Gathering A Crowd

the history of itinerant glassworkers

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Scott’s splendid glass working exhibition in miniature

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“Superior to any thing of the kind ever offered for public inspection.”

A bold statement, but itinerant glassworker Scott had a list of reasons why his exhibition was a must-see display in 1830s Brighton, England. This handbill, distributed around town, features a detailed image of Scott, surrounded by fascinated onlookers, as he manipulates glass rods over a flame. Along with the many magnificent pieces of glass he claimed would be on display, who could resist stopping by 115 St. James Street?

handbill with text describing a glassworking demonstration. the handbill also has an illustration of a glass artist lampworking in front of a table covered in objects; he is surrounded by onlookers.

Scott’s Splendid Glass Working Exhibition in Miniature. United Kingdom: 1830. Collection of the Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, CMGL 138463.

Location

Scott had previously exhibited his show in London, where he demonstrated to the nobility and gentry who shopped at the exclusive boutiques in Burlington Arcade. So he may have seen some familiar faces in the seaside town of Brighton, which had become a fashionable resort during the Georgian era. Many visitors came to “take the cure” by drinking or bathing in seawater, while others were “attracted by the presence of Royalty.”1

Watercolor painting of Brighton beach and promenade

Brighton: the front and the chain pier seen in the distance. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Frederick William Woledge, painter, public domain). Courtesy of the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

“Brighton,” wrote Charles Knight, a British editor and author, “stands near the centre of the curved line of coast of which the east and west points are respectively Beachy Head and Selsea Bill. The town is built on a slope, and is defended from the north winds by the high land of the South Downs, which, from Beachy Head as far as the central part of Brighton, press close on the sea and form high chalk cliffs. From the central part of Brighton westward the hills recede farther from the sea, leaving a level coast.”2

Watercolor painting of Brighton Beach, showing several boats on the beach, with buildings to the right on the cliff.

Brighton Beach Looking West, undated. Source: Wikimedia Commons (John Constable, painter, public domain)

On the town itself, Knight commented, “The best part of Brighton may be described as composed of ranges of splendid houses, formed into squares and handsome streets. The parish church of St. Nicholas, an ancient edifice, stands on a hill north-west of the town. The town-hall, begun in 1830, on the site of the old market, nearly in the centre of the town, is a large but ill-designed edifice . . . The inns, hotels, and baths of Brighton are numerous, and there are several places of amusement – a theatre, an assembly room, a club house, and, about a mile east of the town, on the summit of a beautiful part of the Downs, a fine race-course. The trade of Brighton is confined exclusively to the supply of the wants of a rich population.” 3 When Scott demonstrated in Brighton in 1830, this population had swelled to over 40,000 people, up from just over half that number a decade prior.

Illustration of a dance filled with people in fancy dress.

The Circular Room, or a Squeeze at Carlton Palace, The English Spy, 1825. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Isaac Cruikshank, illustrator, public domain)

Writer Mary Philadelphia Merrifield described Brighton crowds in the 1850s: “Gaily-dressed ladies, and over-dressed children, throng the esplanades; the military band plays in the Pavilion grounds twice a week; the Town and other bands are met on the Cliff; groups of Ethiopian Serenaders parade the streets; Wizards from the North, South, East, and West, send forth their advertisements, and hope to draw crows to the Pavilion, Dome, or Concert Hall.”4

Illustration of people on foot and horseback traveling up and down a promenade

Characters on the Steyne, Brighton, The English Spy, 1825. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Isaac Cruikshank, illustrator, public domain)

Patrons

Scott appealed directly to this wealthy population in his advertisement, informing the “Nobility, Gentry, Visitors, and Inhabitants of Brighton” that his exhibition was open for a “short time” on St. James Street. Some of the attendees would doubtlessly be members of the fashionable crowd spotted in ballrooms and on promenades.

But Scott had an advantage over his fellow “Wizards”: he had the patronage of the Duchess of Kent and her daughter, Princess Victoria. Crowned queen in 1837, Victoria was eleven years old in 1830, still living under the protective watch of her mother and Sir John Conroy. Perhaps the princess and her mother saw Scott at the Burlington Arcade, although it seems much more likely that he would have demonstrated for them privately at Kensington Palace. Either way, their patronage was a powerful marketing tool for Scott, especially given that Victoria had recently become the heir presumptive to the British throne.

Portrait of Victoria, Duchess of Kent, Richard Rothwell, 1832. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Richard Rothwell, painter, public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_of_Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld_-_Rothwell_1832.jpg
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) when a Girl, Richard Westall, 1830. Collection of the Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 400135.

Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, later became significant patrons of the arts. They collected, curated, patronized, and promoted artists and creators of many disciplines.5 Did Victoria ever think of the dazzling glass objects created by Scott? Fellow British glassworker Lawrence Finn claimed that part of the queen’s wedding dress was made of spun glass, so perhaps Scott’s talent for spinning 1,000 yards of glass per minute into delicate threads made an impression.6

Show highlights

Scott’s handbill proclaims the show was “by far the most instructive, entertaining, and cheap exhibition.” Admission was one shilling for adults7 and sixpence for children and servants. This price would gain a visitor entry to witness Scott’s splendid skills and “a Specimen . . . in any Article they may select or desire to have made.”

“The Artist” delighted audience members by “Working, Blowing, and Modelling” objects in a variety of colors, “exhibited so as to give at one view an idea of this most ingenious manufacture.” As mentioned above, Scott used a spinning wheel (shown in the advertisement) to spin one pound of glass into 20,000 yards of thread, at the rate of 1,000 yards per minute.8

Also to be seen was a glass ship, the Lord Mayor’s coach with six horses, and many other wonders “patronized . . . by every Family of distinction in England.” Visitors must have been fascinated by Scott’s hydraulic glass skeleton, which was “kept in continual motion by itself, showing how the blood passes through the different channels of the human frame.” This model was apparently a favorite of the royal family.9 Featured for sale were a variety of glass goods, including vases, chandeliers, hydrostatic balloons, and fancy figures.

Between his royal patronage and the wonders described on his advertisement, it is easy to imagine Scott’s exhibition was well attended by many people of quality in the busy seaside resort of Brighton.

A version of this post was originally published on the Corning Museum of Glass blog on May 7, 2014.

Visit the Deakin glass blowers in Sarasota, Florida

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During the mid-20th century, several glassblowing families set up shop in the state of Florida. Among them were John and Grace Deakin, who ran a store on US Route 41 in Sarasota. Close to other attractions including Horn’s Cars of Yesterday and the Ringling Art Museum,1 the Deakins demonstrated lampworking to curious visitors for free, six days a week, 9am-5pm.

In Sarasota the Glass Blowers Invite You to Visit. 1957. Collection of the Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, CMGL 161884.
In Sarasota the Glass Blowers Invite You to Visit. 1957. Collection of the Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, CMGL 161884.

The Deakins’ brochure promised “A rare opportunity to see the ancient art of free hand Bohemian glass blowing.” Once inside, visitors could see “rock crystal and beautiful colored glasses transformed into lovely gifts that are completely exclusive, yet moderately priced.”

Location

The Deakins’ small shop was located on North Tamiami Trail, the southern part of US Route 41. Running parallel to Sarasota Bay, the road was littered with tourist attractions, including the aforementioned Horn’s Cars of Yesterday and the Ringling Art Museum, the winter home of the Ringling family, the Circus Hall of Fame, an arts and crafts colony, a reptile farm and zoo, and the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, among others. Those arriving at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport or driving through town could stop for a few hours or a few days to amuse themselves. The Deakin’s store was a modest building with large glass windows and signs to entice those driving by. No doubt the lack of an entry fee brought more than a few people through their doors. John claimed they saw 40,000 visitors each year.

Featured glassworkers

Once inside, visitors could see John and Grace Deakin making ships with delicate rigging, long-necked herons, elegant pitchers, and a range of miniature furniture perfect for a dollhouse. John learned glassworking from his first wife’s family, the Howells, during the Depression. He and Nona Deakin (née Howell) demonstrated lampworking from their home studio in New Jersey. After her death, John married Grace and relocated to Sarasota. The two opened The Glass Blowers shop to the public soon after.

Although not listed on the brochure, the Deakins’ son, John Robert, also worked in the family business. He began lampworking at the age of 12 and kept at it through high school. Their daughter, Kathrine, never learned to lampwork, but ran the store for several years after their parents died in the 1980s. She sold glass made by her father before his death, but without live glassworking, most tourists lost interest in the attraction. In the end, she sold the store and it was converted into a restaurant. Today the site is a parking lot for a Goodwill store.

The Deakins are a prime example of those mid-20th century lampworkers who began to settle down and attach themselves to tourist destinations, as opposed to going on tour. They still demonstrated lampworking and sold handmade glass, but they took a different sort of risk than the previous generation: they depended on their customers traveling to see them rather than traveling to the customers.

John Tilley’s wonderful mechanisms

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To be seen in a neat Sitting Room, at 141 Broadway: the wonderful mechanisms of fancy glass blower John Tilley. This early American broadside, ca. 1820, enumerates the delights New Yorkers could observe if they paid the 25-cent admission fee to Tilley’s glassmaking and scientific exhibition.

handbill describing the show of John Tilley

Wonderful Mechanism J. Tilley, Fancy Glass Blower, from London. New York: J. Robinson, 1820. Collection of the Rakow Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, CMGL 163866.

John Tilley, originally from London, was the first known itinerant glassworker to bring his exhibition to the United States.1 Eighteenth-century Americans, influenced by their Puritan backgrounds, often shunned traveling entertainers and educators of any sort, some going so far as to outlaw circuses, traveling menageries, and acting troupes. Once those restrictions were lifted, Tilley and others found success touring cities along the East Coast.

Location

Tilley may have been the first glassworker to demonstrate in New York City, but he certainly wasn’t the last to make the city, and specifically Broadway, his home. Later artisans such as Lawrence Finn, W. Belzoni Davidson, and the Woodroffe brothers set up exhibitions in rented rooms and at museums including Barnum’s American Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Ann Street. Like it is today, the street was a center for entertainment.

Possible location of Tilley’s show circled on Broadway, New York, NY, 1821. Source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division https://www.loc.gov/item/2006629796/
141 Broadway Street, New York, NY, 2019. Source: Google Maps

Even in 1820, New York City (then confined to Manhattan) was bustling. The city’s population had grown to more than 123,000 people, close to 30,000 more than just a decade before.2 William Cobbett, a British farmer, journalist, and politician who lived on a Long Island farm from 1817 until 1819, described the city as resembling “an English town, in point of manners and customs, much more than any other place that I have seen in America.”3 He comments on the low prices and high quality of everything from the food to the household furnishings available to residents.

On women’s fashions, he states, “The most gay promenades in and about London, and even the boxes of our licenced and degraded theatres, are, in point of female dresses, perfect beggary compared with the every day exhibition in the ‘Broad way’ of New York; where the very look of every creature you meet gives evidence of the existence of no taxation without representation.” Based on Cobbet’s description, it is easy to imagine crowds of well-dressed women and men patronizing Tilley’s exhibition.

Show highlights

Like many 19th-century itinerant glassworkers, John Tilley offered his audience a range of enticing entertainments. These included “Spinning and Reeling Hot Glass round a Wheel, with the astonishing velocity of a Mile in less than two minutes” and “Blowing Glass to different degrees of thinness and forming it into various Articles, such as Writing Pens, Smelling Bottles, &c. &c.”

In addition, Tilley explained scientific properties and principles using glass models such as a Cartesian diver and a “Hydro Pneumatic Fountain.” One curious demonstration involved Tilley blowing a “small Globe,” which he said would form “nearly” a vacuum and would fall to the floor “with apparent great weight.”

While John Tilley’s exhibition was “to be seen for a few Days only,” records of his shows and innovations are still available more than two centuries later.

A version of this post was originally published on the Corning Museum of Glass blog on December 19, 2016.

See Woodroffe’s glass blowers for a short time only

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Science, art, skill, and beauty! All were on display in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in April 1880. Woodroffe’s Original Bohemian Glass Blowers enticed potential customers inside with a window display of glass objects then dazzled them with lampworking demonstrations and their working glass steam engine, Fairy Queen.

Newspaper ad for woodroffe troupe in harrisburgh, pennsylvania

April 14, 1880 advertisement for Woodroffe’s Original Bohemian Glass Blowers in the Harrisburg Telegraph. Source: Newspapers.com

The Woodroffe brothers – George, Charles, and William – had a major impact on the itinerant glassworker trade. Among other things, they were some of the first to travel with troupes of glassworkers rather than alone or in pairs. Their many groups traveled around the United States and the world during the 50+ years they were active, making them some of the best-known glassworkers of the period. This particular troupe was led by William Woodroffe, the youngest brother.

Location

Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, was dominated by the steel and railroad industries in the late 19th century. In 1880, census takers recorded more than 30,000 people living in the city.1 Woodroffe and his troupe set up their lampworking exhibition near the Susquehanna River at 109 Market Street, in a building previously used by Patterson’s Carpet Store. Today, the spot holds Dauphin County buildings, but 140 years ago it was close to the intersection of two street cars – likely a location where many people came and went.

Possible location of Woodroffe’s show highlighted on Market Street, Harrisburg, PA, 1880. Source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division https://www.loc.gov/item/2011593701/
109 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA, 2019. Source: Google Maps

After they closed their exhibition in mid-April, they traveled to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and then on to Reading, Pennsylvania.

Featured glassworkers

Aside from Woodroffe himself and agent Clarence King, it is unclear who was in the group at this time. Based on contemporary advertisements, possible members include Edwin Hopkins and Will Brown.

Show highlights

For 15 cents, spectators received an “elegant present” and the chance to see Woodroffe’s troupe in action. Once again, the advertisement is short on details, but articles about the troupe from the period provide some insights. An article in The Daily Union-Leader describes watching a troupe member “twist, blow, contract, expand, and otherwise put [glass] into ingenious shape.”2 Another article from the Harrisburg Telegraph states, “The wonderful manner in which these skilled glass blowers can manipulate the brittle substance is well worth a visit to see.”3

Of course, a major draw would have likely been the glass steam engine, Fairy Queen. The troupe claimed this engine was the largest steam-powered glass model in existence, and that it had been on display at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Woodroffe brothers did have at least three steam engines on display at that particular world’s fair, although surviving advertisements identify those models as the Crystal Gem, the Australasia, and Excelsior. It is possible they added the Fairy Queen at a later date, although – considering that any number of other troupes claimed the same history for their glass engines – it is equally possible that Woodroffe’s troupe is stretching the truth to bolster interest in their show.

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