Nailsea Glass By H. St. George Gray "The good name of a man is like a Venice glass, which one drop of poison will break or like a sheet of paper, which one drop of ink will defile." Ward's Diary. GLASS-MAKING is a thing of the past in Somerset. The industry, however, flourished for some eighty-five years at Nailsea, the works being finally closed in 1873. This home of Somerset glass is too feet above sea level, and is situated in the north of the county, nine miles west-south-west of Bristol, and four and a half miles east-south-east of Clevedon. The works covered an area of just over five acres, excluding the cottage property adjoining. The speci-mens here figured represent not only some of the rarer forms and qualities of Nailsea glass, but also several which are com-paratively common. Many pieces doubtless find their way into the cabinets of collectors non-resident in the south-western counties, and it often occurs that when local products are collected in districts far distant from the source of manufacture they are not easily identified. Nailsea being practically in the Bristol district, its productions doubtless have been usually classed as ' old Bristol glass," which LARGE 'CONE," NAILSEA GLASS WORKS DEMOLISHCD 1905

accounts for the fact that so little has been placed on record having exclusive reference to Nailsea. The writer has taken all the illustrations for this article from the Nailsea glass belonging to Mrs. C. E. Challiconi, of Scarthingwell, Clevedon, whose collection has a wide reputation extending far beyond the bounds of the county. Mrs. Challicom is not a glass collector of long standing; but has recently been so assiduous in the pursuit that she now owns about two hundred pieces, many of which have been obtained in the parish of Nailsea and the neighbouring villages. In many cases the pieces have been handed down in families from grandfather to son, and from son to grandson, and she has been careful to preserve such records whenever practicable. She very kindly allows interested collectors and other Visitors to see her treasures by appointment. Previously to Mrs. Challicorn becoming in-terested in this pursuit, the largest collection of Nailsea glass was to be seen in the Bristol Mu-seum and Art Gallery, which consists of a representative and fine series, and the writer is indebted to that institu-tion for some of the undermentioned infor-mation extracted from labels accompanying the specimens. There are smaller collections in private hands in Somerset. and a few pieces in Taunton Castle Museum. TheS.G. Hewlett collec-tion of glass in Brighton museum includes several specimens of Nailsea glass, including flasks, a porringer, bells, a wand, jugs, and two pipes. In collecting there is always a certain amount of rivalry. Forgeries, perhaps, make collecting more exciting, and, of course, add considerably to its complications. Fabrications of Nailsea glass (some-times excellent imitations), specially prepared for the unwary collector, are already in the market. Some of the most flagrant imitations offered for sale (perhaps more in the neighbourhood of Bristol than elsewhere) are copies of the splashed Nailsea glass, especially those pieces in the form of long-necked bottles. An effective imitation of age and wear is obtained by the application of acids. Next Page