Ancoats Glass Exhibition 2016

In June 2016 we contributed to an exhibition of Ancoats glass for the yearly Manchester Histories Festival. The exhibition, entitled "The Glory of Glass", was principally put together by the people running The Ancoats Dispensary Trust, a campaign to bring the old Victorian Ancoats Dispensary back into use as a community building. The people who run the Trust became interested in the history of Ancoats glass, and as the old Molineaux Webb factory once stood across the road from the Dispensary, it became a good topic for an exhibition.

The exhibition was held in an old Ancoats mill. Putting together the exhibition required the help of too many to list here, but a special thanks to whoever it was who drove down to collect the display cabinets from the now defunct Broadfield House glass museum! The glass on display consisted of three cabinets, one containing mostly Molineaux Webb, and the other two a mix of Manchester manufacturers, supplied by members of The Glass Association from their private collections. Additionally some modern pieces created by students at the Manchester Metropolitan University were shown.

There were also many information panels describing the history of glass, contributed by various sources.

For example we have two images from the Molineaux Webb pattern book, showing items they displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition.

Cabinet 1 - Molineaux Webb

This contains about half of my collection of Molineaux Webb pieces. As most are shown elsewhere on the website I will not delve into them too deeply here. There are a few pieces from other manufacturers. The Percival Vickers Manchester celery can be seen far left, and another Percival Vickers piece, a small pin dish, to the back right. On the extreme right you can just see a bit of a bottle from the Manchester Glass Bottle Works. Near front is the John Bright pressed glass plate, which we thought at the time might be a Manchester piece - we now know it comes from a manufacturer in northeast England.

On the image below, taking a look at the 4 items closest to the camera, on the left we have a bottle from the Manchester Glass Bottle Works. This was opened in the 1830s by Thomas Percival (Snr), Woolfall and Jackson. This bottle dates to a later stage post 1850s when Percival had died, it is inscribed Woolfall Jackson on the base.

In the centre is a very early sugar from Molineaux Webb, early 1840s and very heavy, then to the right one of the common 1864 frosted Greek Key tazza designs. The green fish was one of the earliest pieces I collected and as it has no reg number, I was in doubt that this was from the mid 1880s Molineaux Webb pike designs. In putting together this display I was able to meet with a very experienced collector from the Glass Association who had several of these pikes, registered and unregistered, and by comparing them we were able to prove this was indeed a Molineaux Webb piece. It's not uncommon for some registered designs to bear no registration.

Cabinet 2 - Percival Vickers / Burtles Tate

This display, from members of the Glass Association, concentrated on items dating to the 1870s-1880s from Percival Vickers and Burtles Tate

This photo shows various pieces from the 1878 Percival Vickers Manchester set. Worth noting is how the celery is combined with a bowl to create a centrepiece. Celeries are often found with 2 types of rim, the type where the rim flares outwards were meant to be used in this way. Although it looks precarious, it was common usage in the 1800s and was a cheap way of duplicating the cut glass centrepieces of the era, which were all of one piece.

Examples of Percival Vickers dogs and the dolphin design of the mid 1870s

Some Burtles Tate swans followed by their rare elephant design - all 1880s

Cabinet 3 - Thomas Kidd / Ker Webb / Choice Molineaux Webb pieces

The final cabinet is one of rare pieces. There are a number of items from the minor maker Thomas Kidd (though some attributions are speculative) and a few from the firm of Ker Webb. There is a mix of Molineaux Webb items - two speculatively attributed goblets, a large bowl, a pike, a couple of 1890s swirly dishes, and 3 cut glass comports. All pieces supplied by members of the Glass Association.

Five examples of the Thomas Kidd Queen Victoria bust, guarding a large Molineaux Webb bowl from the 1864 Greek Key set.

An 1894 plate celebrating the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal, commonly attributed to Thomas Kidd

A rare 1870s Ker Webb tobacco jar, missing its lid

The same design in yellow, this time including the lid

Molineaux Webb moulded diamonds pattern - number 6400 from Book 2 - in blue and ruby

This next one is attributed to Molineaux Webb due to its style, but cannot be directly matched in the pattern book

Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) display

The MMU kindly loaned examples of glass tools for display at the exhibition, and provided some pieces created by their students.

The Gang

Showing members of The Glass Association, people with family connections to the Ancoats glass works (Percivals and Webbs), and on the right, Linda Carver of the Ancoats Dispensary Trust who organised the exhibition.

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