Collectors Resources

Whitefriars Glass (in Australia) A Brief Overview                                                                                            A.Jacobs 2008

When most people think of Whitefriars Glass they think of the colourful pieces of predominantly blown glass from the 1950's onwards. These pieces have recently gained popularity with art glass collectors but Whitefriars Glass is much more than that. It was produced by the British company James Powell and sons for well over 200 years and encompassed most styles from mouth blown through to cut crystal and much more ,with the majority produced as tableware rather than art glass.. Just one example is a piece of their Architectural Glass located in the Powerhouse Museum Collection in Sydney. Entitled "Holy, Holy Holy" and designed by Harry Powell in the 1920's it depicts an Angelic figure- click on link to view.- angel For over 200 year James Powell and Sons innovated in the UK Glass Industry setting styles, through their technique and Design innovations, rather than following them. More info on links regarding history etc. are included in the links section.

Whitefriars in Australia

Most of the pieces seen in the UK have never made it to Australia. Pieces found in Australia by no means cover the entire range and mostly include pieces imported by stores and distributors. Other pieces, obviously rarer have come with immigrants and especially since online trading, examples have arrived for collectors, many of which remain in private collections. Dealers also import for resale. If any one wishes to share pics of pieces from their collections (either with or without attribution) our intention is to compile a design database of pieces in Australia. There are few online resources in this country which is why we decided to create this page :-) To see pieces of Whitefriars that have made it this far, ebay and oztion as well as online antique stores have the most (see links).

Identifying Whitefriars Glass

Identification of Art Glass of any type is not the easiest of processes and Whitefriars is no exception. The best site to aid id is the Whitefriars Collectors site located at http://www.whitefriars.com and is included in the links section of this page. The best way to identify this glass is to gain experience is by looking at individual styles that you are interested in and as many as possible. More sites commercial and non-commercial can be found in the links below also.

Whitefriars Marks

Etched marks are a rearity on whitefriars glass only appearing a small range for a short time in the 1960.s. Stickers have often been removed so the majority of pieces are without either. Two kinds of sticker can be found - the company logo sticker (see links) and small paper stickers showing a model number -see pic below

J. Witham

Books on Whitefriars glass only number two that we are aware of

Whitefriars Glass: Art of James Powell & Sons (Paperback)
by Lesley Jackson (insert pic)It is a well written work with many photographs and illustrations. It is not a complete catalogue of Whitefriars but has details of many of the more popular designs especially those of Geoffrey Baxter along with information about the manufacturing processes. Retails in the UK for around 30 pounds, it is rarely seen here under AU$100

and the truly definitive work

"Whitefriars Glass: James Powell & Sons of London" (Hardcover)
by Wendy Evans, Catherine Ross , Alex Werner ,Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Art Books Intl Ltd (September 1996)
ISBN: 090481856X
We could not locate a copy of this as it is so scare but it retails in England for around 50 pounds and is considered the definitive work the best place to see this book is probably at the library. If anyone has a second hand copy they don't need please contact us:-)

Whitefriars of course also features in many compilation guides that are less expensive such as the "Millar's" collectors range.

Fakes and Copies

As with all Art Glass copies abound from obvious poor fakes to 'tribute' pieces which may have one or two definitive Whitefriars points but the manufacturers of these lack the expertise to carry off a whole piece. There items are often seen on ebay and are too often even called Whitefriars. It is very easy and expensive to get caught. 'Bark Texture' is often the most common type. Buying from reputable dealers is the best way to avoid this along side honing the identification skills regarding the area of interest. Below is a pick of a genuine Whitefriars piece Pattern 9617 from 1969 along with the "tribute copy"

True Whitefriars                                                                           "Tribute" copy

It can, however, work the opposite way ie: I have seen Whitefriars pieces labeled Murano. With rare pieces such as the famous" drunken bricklayer" vases fetching upwards of AU$1000 in Australia it is no wonder copies are being imported from areas such as China. Click on the link to read a great illustrated article on this -article-

Handy Links for Whitefriars Enthusiasts to get started with (these links come without endorsement from us and are simply presented as places to look)

Identification- Sites with examples and info

The Collectors Site for Whitefriars Glass - Best international site we've found packed with useful id info, has catalogues, label info and other goodies.

Power House Museum Sydney Whitefriars examples

ABC Collectors TV Show -Whitefriars - Our favorite tv show with some info and examples of Whitefriars

History etc

Article by D.Issitt on Whitefriars - good info but lots of pop-ups

English Dealer with Info Pages

Shops and auction searches in Australia

Ebay - then type Whitefriars in the search box

Oztion - then type whitefriars in the search box

The Junk Company Melbourne- if they have any in their web stock it is found under "Art Glass"

Noveau Deco - Online company with section selling Whitefriars

Happy Hunting

Controlled Bubble Bowl by Whitefriars