April 2002 Cloud Glass Newsletter

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This issue is devoted entirely to Orange Cloud Glass.

Orange Cloud Glass

Orange is the second rarest colour of Cloud Glass made by Davidson. Most of the Orange Cloud Glass available for sale today comes from Australia and New Zealand. This suggests most of the glass was made for the export market. Orange Cloud glass was difficult to make and more expensive than the other Cloud Colours available at the time. Typically Orange was between 20 and 25% more expensive. Davidson also produced two variants. The first Orange Cloud Glass had trails that were very yellow, appearing like custard on the rims of bowls and vases. Davidson had many production problems with this variant, and produced a modified form in time for the 1934 British industries fair. Here the trails were a definite orange colour.

The first attempted production run of Orange Cloud Glass was made on 20th March 1933. A glassmaker named Graham made 55 8” No 712 vases. These were all described as ‘Bad Colour’ and rejected. On the following day the same glassmaker made 712 vases and the full range of 279 (column) vases. The result this time was ‘Bad Shapes’ and ‘Seedy Metal’. Seedy Metal means the glass contained lots of small bubbles. Despite this most of the production run was passed by the inspectors. On the 24 and 25th March the glassmaker George Hall made a large number of different styles of bowls in Orange, including patterns 701, 702, 727, 21, 20, 732, 248, and 696. This time the shape of the glass was fine, but they still had the problem of seedy metal.

Normally glassmakers were paid for each item they made which passed inspection. The amount paid depended on the complexity of the design. Higher rates were paid for Cloud Glass than ordinary flint or coloured glass. As they were having so many problems with the Orange the glassmakers were paid a flat hourly rate, rather than per item.

After the 25th March they went back to the drawing board and no more Orange Cloud Glass was made until the 8th May. On this day the glassmaker Graham made 712 and 279 vases and 732 Flower Bowls. This run was more successful, with the records having no comments about seedy metal. Over the next five days, a large range of vases and bowls were made. Only a few had the seedy metal problem. Again there was a break in production until July, when on the 11th Orange Cloud Glass was once again made. This production run ended on the 26th July.

The manufacture of Orange Cloud Glass did not resume until the 7th December that year. It would appear that this was the first production run of the modified form of Orange Cloud Glass. After the 20th December, no more Orange was made until March 1934. As the modified form of Orange was first shown in the February 1934 British Industries fair, this glass had to have been made in the December.

Large quantities of Orange Cloud Glass were made in March, April, May and June of that year. There then followed a short break and production resumed at the end of August. This run was short lived, Orange Cloud Glass was made on only 6 days in late August and Early September. No more was made until April 1935.  Again large quantities were made in April, May and June of that year.

This is an unusual production schedule. For all other types of glassware, the production was constant through out the year. Typically a particular colour would be made over a period of one or two days followed by a gap of a few days or even a few weeks. The Orange Cloud Glass production schedule could have been the result of trying to keep shipping costs down.  They produced the glass and then shipped the bulk of the production run to Australia in a single shipment.

After June 1935, there was again a break in production until the 10th December. The very last production run was on the 13Th December that year. In this final run they made the 204 and 204D posy bowls – the only time this style was made in orange Cloud Glass.

Orange Cloud Glass caused Davidson many problems. It was both difficult and expensive to produced. As a colour, it was not popular at home and the bulk of production went abroad.  The short life of the colour suggests that its popularity abroad was not great. In the records there is also no mention of a Yellow Cloud Glass. This suggests that yellow results from times when they had problems obtaining a good orange colour and probably sold as ‘seconds’.

Fortunately for collectors some of the Davidson records survive. From these we have been able to produce a complete catalogue of Orange Cloud Glass. The table below shows the total number of items made in Orange Cloud Glass for each style. The table includes both the number of items made, and the number of items that passed inspection. The problems with orange meant that the wastage rate with Orange Cloud Glass was higher than any other colour. The information in the table was obtained from surviving glassmaker records. These show what the glassmaker made and how much he was paid (it was an all male profession at the time). There are some errors in the records. For example according to the accounts only 7.5” 204 posy bowls were made in orange, yet 9” ones are known to exist. In other places the No 10 Grid fitting is described as an ashtray! The fact that a wrong style was written down did not concern the glassmaker, providing he was paid the correct amount. On the whole the records are accurate.

Davidson Office staff often were not consistent as to whether a style was classified as either a bowl or a vase. In this table we have followed Davidson’s records and some flower bowls are included under the Vase list.

The column headed Colour Variant shows whether a design was made in Unmodified Orange, Modified Orange or both.

 

Davidson Pattern No

Number Made

Number which Passed Inspection

Colour Variant

(Modified, Unmodified or Both)

Comments

 

 

 

 

 

Ashtrays:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27

1242

1088

Both

 

29 Hearts

854

802

Both

 

30 Spades

816

756

Both

 

31 Diamonds

898

850

Both

 

32 Clubs

845

802

Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candlesticks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

283 S

8140

7320

Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cigarette Box

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

437

348

Modified

 

Lid for No 1

600

455

Modified

 

2

570

504

Modified

 

Lid for No 2

818

754

Modified

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dishes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

283 3”

1450

1369

Both

 

283 Salad 8.5”

133

59

Modified

 

26 9”

25

10

Unmodified

 

27 boat shaped

840

622

Both

 

12 hearts

50

36

Unmodified

Only one batch made

13 Spades

50

37

Unmodified

Only one batch made

14 Diamonds

50

38

Unmodified

Only one batch made

15 Clubs

50

36

Unmodified

Only one batch made

 

 

 

 

 

Flower Blocks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3H 2.5”

100

96

Modified

Only one batch made

3H 3.5”

100

96

Modified

Only one batch made

3H 4”

110

107

Modified

 

3H 4.5”

50

49

Modified

Only one batch made

3H 5”

63

51

Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 2.5”

100

100

Modified

Only one batch made

8 3”

50

46

Modified

Only one batch made

 

 

 

 

 

Flower Bowls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

976

862

Both

 

21

2023

1586

Both

 

24

778

728

Both

 

24M

1690

1613

Both

 

25

200

193

Modified

 

696C

433

403

Both

 

696D

512

497

Both

 

696F

520

390

Both

 

S/696D

1067

974

Both

 

S/696F

1294

1083

Both

 

699D

95

87

Both

 

699F

25

17

Unmodified

Only one batch made

700D

694

529

Modified

 

732

2372

1928

Both

 

732F

2098

1486

Both

 

1907T

794

702

Both

 

1907TD

1695

1611

Both

 

1910BD

2961

2661

Both

 

1910BF

8

4

Unmodified

Only one batch made

10/1910

480

434

Modified

Only one batch made

1910D

130

105

Modified

Only one batch made

1910M

87

85

Modified

Only one batch made

1910MD

834

805

Modified

 

1910MG

221

186

Modified

 

1910SD

1580

1494

Modified

 

248F

1940

1735

Both

 

248D

1932

1791

Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grid Support:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 4.5”

80

80

Modified

All Bad Colour, Only one batch made

 

 

 

 

 

Powder Jars:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

283 3”

1240

1204

Both

 

283 5”

1188

906

Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posy Bowls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

204 7.5” Optic

141

127

Modified

9” Bowls known to exist, Only one batch made

204D 7.5” Optic

53

49

Modified

Only one batch made

 

 

 

 

 

Plinths:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

120

119

Modified

 

2

60

56

Modified

Only one batch made

3

200

195

Modified

 

4

150

135

Modified

 

248

200

195

Modified

 

24

55

38

Modified

Only one batch made

24M

155

140

Modified

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plates:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

280 Square

610

469

Modified

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trinket Trays:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5P (Plain)

794

722

Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vases:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

120

92

Modified

Only one batch made

34D

31

29

Modified

Only one batch made

34SD

281

274

Modified

 

34SLF

130

111

Modified

 

34VF

50

47

Modified

Only one batch made

34SVG

150

147

Modified

 

34VG

50

49

Modified

Only one batch made

34SVF

160

159

Modified

109 were not correct colour

34SF

30

29

Modified

Only one batch made

50

109

90

Modified

Only one batch made

51

488

434

Unmodified

 

279 6”

1264

1109

Both

 

279D 6”

72

60

Both

 

279 8”

1141

995

Both

 

279D 8”

136

108

Both

 

279 10”

709

579

Both

 

279D 10”

160

115

Both

 

292

57

57

Modified

Only one batch made

293

100

89

Modified

Only one batch made

294

100

99

Unmodified

Only one batch made

701

57

42

Both

 

702

62

45

Both

 

703

59

47

Both

 

705

130

101

Both

 

707

133

104

Both

 

712 8”

1167

1025

Both

 

712C 8”

5

5

Modified

Only one batch made

712D 8”

37

36

Modified

Only one batch made

712 10”

369

310

Both

 

721

194

164

Both

 

722

161

149

Both

 

723

388

332

Both

 

725

337

320

Both

 

726

6

4

Modified

Only one batch made

727

787

544

Both

 

 


Copyright (c) Chris and Val Stewart 2002