Silveria was made by Stevens & Williams in Stourbridge, England, circa 1900. John Northwood II (brother of Harry Northwood and son of John Northwood I) is credited with being the mastermind being the technique (Hajdamach "British Glass: 1800-1914" and Revi "Nineteenth Century Glass"). His father, John I, was apparently present during the first experimentation and production of this fabulous glass. Silveria was made by trapping silver foil between two layers of glass - and Northwood's method differed from others by the fact that the silver foil remained intact, rather than being broken into fragments. Rolling the glass in different colours of ground glass produced the rose, blue, gold and green shimmering effects, not unlike fabulous iridescence. Trailings of applied glass were added as a final touch.
The resultant glass is magnificent and undoubtedly very rare. The one on the left, above, was photographed by us in 2007 at Broadfield House Glass Museum in Dudley. The one on the right, above, was photographed by us in 2000 at the home of the late Miss Elizabeth Robb, grand-daughter of Harry Northwood, in Wheeling, West Virginia. It's most likely that the vase was brought back by Harry on one of his trips back to England. When looking at some of the amazing iridescence Harry Northwood created, one could be forgiven for wondering if he ever had the Silveria effect in his mind. Just a thought........scroll down! |
