W G Webb Chinoiserie Engraved & Signed Mercury Twist Glass Goblet Stourbridge School of Arts & Crafts c1940

Technical Description 

William G Webb was an instructor in glass decoration at the Stourbridge School Of Arts And Crafts in the 1930 & 40’s. Born in 1882 in Brierly Hill he represented GB at the 1948 Summer Olympics in Painting and Applied Art (Art competitions formed part of the modern Olympic Games in the early years from 1912 to 1948). He died in 1950 in Stourbridge.

A wonderful goblet with a large round funnel bowl with Chinoiserie  engravings with Chinese palaces, architecture, swallows and as a very rare occurrence, a traditional Chinese wooden sailing ship (Junk) in the harbour.  A multi spiral mercury twist stem above a conical foot. The foot is engraved on the underside ‘W. G. Webb Stourbridge School or Arts & Crafts’

From an online biography –

The 1948 Olympic work entitled Presentation Chalice was produced at Stourbridge Art and Technical College at the request of Major Longden (1875-1954), director of the British Arts Council. It was an engraved crystal glass chalice designed by Jack Downing, principal of the Stourbridge college, and Charles Stanier, the school’s instructor in glass making, and was engraved by W. G. Webb, the instructor in glass decoration.

The Olympic exhibit was presented to the Mayor of Stourbridge to commemorate the visit of the Princess Royal to Stourbridge in November 1949. It contained the engraved Coats of Arms of both the Princess and the borough of Stourbridge.

In 1944, a Webb-engraved glass goblet was also made in Stourbridge for the opening of the “New Uses for Glass” exhibition in Stoke-on-Trent. It was presented to the City Museum by the Mayor of Stoke.

We have been unable to establish if this is in fact the actual glass above presented to the City Museum in 1944. Either way, a wonderful piece of history and a very rare example of his signed work.

Date & Origin 

Stourbridge, England, c1940.

Condition

Excellent, age-related wear as shown. No chips cracks or restoration.

Dimensions 

Height:21.5cm
Mid Bowl diameter:8.5cm
Foot diameter:8.7cm