Notes:
39 pencil drawings/designs on paper: 5 are encapsulated: 34 are in 7 plastic page protectors ; 12 stamped: "J. & J. Northwood, Wordsley, Stourbridge, Glass Ornamenters"
Some have pencil carbin on the back of the design.
Some are labeled with text (instructions, design names?, initials?, etc.) or numbers.
"The actual carving [of Stevens & Williams cameo glass] was carried out at Northwood's decorating shop in Wordsley, where leading artists included William Northwood, John's nephew, and Joshua Hodgetts. A number of variations were reproduced on the basic cameo theme including dolce relievo, transparent cameo, and cameo combined with silver deposit decoration.'
"After cameo, the most expensive glass produced by Stevens & Williams was rock crystal. This sculptural form of glass, decorated by polished copper-wheel engraving, was introduced at the end of the 1870s and continued in production until the First World war. The company's two most gifted engravers were Joseph Keller and John Orchard, and together they produced some outstanding work in this technique, much of it influenced by Islamic and Oriental art. Less expensive than rock crystal but capable of equally stunning effects was intaglio, a decorating technique half way between cutting and engraving, which was introduced in the 1890s. Intaglio was well suited to reproducing the sinuous curves of Art Nouveau, and Joshua Hodgetts produced some spectacular pieces in this style, working on cased glass blanks."
"The designs for most of their glass are to be found in a comprehensive set of sixty-seven bound leather ledgers, each dated and numbered, which are called the description Books..." [CMGL microfilmed these ledgers in 1978+]
Lot 172 from Sale LN3805, Tues. 3 March 1998 - The Royal Brierley Collection of Table Glass. Sotheby's London.
