Edkin also decorated many blue ground pieces, and it is interesting to learn that his remuneration for the ornamentation of a jug in colour and gilt, which must have taken a considerable time, was the lordly sum of 8d., a striking commentary upon the value placed upon skilled craftsmanship in the eighteenth century. Like many other artists he had to be content with the posthumous reward which fame bestows.
The Bristol factories are said to have made all sorts of articles, flasks, bells, walking-sticks, bellows, etc., in glass, but there is much uncertainty on this head, and I doubt if the greater part of such articles classified as coming from Bristol should not, as a matter of fact, claim Nailsea as their place of origin. We can certainly ascribe oil, vinegar, and pepper pots, candlesticks, salt-cellars, and vases to Bristol, as the daintily decorated pepper and sugar castors, shown in Fig. 27, prove, so that it is at least possible for the other articles enumerated also to have been made there, but where there is so much uncertainty, the collector who desires to be on the safe side had better refrain from giving Bristol the benefit of the doubt.
It must not be inferred, however, that all Bristol glass is of the opaque kind. The magnificent piece shown in the frontispiece is quite transparent, the apparent opacity of the background of the landscape being due to enamel laid on the glass. The fine decanter reproduced in Fig. 25 is also an example of what Bristol could do in transparent glass, the decoration, here again, being in enamel.
Nailsea Glass.—The glass-works of Nailsea were established in 1788, a few miles to the south-west of Bristol, and were, for some time, carried on with success; but the ware was crude and lacking in the finish characteristic of the best Bristol specimens. The earliest pieces were made of yellowish or dark green glass, with blotches of white, as in the jug shown in Fig. 28. They were usually very inferior in style, colour, texture, and workmanship, and were consequently not greatly sought after by purchasers; hence the output was restricted, and the factory after a while seems to have confined its efforts to producing plain white glass with quaint and curious forms of decoration. A pair of bellows, for example, was decorated like the fins of a fish, with tiny projections and spines all over it. Towards the
FIG. 28.—EARLY NAILSEA GLASS JUGS. EARLY 19th CENTURY.
end of its career, which closed in 1763, the output was a clear glass of greenish tint, with faintly coloured streaks. Fig. 29 is a characteristic example. I have also seen a few pieces gilt. The glass is now exceedingly scarce, and good specimens command a very high price. There is a curious charm about Nailsea glass. In appearance, the best specimens are of a dark toffee-like colour, and when held up to a strong light exhibit a greenish tinge. The lighter and finer kinds display a characteristic ground which, if not beautiful, is certainly quaint. Collectors who are fortunate enough to come across a specimen of Nailsea at a reasonable figure should undoubtedly seize the opportunity of acquiring it, but such opportunities are few and, were they more numerous, it is hardly likely that anyone would wish to form a large collection of it. The “Simpson” Jug, illustrated in Fig. 28, is transparent, but of a curious yellowish-green tinge, and is probably one of the last pieces produced at the old factory.
CHAPTER VI
IRISH GLASS—CORK AND WATERFORD
THE history of the manufacture of glass in Ireland is very obscure, and the dates of its various periods difficult to fix. Hence it is well-nigh impossible to place before the reader any reliable data in the way of photographs of pieces that can be guaranteed authentic both as regards place of origin and date.