BACK

STUART CRYSTAL TABLEWARE

Most of the Stuart Crystal table glass that I have is associated with decanters from my collection, however, I do have a substantial amount of Woodchester and I will produce a separate page for this so that you can see the range of shapes available for a single pattern. There are no substantial books on Stuart Crystal glass, however, they were pretty good at marking their wares. The downside being that you may know something is Stuart Crystal, but may not have any context for it, i.e. the years it was made, the designer, etc..

Click Pictures to Expand Them

Various

Click Picture to Expand

Description, References and Size

This is a clear glass cocktail glass with an amber foot and knopped stem. The bowl has stylised flower motifs cut into it. It is Stuart's pattern number 26800. Made in the 1930s.

This glass is designed to go with one on the decanters with matching colour and motifs in the Stuart Decanter section. The shape would have been designed by Geoffrey Stuart and the cut pattern by Ludwig Kny.

Reference: British Glass Between the Wars, Roger Dodsworth, pages 97 & 98

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 238

Reference: The Decanter Ancient to Modern, Andy McConnell, page 407

Reference: 20th Century British Glass, Charles R. Hajdamach, page 136

Height: 4.75 inches

Width: 2.75 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal cocktail glass based on the Villiers or Oleta pattern. The bowl has vertical cuts surmounts by vertical cut ellipses surmounted by fine horizontal grooves. The stem is cut with curved facets. Design from the 1930s.

This design was originally called Villiers and at some point changed to be known as Oleta. These are very pretty glasses and although not cheap they are common enough to build a service.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 237

Height: 5.5 inches

Width: 2.75 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal port glass based on the pattern Startime. The bowl has small stars cut into the bowl and the stem has columns of graduated slanting cuts. It is catalogue pattern number 27542 a design from 1935 and made until the 1970s.

This is a simple design and whilst it is not the most common it would be possible to build a service with these glasses if you were diligent. You need to be careful though as there were variants over the years this was a popular motif in Victorian times.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 236 & 239

Reference: Stuart Crystal Catalogue 1930s

Height: 3.75 inches

Width: 2.5 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal port glass based on the pattern Startime. The bowl has small stars cut into the bowl and around the foot and the stem has columns of graduated slanting cuts. It is catalogue pattern number 27542 a design from 1935 and made until the 1970s.

Here is one of the variants previously mentioned, with the addition of stars cut around the foot. It is difficult to tell but it looks like my later catalogues that include Startime have stars cut into the foot.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 236 & 239

Reference: Stuart Crystal Catalogue 1930s

Height: 3.75 inches

Width: 2.5 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal port glass based on the pattern Startime. The bowl has small stars cut into the bowl, stylised leaves cut around the foot, and the stem has columns of graduated slanting cuts. It is catalogue pattern number 27542 a design from 1935 and made until the 1970s.

Here is another variant based on Startime, only this time it has stylised leaves. Ludwig Kny frequently used this motif with leaves and this makes me think that perhaps this glass was pre-war, i.e. whilst he was still the designer for Stuart.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 236 & 239

Reference: Stuart Crystal Catalogue 1930s

Height: 3.75 inches

Width: 2.5 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal incorporator bottle, made by Stan Gill. It has four internal rings to the body and one in the stopper. Made c.1930s.

The internal rings are designed to assist in the mixing of oil and vinegar for vinaigrette. The cloudiness in the stopper is a manufacturing fault. It's inside the sealed bubble and it's like that forever.

Whilst this may look like a simple bottle it must have taken some skill to put the deep rings on the inside of the bottle and retain a smooth exterior. Stan Gill was the Master Glassmaker at Stuart Crystal and later went on to teach glass making after he retiring from there. This is a bit like one of the ships in a bottle type of things.

Reference: Miller's Glass of the '20s & '30s, Frankie Leibe, page 52

Height: 8 inches

Width: 3.25 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal Ellesmere rounded tumbler, cut with stylised leaf patterns to the base and surmounts by fern patterns. Marked Stuart ENGLAND. Designed by Lugwig Kny in the 1930s Made c.1930-70s.

Ellesmere is such a lovely pattern I can understand why it was made for so long. I expect it was expensive buy new, and it still maintains a premium for any one wishing to build a service today.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 239

Reference: Stuart Crystal Catalogue 1930s

Reference: Art Deco to Post Moderism, Nigel Benson and Jeanette Hayhurst, page 14

Reference: British Table and Ornamental Glass, L. M. Angus-Butterworth, Fig.89

Height: 4 inches

Width: 3 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal Ellesmere straight sided tumbler, cut with stylised leaf patterns to the base, surmounted by fern patterns. Marked Stuart ENGLAND. Designed by Lugwig Kny in the 1930s Made c.1930-70s.

The thing to remember about Stuart Crystal is that they were making glass for the English middle class, and as such you needed to be able to show off. In terms of glassware this means you need a glass for everything. The table needs to be laden with sparklyness. The small slight variation in these two tumblers shows you the direction of travel where diners might have 4 or 5 different glasses depending on what course they were eating and what needed to be drunk with course. What is ironic about it is that when this kind of dining was popular, in general, the cuisine was terrible. I think cuisine is better than it used to be, but wine is drunk straight from bottle to wine glass, and no one worried what kind of glass it is, a glass is a glass.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 239

Reference: Stuart Crystal Catalogue 1930s

Reference: Art Deco to Post Moderism, Nigel Benson and Jeanette Hayhurst, Page 14

Reference: British Table and Ornamental Glass, L. M. Angus-Butterworth, Fig.89

Height: 4.25 inches

Width: 3 inches

This is a Stuart Crystal Ellesmere wine glass, cut with stylised leaf patterns to the base of the bowl, surmounted by fern patterns. Marked Stuart ENGLAND. Designed by Lugwig Kny in the 1930s Made c.1930-70s.

Another glass from the Ellesmere suit of glasses, you're not going to get much wine in it, but that is not the point, won't it look elegant on your table.

Reference: Miller's 20th Century Glass, Andy McConnell, page 239

Reference: Stuart Crystal Catalogue 1930s

Reference: Art Deco to Post Moderism, Nigel Benson and Jeanette Hayhurst, Page 14

Reference: British Table and Ornamental Glass, L. M. Angus-Butterworth, Fig.89

Height: 5.25 inches

Width: 2.25 inches

This is a conical Stuart Crystal carafe with an applied milled neck ring, and flaring neck that has been pinched into four corners. Marked Stuart ENGLAND, with the style of mark used from 1926-50. A much older design that was probably made before 1930.

I see this often exclaimed to be Whitefriars. Now I don't have access to the Whitefriars vaults of archives, but I have seen all the published bits of catalogue from the period and I have never seen this particular design of carafe. I do have this one clearly marked Stuart England and to me that says this design is Stuarts and the ones I see in the Whitefriars catalogues are Whitefriars. I'm going with that story until someone shows me otherwise.

Regardless of that storm in a teacup, these are really pretty carafes and you do see them around. I suspect they were made from the 1880s into the late 1920s.

Reference: Miller's Glass of the '20s & '30s, Frankie Leibe, page 52

Height: 8 inches

Width: 3.25 inches

BACK

© 2015 AND BEYOND COPYRIGHT RETAINED ON ALL TEXT AND IMAGES ON THIS SITE.