Class XXIV.]

CAST, ROUGH, AND PRESSED PLATE-GLASS, Ac.

527

hav

Oil

Section B. sioners for the admission of objects claiming to compete

Paired and other kinds of ornamented window-glass ' for ,h « * Icdal *i a ”‘ l . °” lw,niiu f 1 that ‘“V"?

ave been assigned to this Section, but will be repm-ted P™ya.led on the subject among those exhibitors who had, , *re ; sent iti their glasses two months earlier, in accordance

n e se a e i -with the original directions of the Commissioners, and

| who contended that it would not be just that the French Section C .—Cast Plate , Hough Plate, Pressed Plate , ^ glasses, selected from a large store after the Directors

Polled , $'C. | } KU [ had the opportunity of examining those which had

Notwithstanding the encouragement afforded to the been so long in the Exhibition, should be placed on themanufacturers of glass of these descriptions in France , same footing, the St. Gobain and Cirey exhibitors, with atheir progress does not seem to have been very rapid, until moderation which did them honour, consented to with-the ministry of Colbert, when some French artists who draw from competition, and merely to exhibit their pro-had been employed at Murano, and become thoroughly ;cognizant of the method of making blown plate-glass |adopte-l in the Venetian manufactories, conceived theproject of introducing the art into their own country.

They were taken up and warmly supported by Colbertduring” his ministry, and established works at Tourlaville ,near Cherbourg , in 1688, in a situation resembling that ofMurano, as nearly as possible, which they imagined to becalculated to promote the success of the enterprise.

We owe to Abraham Thevart, a working manufacturer,the process of casting the metal, fused in the glass pots,which has effected so great an improvement in this branchof the manufacture: lie at once perceived the advantageto be derived from it in producing glasses of larger dimen-sions and better construction. He made his proposals tothe government, and, obtaining a patent, established hisworks in the Faubourg St. Antoine, at Paris , but shortlyafterwards removed to St. Gobain , in Picardy. There lieand his associates had to contend with much oppositionon the part of the old company of Tourlaville ; but in1695 they endeavoured to reconcile their differences byuniting under a common charter of incorporation. Thisstep, however, did not produce the desired effect, and thecompany were reduced to the greatest distress, when anew association was formed, under the management ofAntoine D’Agincourt, who laid the foundation of themagnificent establishment now existing there.

The company of St. Querin, which had been the first tomake sheet-glass on the cylindrical principal in Prance,was not backward in adopting the great improvement inthe manufacture suggested by Thevart; and combinedthe process of casting with their other works. Theirlease from the monks of St. Querin expired in 1840, butlong previous to that period they had taken the pre- admits of a finer polish; and they assert that their glasscaution of protecting themselves against the evils which i is not liable to the change of colour which occurs whenmight arise from the competition of a rival company at ; arsenic, lead, or manganese are employed. The glassthe expiration of their lease, and had formed another es- j which is exhibited by this company is placed in thetablislmient at Cirey, in the neighbourhood of St. Querin, ’ Nave.

which, after the lapse of the term, merged in their more j The establishment at South Shields , founded by therecent establishment at Cirey. j Cooksons, in 1728, likewise added the process of casting

The two great manufactories of St. Gobain and Cirey, ! to their existing works. A very considerable businessfor a time, continued in opposition to one another; but a j is now carried on there by their successors, the Messrs,new enterprise entering the lists against them, the two j Swinburne, who have supplied several large glasses forlong-established companies, without actually forming a : the decoration of the Building, and point out one in thepartnership, entered into an agreement for their mutual ; furniture department, marked in the Catalogue No. 4, asadvantage, and used a common depc5t for the sale of their a specimen of their manufacture. They have likewiseproduce, and for regulating the price in the different i exhibited a dome of opaque white glass, large tablets ofmarkets. j glass, coloured in imitation of marble, and a great variety

Another company established works at Montlugou about , of other objects composed of plate glass,three years ago, and has sent some of their glass to the \ The rough plate glass of Messrs. Hartley, of Suuder-Exhibition. Their recent establishment does not afford land, likewise belongs to this section. A great variety ofthem a large stock from which to select the best produce, j articles arc manufactured by them ; but it is this usefulbut the colour of their glass is good: and if they can sus- product that they particularly specify as the object con-tain the difficulties of a commencement, there is every , tributed by them to the Exhibition.

duetions, without claiming the reward.

In England, plate-glass, for mirrors and coacli windows,had been introduced for the first time by the second Dukeof Buckingham, who brought over workmen from Venice,and established a manufactory at Lambeth, where theworks were carried on with success. The great improve-ment which had taken place in the process in France , andmore particularly the important inventions of Thevart,found their way to England; and the first manufactoryfor cast plate was established in 1773, at l'avcnhead, nearPrescot, in Lancashire , by a society of gentlemen, towhom a charter was granted, under the name of “ TheBritish Plate (Bass Company,” under which title theystill enjoy a high reputation, though their firm, theircapital, and their privileges, have undergone considerablealterations. When this company was first established, theonly east-plate manufactory was that in France , supportedby the government: and all the processes of grindiug andpolishing were done by hand labour. In 1788 tins com-pany ordered of Messrs. Boulton and Watt of Birmingham a steam-engine, which is believed to have been the secondever erected; and in the following year they commencedthe machinery for grinding and polishing. They werethus the first to introduce machinery for bringing theirwork to perfection, and the example was followed by allthe other companies. It is remarkable that though manyattempts have been made to improve the machinery, itremains, in all the manufactories, without any alterationof its principle. The glass produced by this companyis tinged with a slightly-blue colour, which they attributeto the fact of their avoiding the use of the metallic oxidesin their metal; and consider that this practice gives hard-ness, brilliancy, and transparency to their glass, and

reason to hope that, with time and encouragement, theywill not fall short of the high reputation which so

The Thames Plate Glass Company was established in1835-6 at Blnekwall, and have exhibited two glasses of

deservedly attaches to this branch of manufacture in j very large dimensions.

France . I Two others in Lancashire , and that at Smethwick , near

The manufacturers of St. Gobain and Cirey have sent { Birmingham , have all been brought into existence withinto the exhibition three glasses of large dimensions (one of ; the last half-century, and considerably increased sincewhich is silvered, the others not so', pure in colour, ex- j the repeal of the excise laws. Their joint produce nowcellent in structure, finish, and polish, and free from the j exceeds two millions of square feet annually, which arcglobules and other defects which are so frequently met ; used, first, in the shape of rough plates, for glazing, forwith in glass. In short, the produce of these manufac- • roofing-in the railway stations, skylights, and othertories, now exhibited, approaches as near to perfection in similar purposes; secondly, as polished glass, for shopthis branch of the manufacture as it can attain. They j windows, aud large plates, for the windows of houses,did not, however, reach their destination until the time ; The process of easting is much the same as that em-had elapsed which had been finally fixed by the Commis- ployed by Thevart: but where manual labour was for-