Thomas Webb & Sons
It would be an injustice for me to plagerize what others have done so well. The history of Thomas Webb glass production has been researched and documented by many notable authors and researchers. I have selected the "Glass Encyclopedia" as one of those sources to briefly capture the history of Thomas Webb & Sons, along with a historical chronology from Grace's Guide to British Industrial History.
It would be difficult or nearly impossible to document all the fairy lamps produced by Thomas Webb and Sons. While many have been documented in Clarke's cataloges and advertisements, there remain many that we are uncertain about. Rather than to speculate, I have chosen to focus on the Burmese production of Clarke's fairy lamps.
It is with some degree of certainty that Thomas Webb & Sons was the sole producer of Clarke's fairy lamps. While some persist in attributing some of the Burmese production of fairy lamps to Mount Washington, there is no evidence that Mount Washington produced any fairy lamps, much less Burmese fairy lamps. I would greatly welcome any evidence to the contrary.
Following are numerous models of Clarke's fairy lamps commissioned by Samuel Clarke and documented in his catalogs and advertisements. While Clarke never acknowledged Thomas Webb as the source of these designs in either his catalog or advertisements, many are acid embossed with the Thomas Webb and Sons trademark along with Clarke's acid embossed trademark.
Clarke Model 6
Clarke Model 7
Clarke Model 8
Clarke Model 13
Clarke Model 138
Clarke Model 138
Clarke Model 139
Clarke Model 140
Clarke Model 141
Clarke Model 142
Clarke Model 143
Clarke Model 144
Clarke Model 145
Clarke Model 146
Clarke Model 150
Clarke Model 162
Clarke Model 163
Clarke Model 164
Clarke Model 165
Clarke Model 166
Clarke Model 167
Clarke Model 168
Clarke Model 169
Clarke Model 170
Clarke Model 171
Clarke Model 172
Clarke Model 173
Clarke Model 174
Clarke Model 175
Clarke Model 176
Clarke Model 177
Clarke Model 178
Clarke Model 179
Clarke Model 180
Clarke Model 181
Clarke Model 182
Clarke Model 183
Clarke Model 184
Clarke Model 185
Clarke Model 186
Clarke Model 187
Clarke Model 188
Clarke Model 189
Clarke Model 192
Clarke Model 193
Clarke Model 194
Clarke Model 195
Clarke Model 249
Clarke Model 250
Clarke Model 251
Clarke Model 252
Clarke Model 253
Clarke Model 254
Clarke Model 255
Clarke Model 256
Next Model
An excellant biograpy of Mr. Pearce can be found on the Antique Stourbridge Glass website
The following excerpt was extracted from Mr. Pearce's obituary. The full text of Mr. Pearce's obituary can be found on the Antique Stourbridge Glass
"In 1884, Mr. Pearce gave up his Hammersmith business, and joined Messrs. Webb & Sons at the Dennis Works, Stourbridge, a firm of whom he had always spoken of as making the finest glass in the world. Cameo glass cutting was then in vogue at Dennis. This was artistic work after his own heart and he used his best exertions in conjunction with those of Messrs. Charles, Wilkes and Walter Webb to encourage its development. Mr. Pearce continued his connection with the Dennis Works until he retired, five years ago at the venerable age of 85. Since then he has lived in retirement until he passed peacefully away on the 7th of last month."
To date, there are no known examples of these Pearce designed fairy lamps. However, this candelabra has components that are very similar.
