London Manufactured Paperweights
A high crown is a distinguishing characteristic of many of the English paperweights. This is not true, however, of those made at White Friars, which is the trade name for the James Powell Glass Works, founded in 1680 and located outside of London. Glass is made in this factory in the same manner as it was made a century ago. The sand used is almost pure silica, and all of it comes from Fontainebleau. Until 1845 only flint glass was made at White Friars.
The White Friars people describe their set-ups as Victorian flower clusters, and these have been used in ink bottles as well as in paperweights as shown below. Only one date is known in the White Friars' product, namely, in 1848; and this is easy to distinguish and remember because of the peculiar figures used in its formation. White Friars has made great advances in the quality of glass and in the beauty of its colors, and their work in stained glass is most important.
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A splendid example of their craftsmanship is found in the huge Gothic stained glass windows in St.Thomas' Church in New York City.
The English glass industry has been subject to various vicissitudes during its long history. The glass excise act of 1745, for example, taxed glass by weight, with the result that the factories reduced the proportion of lead and thereby impaired the quality of much of their production. The English arc entitled to second place in the production of fine clear glass-there is no question that the French have led all other nations. The Americans rank next to the British, while the Irish come last. No flux was used in the glass made in Irish factories, and for this reason the product bore close resemblance to rock crystal. The making of glass paperweights passed out in England with the era of Victorian bric-a-brac, and interest in the art was not again revived until about 1920.
The English glass industry has been subject to various vicissitudes during its long history. The glass excise act of 1745, for example, taxed glass by weight, with the result that the factories reduced the proportion of lead and thereby impaired the quality of much of their production. The English arc entitled to second place in the production of fine clear glass-there is no question that the French have led all other nations. The Americans rank next to the British, while the Irish come last. No flux was used in the glass made in Irish factories, and for this reason the product bore close resemblance to rock crystal. The making of glass paperweights passed out in England with the era of Victorian bric-a-brac, and interest in the art was not again revived until about 1920.
The glass which has come from the various English factories is so hard to classify clearly and definitely that we may some day give up the struggle to bring order out of chaos and simply group the products of all British factories together under the general head of English glass.
