Post War British Glass
author: Angela Bowey
The major glassware producers in Britain after the war were Davidson's, Sowerby, Jobling's, Bagley, Chance Bros., Whitefriars and Caithness. This article shows pictures of some of the kinds of glass these companies were producing. I am very grateful to Adam Dodds who worked for Sowerby's, Davidson's and Jobling's during this period, and to several other experts who have shared their knowledge of the glass of this period.
Generally the designs were all pre-war designs, since very few of these companies invested in designers during this period. The exceptions were the design work for heat resisting glass products like Pyrex. There was a huge pent-up demand for pressed glass products just after the war and initially they could all sell everything they could make. Perhaps that is why they invested so little in innovation.
Almost all the designs shown below were produced in their thousands, literally by the ton, just after the war. Many can still be found on market stalls and second hand shops, garage sales and auctions, for very reasonable prices. They will be the collectable glass of tomorrow, no doubt!
The "Chippendale" bowl shown below on the left is by McKee (USA) and is marked "Pres cut" the bowl on the right is a Davidson's Chippendale bowl. The moulds for Chippendale were imported into Britain before the war, when the British Government imposed heavy taxes on imported glass, and it was made by Davidson's from then on.
If you are looking for collectible British glass, you can usually find a good selection on offer on ebay.
Click British glass to see examples.
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Bibliography for this article:
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