Details for two speakers on Tuesday 14th February at 7.15pm:

Colin Brain: 'Before Lead Crystal'

On 5th October 1676, the London Gazette advertised the success of trials on new durable “cristalline or flint glasses”. Although events proved the copywriter optimistic, this marks the opening of what has been called the golden age of British Glass. New, largely unpublished, scientific and archaeological evidence allows us to identify at least five milestones in this development. This short lecture discusses the crystal glass that resulted at each step and some of the people involved, from Lady Mansel in 1651 to Ravenscroft a quarter of a century later.

Colin Brain with his wife Sue began collecting glass in 1968 and developed a deep interest in the development of British drinking glass in the second half of the 17th century. Their work has been extensively referenced and they have spoken and published internationally, including in Corning Museum and AIHV publications.

Stephen Pollock-Hill: 

'Ravenscroft’s invention of Lead Crystal, revisited and updated by a new World Class Crystal invention!'

Stephen Pollock-Hill is Past President 2010 British Glass.

On the 16th May 1674 George Ravenscroft of Barnet, helped with funding from the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, received a seven year Patent for a “For a Perticuler sort of Christaline Glasse resembling Rock Christall” from King Charles II. There are perhaps fourteen of the “Raven Sealed” glasses in existence in several Museums around the world, each one worth a small fortune.

Three hundred and thirty years of lead crystal was made world wide, and now has an annual turnover around €2.6bn, concentrated in under fourteen companies including Swarovski, Cristal D’Arques, Calp /RCR, Waterford, Baccarat, Riedl, etc. Then, in 1999, two American scientists Dr Joseph Graziano and Dr Conrad Blum published an article in The Lancet their concern how lead leaches from lead crystal decanters under certain conditions. This lead to a ban by the US FDA on lead products, until World Standard limits of lead release were established at 10 micrograms per decilitre. More recently, the green movement worldwide is encouraging the use of nontoxic materials. In response to this another Hertfordshire glassmaker (the author) has come up with a non toxic formula that compares with lead crystal in most respects. This paper discusses reasons for a new crystal for a new age, its advantages, and shows samples, as well as trials and disappointments, before success was achieved, and a Patent applied for in May 2011.