Cloud Glass from the Glass Encyclopedia and the Glass Museum

In the 19th century, before gas lighting and electricity were used to supply lighting in homes and workplaces, oil lamps with glass chimneys were used by the million. Glass chimneys were hand blown and fragile, so they were quite expensive and always getting broken, creating a constant demand for new ones. George Davidson was a butcher in the North East of England during the 1860's. He saw an opportunity and in 1867, at the age of 45, he decided there was such a shortage of oil lamp chimneys he would build a glass factory in the nearby Team Valley.

His lamp factory was very successful and he grasped another opportunity and introduced pressed glass-making, a partly-mechanised process, to make a wide range of pressed glass table-ware. The Americans had developed machinery for pressing glass in the early 19th century, and some English glass-makers were beginning to use this technology by the 1830's. Pressed glass was very much cheaper to produce than hand blown glass, making it a treasure which even working people could afford. Davidson's went on to be one of the most prolific and successful glass factories in the UK.

In those early years pressed glass was used to imitate hand-made glass. They imitated cut crystal designs in clear pressed glass (which they called Flint glass). These examples were made by Davidson's in the 1880s.

During the 1880's Davidson's, along with several other glass factories, also made glass to look like porcelein (termed vitro-porcelein) usually in opaque white and opaque blue (like the vase on the left above).

They also made glass to look like marble, and termed it "marble vitro-porcelein" (or sometimes marble glass or Malachite glass). The flint glass table-ware above and the marble vitro-porcelein sugar bowl below all have the Davidson's trademark or a Davidson's registration number. Marbled glass items like this sugar bowl are often called "slag glass" because the effects were acheived by adding chemicals to the glass and slag from old coal and iron mines was believed to be used.

Glass makers in England at this time came under pressure to put a trade mark or other form of identification on their glass. Davidson's registered this trade mark, of a lion sitting up on a wall, and used it between 1880 and 1891. They discontinued it when George Davidson died. Any piece of glass with this trademark can be accurately dated to the period 1880 to 1891.

In 1889 Davidson's introduced one of their most popular and successful lines, a colouring which they called "Pearline". It was only made in two colours, blue and lemon yellow, each with a white edge. Pearline glass was so successful that Davidson's introduced a new suite of designs made in "pearline" almost every year until 1903, and continued production of pearline until the outbreak of the First World War (1914).

Pearline glass reacted to heat by turning white on the parts exposed to heat during the cooling process, a reaction caused by the chemicals mixed into the glass (notably arsenic). It was extremely popular in the 1890's. This pattern (left) was issued by Davidson's in 1889, registration number 130643, called the "643 Suite" by Davidson's and named "Brideshead" by American collectors. The Pearline colour combination of a white opalescent edge on turquoise blue glass was almost unique to Davidson's. Greener's (from nearby Sunderland) produced a smaller number of patterns in a very similar colour, and these can be identified both by the registration numbers and from pattern books and advertisements of the time.

Lemon Pearline is often called "Vaseline Glass", which is a general term used for any kind of yellow glass with an appearance similar to the old yellow vaseline ointment. This includes hand blown glass as well as the output from many factories. I have come across antique dealers calling the blue pearline "vaseline glass" but know of no justification for this.

These pieces (right) are in one of the last Pearline patterns; registered by Davidson's in 1903 registration number 413701 and named "William and Mary" by US collectors (see William Heacock's publications).

The lemon colour was produced by adding uranium to the glass mixture (in those days before people knew about bombs made from uranium). If you shine an ultra-violet lamp onto Davidson's lemon pearline glass it will glow green (fluoresce) because of these ingredients.

This design (left) by Davidsons is clear blue without the pearline white edge. It was introduced when "pearline" was becoming less popular in 1908. Its registration number was 533040, and this number was stamped into the moulds, so it can almost always be found if you run your finger gently over the glass. It was produced in several colours (clear, blue, green, amber) and in vast quantities over a 40 year period, from 1908 to the 1940's. In later years the pieces often had chromium plated attachments.

The First World War marked the end of the Art Nouveau period and also the end of the parallel fashion for pressed glass patterns based on classical cut crystal designs. The "Art Deco" period in the 1920's and 30's was a period of strong, bold colours and simple shapes.

Davidson glass

Here are some books which include Davidson's Glass. Click on any book cover to read more about that book.



Davidson Glass: A History (2005) by Chris Stewart and Val Stewart. This is a great book with comprehensive history, catalogue information, designs, types of glass and great photographs. It may be hard to obtain copies.
English Pressed Glass by Raymond Slack (1987). Really good information about the English pressed glass companies from late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
The Identification of English Pressed Glass, 1842-1908 by Jenny Thompson (1990). Detailed information.
British Glass 1800-1914, by Charles R. Hajdamach, (1991). One of the great reference books on British Glass.
Nineteenth Century British Glass by Hugh Wakefield (1982). Still an excellent reference book on glass factories in the early years of pressed glass.
Victorian Decorative Glass 1850-1914, by Mervyn Gulliver, (2002).

It is always interesting to see what Cloud Glass there is on eBay. You may just find something you have been looking for. Click Cloud glass

INFORMATION about Bagley Glass!
Bagley Glass were competitors of Davidsons from the 1930s onwards so we thought you would be interested in this book.

The 4th Edition is now available and has received a rave response - more information, more and better pictures, new items identified as Bagley for the first time, a helpful index, and more compehensive coverage. A truly comprehensive guide to help you identify Bagley Glass. The first three editions sold out quickly. Click on the picture for more details.

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