After three 18th Century wine glasses made in Newcastle were sold for thousands of pounds at auction, the Chronicle looks back at the city’s illustrious glass-making past.
The six-inch flutes, bought for 40p each at a car boot sale, fetched nearly £19,000 when they went under the hammer this month.
They were made by famed craftsman William Beilby (1740-1819) in about 1765 at his workshop in Amen Corner, next to St Nicholas Cathedral.
Less than 100 armorial glasses made by Beilby are known to exist and they sparked a bidding war by collectors.
Beilby glass can be found in museums all over the world, including on Tyneside at Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery, and even when damaged they are worth tens of thousands of pounds.
When the glasses were made Newcastle was the largest glass producing centre in the world.
And key figures in the city’s thriving glass making industry were the Beilby family. The Beilbys are especially known for their glass painted with enamel colours.
Using a special method, strong, lasting colours and fancy designs were painted on to goblets, bowls and other glassware.
These techniques were pioneered by William Beilby in about 1760. He then taught his brothers Ralph and Thomas and sister Mary, and together the family decorated locally-made glass.
Marie-Therese, assistant keeper of fine and decorative art at the Laing Art Gallery, said: “As a family the Beilbys were pioneers. Their decorated glass was colourful, durable and long-lasting as they perfected the art of firing the enamel colours on to the glass whereas before, most colours were painted on to the glass and soon flaked off.
“Coupled with the fact that they used locally-produced glass (acknowledged as some of the finest quality in the world at the time) they quickly established an international reputation and their work was soon being commissioned across Europe.
“The glass-decorating workshop was active for a relatively short time but even today they are considered to be unrivalled in quality and skill.”
William honed his skills as an apprentice in Birmingham learning enamelling.
He became the first man in England, possibly the world, to fire enamels into glass. William and his brother Ralph started their business at Amen Corner in 1760.
By the 1820s, there were no fewer than forty glassworks within half a mile of Newcastle city centre and one of the highlights of the year was the annual procession when 7,000 glass-makers took part wearing glass top-hats and carrying glass walking-sticks, swords and pistols.
Many of the glass objects carried in the parade can be seen in the Laing Art Gallery, in Newcastle, and the Shipley Art Gallery, in Gateshead. The three glasses are believed to have been part of an original set of five.
The other two have both been sold at auction.
One achieved £8,500 at Christie’s in 1990, the other made £9,000 at Bonhams in 2010.
Four Beilby tumblers, also discovered at a car boot sale, sold for £18,000 at Christie’s in 2005.
