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| Introduction |
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| For a number of years I have been researching Queen’s
Burmese Ware and have catalogued many records and details for a book
on the subject. It is hoped that I will be able to publish soon, making
the book available either in electronic and perhaps paper format.
To make this work the definitive reference book, I still require illustrations
of some variants that I know exist but have not yet seen. |
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| The following information is intended to provide a
taste of the type of content you can expect from my publication. I
also wish to outline the areas of research where I require help in
acquiring samples or photographs of specific Queen’s Burmese
designs. |
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| Queen’s Burmese Ware was one of the most popular
and most commercially successful types of glass. It is characterised
as an opaque, single layered glass, which shades from a pale greenish
yellow to a deep salmon pink, the whole having a rather fluorescent
appearance. The mixture used to make the glass is initially yellow
in colour. The glassmakers were then able to alter the colour by re-heating
the mixture. Areas of a vessel, which were exposed to this re-heating,
develop a distinctive pink (ruby) hue. The development of this colouration
could therefore be determined by the amount of re-heating the glass
was exposed to. |
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The colour development varies considerably,
from a faint pink blush to a very dark and dirty pink, with
a
hint of blue. On some examples there is no evidence
of pink at all and with others the yellow is so weak it looks
white. |
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| A selection of Queens
Burmese Ware, showing plain and decorated, matt and gloss
finish. |
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The most important and distinctive characteristic
of Burmese is that it’s transitions in colour occur in
a single body of glass, and are not produced by coating one
layer of coloured glass with that of another colour. The types
of glass that were produced using the
multi-layer technique, often used ruby in a “die away”
fashion i.e. the ruby would be strong around the rim
of an article shading into the base colour further away from
the rim.This type of technique results in items of glassware
where the transitions in colour can only be seen either on the
inside or outside of the glass. Burmese differs in that such
colour shading can generally be seen simultaneously on both
the inside and the outside of a vessel. |
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| Signatures and shapes |
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Thomas Webb & Sons registered a Trade Mark
on 11 September 1886. This mark is reproduced to
the right. The signature, in the form of this Trade Mark, appears
either acid etched or on
printed-paper labels. Some acid etched signatures have an additional
registration number below this mark. Three numbers can be found:
Rd. 67648,
Rd. 80167 and Rd. 86246. However not all pieces were signed.
I would be particularly interested in
any items of Burmese with the registration number Rd. 86246. |
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| Thomas Webb & Sons
Trade Mark with and without the registration number. |
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| Thomas Webb's Records |
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Some records from Thomas Webb remain, which are
by no means complete, where drawings confirm details of the
patterns, shapes and designs of Queen’s Burmese ware.
The first recorded pattern number is 15740, dated October 1886
(illustrated on right). |
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Illustration from the
Pattern Books. All available patterns will be
reproduced in my book. |
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| Surface Finish |
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Burmese was mainly given a matt (dull) satin
finish, obtained by the use of acid. Those items that were not
treated
retained the natural high gloss finish. Burmese glass that
has been left with its natural finish is often mistakenly
referred to as “fire polished”. |
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| Gilt and Enamel decoration - Jules Barbe
Patterns |
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The decoration of Queen’s Burmese Ware
at Thomas Webb
& Sons was carried out in the decorating shop under the
direction of Jules Barbe, a Frenchman recruited by Thomas Wilkes
Webb at the 1878 Paris International Exhibition. |
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| The enamelled decoration is usually
very flat. Most designs incorporate additional leaves, applied
in a blue/grey wash, which resemble shadows and give the decoration
a three dimensional effect. Where the enamel is raised from
the surface, it is usually in the form of paste details, such
as dots in the centre of flowers, to represent the stamens,
or to represent tendrils on Ivy. |
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| Most gilding, on the other hand, was generally raised
from the surface in a style mastered by Jules Barbe. Some pieces of
Burmese were decorated with a combination of gilding and enamel. For
example, the branches and leaves of a design might be rendered in
gilt and the flower heads enamelled. Alternatively you can also find
examples where flower details can be found to have been accentuated
with gilding. |
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| Many different floral designs were produced, the most
common being Hawthorne (usually referred to as prunus blossom), Ivy,
Ivy and Berry, Virginia Creeper, Thistle and Dog Rose. |
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| Another range of decorated Burmese Ware appears in
a 1902 Webb pattern book. The designs are greatly influenced by the
Art Nouveau style, with flowers and leaves taking on the characteristic
“whip-lash” forms of this style. |
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| Surface Patterns and Moulds |
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| A further form of decoration adopted
with Burmese Ware utilised raised surface patterns, |
| achieved by the use of ‘dip’
moulds. The moulds, made of |
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iron or brass, had a pattern cut into their internal
surface, which created a pattern in relief on the surface of
any gather of glass dipped or blown firmly in the mould. The
gather was then blown or fashioned to the desired shape. During
this process the pattern would distend, but remain clearly visible
on the surface of the glass. On the surface
of such items, the thicker glass of the pattern would not
cool as quickly as the main body of the vessel. Consequently
the re-heating process turned the glass surrounding the pattern,
but not the pattern itself, which remained yellow. |
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| Surface pattern using
honeycomb dip mould. |
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| The rib mould was the most commonly used design
but diamond, honeycomb, arched semi-circular lines and water
wave were also used. |
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| Another innovative design utilised a patented
skeleton mechanism (illustrated below right). |
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| Air Trap and Air Twist |
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Some of the surface moulded patterns
above were used to produce what is known as ‘Satin Air
Trap’; this is referred to as ‘Mother of Pearl’
in America. In this case the gather of glass is dipped into
the mould as before, but is then cased with a thin layer of
clear or coloured crystal. This outer casing would trap
air in the depressions of the design, between the two layers
of glass. The usual finish on air trap articles, as the common
name implies, would be matt satin. On these vessels the
shaded effect common to Burmese would be visible on the
inside only. |
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| Patented skeleton mechanism.
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Another unusual variation on this technique was
‘air twist’,
where spiraling tubes of air are trapped, spiraling around the
body of a glass object. |
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| Call For Contributions |
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I would be extremely interested in
photographs that show
examples of Queen’s Burmese that incorporate either of
the above techniques, as well as any other unusual designs,
patterns and colour variants. |
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| I would also consider purchasing any of these items
if they were offered for sale. |
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If you have any information regarding the designs I
am looking for, you can contact me
through Specialist Glass Fairs Ltd. You will find all the necessary
contact details on this Website’s Contact
page. |
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| Many Thanks. |
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| Dilwyn Hier |
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| Click
Here to return to the 'Glass Archive' page. |
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