Pattern Book

In 1977 the Manchester Art Gallery bought the Molineaux & Webb pattern book from family descendant Pamela Webb for £374. The book contains sketches of company glassware patterns from approximately 1830 to 1870. There are over 300 pages of sketches covering thousands of items.

The book is effectively a compilation album, sketches of sketches, contained in five other books, which were named The Old Vase Sketch Book, Number 1 Book, Number 2 Book, Number 3 Book (or New Book), and the Large Book.

It is unclear why the pattern book was compiled. It tails off mysteriously in the early 1870s, with some patterns half-sketched and pages part blank. It does suggest that either the compiler of the book died, or the intended recipient of the book died - or maybe somebody just got bored with it! The best guess from the family history perspective is that the sudden end of the book links to the death in 1873 of Thomas Webb, co-founder of the works. The fact that the book survived with the Webb family for over 100 years, and the five books it was compiled from have disappeared, suggests it was done by or for family members.

The book is arranged by item type and covers the following; Celery Vases, Jugs and Sweetmeat Dishes, Finger Bowls, Butter Dishes, Custards and Jellies, Mustards, Honeys, Cruets, Marmalades, Radishes, Inks, Alters, Knife Rests, Sundries (mainly candlesticks), Decanters (by far the largest section of the book), Spirit Squares, Water Jugs, Monte Assiettes, Comports, Centres and Stands, Dishes, Floats & Plates, Ices, Salads, Tazzas.

For each item type, if they are sufficient in number, the typical ordering is examples from the Number 1 Book are listed, then Number 2, then the Large Book, then Number 3, then the Old Vase Sketch Book.

Some items have been assigned a number but the system is somewhat erratic. Sometimes it seems to be purely sequential, other times a number seems to cover a common design and is used multiple times. Most items from the Number 1 book are also named, but items from other books are rarely named. Most sketches are black and white or grey, but a small proportion are in colour.

The Old Vase Sketch Book

It is difficult to date any of the individual books with certainty. This one probably goes up to the mid 1840s. Most of the sketches are basic line drawings and so generic that it would be almost impossible to directly assign a piece of Victorian glass to one of the sketches from this time period. The exception is the section on religious glassware which is in full colour with detailed sketches.

Number 1 Book

Perhaps the most interesting book, this contains items exhibited at the Great Exhibition, so we can be sure it covers 1851. Best guess for dating is late 1840s to the mid 1850s. Almost all of the sketches in this book are named. Whether these names were only used internally or for marketing the sets, we don't know. The name that occurs most often is "Queens", a pattern of oval and circular facets which gives a vaguely jewelled or tiara type effect to the glassware.

Here is a list of names used for the glass sets in the Number 1 book (not exhaustive):

Arlington, Arundel, Athenian, Auckland, Balmoral, Bath, Bridgewater, Bromley, Bulrush, Cambridge, Carlton, Cartmel, Chatsworth, Chester, Chesterfield, Claremont, Clarendon, Clevedon, Clifton, Copelands, Crosby, Distingue, Druid, Dunedin, Edgworth, Eglington, Exmouth, Finchley, Flora, Grecian, Grosvenor, Halifax, Hamilton, Hampton, Harrington, Herculaneum, Heron, Howth, Imperial, Iris, Ivy, Kendal, Kennington, Litchfield, Lowther, Madras, Malahide, McIvor, Meltonian, Milan, Mogul, Monmouth, Norcliffe, Osbourne, Palestine, Paragon, Pasha, Pompeian, Portland, Queens, Ravensbourne, Somerset, Stamford, Sutherland, Tenbury, Tiverton, Trentham, Walsingham, Worcester, Yarborough.

From the Great Exhibition catalogue, assigned name "Pasha", number 6145, in the Water Jugs section of the pattern book

This candlestick, assigned name "Regina" and number 493, probably comes from the Number 1 book, though the pattern book does not make this 100% clear

Photo from Dave Peterson

This pair of custard cups is named the "Halifax" pattern in book 1. The design does not have a number associated with it.

Number 2 Book

The use of the Greek Key pattern becomes more prominent in this time period and items with a ruby edge begin to make an appearance. One of the celery vases in the Number 2 book is virtually identical to a pressed glass piece registered in 1865, so this book probably dates from the late 1850s to the mid 1860s.

Celery vase - matches pattern 6353, the first celery drawn in the Number 2 book

Pattern 6400 (moulded diamonds)

This is shown in the pattern book in blue (a more rarely used colour than red)

But we also have an example in red

Ruby edged frosted glass plate and comport with Greek Key design - pattern 7034 from the Number 2 book

Frosted Greek Key Comport - probably Molineaux & Webb, book 2

Number 3 Book

Again it is the celery vases which give the best clue to the date of the book. A few designs show a prominent bulge towards the top of the celery which matches the pattern of a pressed glass registration from 1868. We think this book covers the mid 1860s to the early 1870s.

Dish or Comport - pattern 8208/9

This particular pattern straddles two numbers, 8208 and 8209. It must have been part of a set as there is also a sugar and basin, a honey with lid, a butter with lid, two types of finger bowl, and a deeper bowl partway between a comport and a basin, all illustrated with the same pattern. It is identical to one purchased by the Manchester Art Gallery in 1977 when they bought the company pattern books and some family glass pieces for the museum.

Celery - pattern 8209

In the pattern book, this is a plain frosted piece from head to toe. What seems to be the case with these whole frosted shapes is that they were used as a canvas on which to choose a house design, so the finished object might only be part frosted or with additional decoration. Some pressed pieces from 1868 show similar usage.

Flower stand - pattern 8209

Just to be confusing, pattern 8209 had a couple of different designs used on it, as well as being a number assigned to some whole frosted pieces. The most prevalent pattern illustrated in the book is actually this one below, though it also seems to be the most rare in terms of finds to date. In this case, the shape is basically a celery, but instead of the usual stem, a glass stud has been used to weigh down the bottom within an electroplate flower stand. The stand may well be contemporary, it bears the stamp for EB & Co, most likely Edwin Blyde & Co of Sheffield, who were active from the mid 19th century onwards with this kind of work.

Celery - pattern 8289

Large Book

Oversized items were placed in the Large Book which covers a wide time period probably from the mid 1840s to the early 1870s. Items in here are not "giant glass" - they are larger versions of items from the other books or unique to this book. The pattern named "Willesden" is represented more times than any other and may be a fully oversized glassware set. One piece, a finger bowl named "Etonian", is described as "Carnelian Cased", the only such example in the entire pattern book.