,
whereas flint is often cheaper. Essentially the glass is only worth what someone wants to pay for it. Before you buy
something that does not have a registration mark or diamond on it, make
sure that you know what it is and check that it has wear on it that you
would expect for an item over 100 years old.
Should I buy something chipped?
It is not advisable to buy a chipped
item unless it is very rare (or cheap!) because it would affect the
value. Although sometimes small nibbles are acceptable on pieces
that have lids that were in constant use. However, you should try
and avoid buying cracked items because that will only get worse and end up
in having a broken item.
Where can you find it?
Pressed glass is becoming more difficult to find,
especially as it was a cheap item in the first place, that would have
probably been thrown away once it had been cracked or chipped. I
have found items in antique fairs, junk, second hand and charity shops, as
well as on the Internet. There are specialist glass fairs held in
the UK twice a year in Birmingham and Woking, which is where you can find
the more rare items.
What should I start collecting?
With pressed glass there are so many
different things you can collect, for example, animal related pieces; jugs
and creamer sets; glass from a certain manufacturer, or time, or colour;
commemorative or tourist ware, the world is your oyster!
Any
tips on buying a piece of pressed glass?
Wherever you are buying the glass,
make sure that you check for chips, cracks and scratches by running your
finger around the edges and base of the glass. Also check for
registration numbers, lozenges or trade marks, these can often be found on
the base of the piece and can be hidden under price labels or dirt!
If you are buying from a pressed glass
dealer, ask him or her for some background information about the design as
they often have a wealth of interesting facts and are just waiting for
someone to ask. If you are buying from an online auction, make sure
that the item is described well and if it isn't then email the seller,
most of the time they are very helpful.
Finally, remember to haggle!
What is Vaseline glass?
There is a lot of fuss about the term
"Vaseline", look on
Ebay in their Vaseline section and you will get a range of uranium yellow
glass, yellow and blue(!) Davidson Pearline items and opaque yellow tinted
blown items that are hand formed round the edges. So what is
Vaseline? The term comes from the Vaseline jelly, which was a
violent yellow - and this is what some people (especially in the US) use to describe uranium glass.
One thing that
is definitely not Vaseline glass is Davidson's blue Pearline!
How did they acid
etch the glass?
In
the early days a paste of sulphuric acid and pure flour was brushed over
the glass to provide a matt finish. Later on, Bagley used sandblasting
to give a textured
surface all over the item, whereas the revised technique of hand painting them with acid provided a
silky smooth satin finish.
Are There Any Pressed Glass Reproductions?
Unfortunately manufacturers on the
Continent have reproduced many of the designs that were made popular by
the British glass houses. The main way that you can tell if it is a
recent reproduction is that the item does not have any wear to it, check
if there are small scratches on the base from decades of putting it down
on surfaces. You can also tell on domestic items, such as bowls, where you
can see small scratches in the base where people have used them for their
salads or puddings over the years. If something looks a little too
new, or if the scratches are all in one direction or in a circular motion
where they have rubbed the piece against an abrasive brick, don't buy it.
It has also come to light that some of
the more popular items, such as the cat and dog lidded sugar bowl, was
actually forged by a Inwald in Bohemia in the interwar years with the main difference that the
moulding of the piece was not as crisp as Davidson's products used to
be. I have also seen the Davidson crescent shaped posy trough on
eBay in a cobalt blue without registration marks, which was apparently
made by the US manufacturer, L. G. Wright in the 1940s, so I assume that
the mould was either bought by them or the piece was copied.
Are there any books
or websites about the pressed glass?
There are quite a few books about pressed glass, but the
majority of them are now out of print. A problem with the older books is
that the information is not always right, especially with The Peacock and The
Lions (which is seen as a bible by many collectors). One of
the best ways of finding out more about pressed glass is to go to the Library
at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and look at copies of the Pottery
and Glass Gazette where suites of glass was advertised.
For more details about which books and
websites are available, please visit the Links and
Resources page
Where can I see collections Pressed Glass?
Surprisingly enough the museums in the north of England have a
very small collections of glass on display. However, there are
several cabinets of pressed glass in the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London. As an alternative to going to an exhibition or museum, I would suggest going to the biannual Glass Fairs in Woking and
Birmingham. Here you can get a feel of what glass is about, look at the
pieces that are far too expensive to buy as well as the more rare items.
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