Golden Age of English Glass 1650-1775

The Golden Age of English Glass features 150 objects from the collection of John H. Bryan, ranging in date from c.1650-1809. These enable a full and detailed discussion of the history of English glassmaking during its critical period of innovation (c.1650-1675) and its world triumph (c.1700-1775), including discussions of crystal table glass, 'black' glass bottles, window glass, mirrors and lighting (glass candle­sticks and chandeliers). In spite of the fact that these pieces are among the most important examples of English glass known (the collection includes, for instance, twenty-five drinking glasses made between about 1690 and 1720, when English table glass is widely regarded as being among the most refined and perfect expression of the glass­makers' art anywhere in the world), few have ever been published. The scholarly text brings together the latest information in a dynamic area of research. Essays accompanying catalogue discussions of individual glasses place them in their wider historical and technical settings. The book is illustrated with some 215 colour photographs of the objects in the collection (including groups and details), some seventy-five comparative objects from other collections and fifty-five period prints, paintings, drawings and other documents that convey the historic context of their use and also document processes of manufacture and decoration. AUTHOR: Dwight Lanmon has studied English glass for fifty years, first as a collector and later as a museum curator and director. He was a curator of ceramics and glass at Winterthur Museum in Delaware from 1968 to 1973, when he and his wife moved to Corning, New York, where he became Deputy Director, Collections, and Curator of European Glass before 1900. He later served as Director of the Museum for eleven years. After nineteen years in Corning, he returned to Winterthur as its Director and retired in 1999 as Director Emeritus. Mr. Lanmon served as Secretary General of the Association Internationale pour l Histoire du Verre and is an Honorary Vice-President of the Glass Circle, a collectors group in England. He was also elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London. He is the author of numerous books, articles and exhibition catalogues on glass. Since his retirement to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Mr. Lanmon has undertaken research on American Pueblo Indian pottery and has co-authored four books and several articles on the subject. He is a Research Associate at the Indian Arts Research Center of the School for Advanced Research and at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, both in Santa Fe. ILLUSTRATIONS 105 b/w d215 colour *