Staffordshire Glassmaking Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection includes documents on glassmaking from the Elizabethan era, as well as later materials produced by Captain W. Horridge during his research into historical glassmaking. It is divided into two series:
1. Elizabethan Glassmaking Documents, 1585-1617
2. Research Materials, Circa 1925-1956
Dates
- 1585-1956
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for public research. Researchers must make an appointment to view this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Corning Museum of Glass and the Rakow Research Library against all claims, demands, costs and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of Library materials.
Biographical / Historical
Staffordshire and the Weald were two areas of England historically associated with glassmaking, particularly during the 14th to 16th centuries. Both areas were heavily wooded, and the timber was used to fire the glasshouse furnaces. The site known as Bagot’s Park in Staffordshire produced glass from approximately 1300-1615. However, glassmaking in these areas abruptly declined in the 17th century as a result of King James I’s prohibition of the use of wood as fuel for making glass.
Captain W. Horridge, of the village of Bury in Lancashire and later of Shropshire, collected documents relating to the glassmaking industry in Staffordshire and conducted research on the materials, including transcribing the documents and investigating the chemical composition of glass fragments he discovered at the site of the glassworks in Bagot’s Park and Bishop’s Wood.
Extent
1.8 Linear Feet (1 Hollinger box and 1 flat box)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Received from Sotheby's London in 2022. Accession 2022.016.
Processing Information
Processed by Sarah Alender in January 2023.
- Title
- Staffordshire Glassmaking Collection, 1585-1956
- Subtitle
- A Guide to the Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Alender
- Date
- January 27, 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Purchased with funds from the Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Library Endowment Fund.
Repository Details
Part of the The Rakow Research Library Manuscript Collection Repository
The Rakow Research Library
The Corning Museum of Glass
Five Museum Way
Corning NY 14830 USA
607.438.5318
archives@cmog.org
