For some years now prices have been steadily rising for a kind of ware which many of its buyers often do not realise is glass at all.

Perhaps most people will recognise it when I say that there are vases and boxes in a very characteristic sort of pale blue, with designs which appear to have been pressed from moulds. This blue is quite unmistakable, and although at one time one had to hunt for these pieces, nowadays they are very carefully brought out for your inspection and arranged in sets.

Blue is not the only colour, of course: there is also a family in cream, in plain white and in something which looks like black until you hold it to the light, when it shows amethyst. There is also another type which has a sort of marbled effect of purple or green and white. People often mistake all this ware for some sort of china, and it doesn’t help them when they find dealers referring to it as slagware. Another name sometimes given to it is “end-of-the-day” ware, while still other authorities, including one of its makers, refer to it as “vitro-porcelain.”

I prefer the name “end-of-the-day” not only because it sounds nicer, but also because it gives a clue as to how the ware is said to have been made. Apparently the glass- makers bought silicates from steel-works in the form of the slag drawn off molten steel, and mixed this with clear glass. The name comes from the fact that the slag was drawn off at the end of the day; and this sounds a much more likely story than the other explanation of the name, that the pieces used up all the odd bits of glass left over at the end of the day.

One of the comforting things about this ware is that you can often trace it to a maker by the Registry Mark found on some pieces. This is a diamond-shaped mark which is often found on pottery, giving the year and month and parcel number of the design. From the records (now in the custody of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) you can discover the name of the firm registering the design. Of the pieces in our picture for example, the large white fish jug is registered by W. H. Heppell and Co., Newcastle, in 1882; while the larger of the pinched baskets, on the right, which is cream coloured, was made by the principal firm in the trade, Sowerby’s Ellison Glass Works, also of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who also registered the name “vitro-porcelain.” This piece also bears the firm’s own mark, which was a peacock’s head, and is often found without the Registry Mark.

Apart from the vases and spill holders, there is a very attractive series of flat-sided flasks impressed with pictures, mostly based on nursery stories. I saw one fairly recently with an illustration of “Jack and Jill” on offer for £4 1os. and as it was gone a few days later, this was presumably the market price.

Heaviest demand is for the marbled types and in fact here is another name; many go in exclusively for this, calling it Marble Ware glass. Colours have a much wider range than is commonly imagined, for apart from the more usual purple and green there are also blue, orange and a sort of butterscotch colour. Favourite items are small jugs, covered dishes, pitchers, creamers, cake stands, tumblers, bowls, trays, match holders, compotes, butter dishes. The large celeries and covered sugars are getting almost impossible to find now.

But if you are the sort of collector who likes to start at the modest end of the field and work your way up, why not look at some of the more ambitious versions of this sort ofmarbled ware. There was a Bohemian glass called “Lythyalin” which was produced in the 1820’s; it showed marble patterns in vivid colours, while a similar product called “Hyalith” appeared in sealing-wax red and a dense opaque black. Specimens of these wares turn up sometimes at the London auctions.

Chinese glass not only tries marbled effects but also often Imitates materials like red laquer, onyx, chalcedony and jade. This was also done at Venice, and turns up here under the German name Schmelzglas: there are some beautiful ewers and bottles. I saw one the other day which was enriched with avanturine, that charming decoration related to spangled glass, so called because the bright flecks of gold in the glass went wherever they “adventured” to do.

As a rough guide to the date of any piece you may have, look first at the top of the diamond. The Roman numeral (IV) indicates the class, in this case “Glass and Ceramics.” If there is a letter immediately underneath this, i.e., in the semi-circle just inside the diamond, the piece was made between 1842 and 1867, according to the following table:

Tears

If, however, there is a figure in this place, and the letter appears on the left-hand corner of the diamond, then it was made between 1868 and 1883, according to the following table:

Years

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Slagware

• Pottery and Porcelain Decoration: Glaze, Gilding, Painting or Printing?
• Fine Bottles Small and Large Collection
• Ceramic Figures and Collectible Decor part 2
• All Sorts of Boxes Collection
• Art Painting and Decoration, Majolica, faience or delft?
• Art Décor French Delicacies and Medieval Fantasies
• Some Foreign Glassmakers
• Natty Figures Collection
• Beautiful Collectible Vessels and Plates of Porcelain
• Pictures on China Collection