3-008-568 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The International Exhibition: group of glass by Powell and Sons, 1862. 'Within the memory of many of our readers, art was applied almost exclusively to the decoration of works for the wealthier classes, but now it is being brought down into things for common use, and we are invited to choose from articles of beauty produced at prices which bring them within the reach of the masses of our buyers...[Powell and Sons, of Whitefriars] have been devoted to the production of this material [glass] for upwards of one hundred and fifty years...The chief object...is a centrepiece, so arranged as to serve both as a candelabrum and a stand for flowers; its general construction is Venetian, the stand, the branches, the central vase, the globes, and the baskets, ornamented with knobs of coloured glass, all being worked whilst the material is either in a molten or pliable state, whilst the pendants are cut in facets in the modern style, so as to imitate crystals and transmit the light prismatically. The jug is of a good and simple pattern...and the goblet and beaker are elegant specimens of blown glass, tastefully ornamented, the one with a delicately cut star, and the other with a diamond pattern band'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.