Decoding the inspiration behind Whitefriars glass designs

When the Whitefriars glassworks of James Powell & Sons closed in 1980, it brought to end not just one of Britain’s oldest glass farms, but also one of the most distinguished. Powell’s was also arguably Britain’s most unusual glass farm. Independent to the point of being maverick, Powell’s differed from his fellow tableware manufacturers in many respects.

It maintained a fiercely distinctive approach to design, driven as much by its own internal traditions of craftsmanship as by external market demand.

When London Museum acquired the huge collection of glassmaking equipment, workbooks and specimens of the former Whitefriars Glassworks, originally situated between Fleet Street and the river, it also inherited 40 boxes of archive material and thousands of photographs, which made It possible to interpret the artefacts and build up a picture of the history of the business and the wide range in its glassmaking activities over a long period between the 1720s and 1980.

In 2019, London Museum welcomed visitors from Headstone Manor, home of the Harrow Museum collection, charting the history of the borough from prehistory right up to the modern day. They bought with them a very special object, one with a close connection to our collections – the sketch book of James Powell, founder of the world-famous glass factory in Whitefriars.

Some of the most beautiful objects in the London Collection are those produced by the famous Whitefriars Glassworks of James Powell & Sons. In partnership with London Museum, Headstone Manor in Harrow have, for the first time, digitised a 19th-century book of designs revealing the inspiration for some of the striking Whitefriars Glass in our collections.

In the above video, Danielle Thom, Curator of Making at London Museum, and Alison, Curator at Headstone Manor, discuss the unique connections between our two collections that are revealed through James Powell’s sketch book.

The Whitefriars Glass Company operated a small glassworks behind Fleet Street from the 17th century, part of the dense network of artisans and industry that made up the City of London. In 1834, London wine merchant James Powell purchased the glassworks, and as the 19th century went on, James Powell & Sons became famous. First in London, and then world-wide. Expanding beyond traditionally made glass vessels, Whitefriars pioneered innovative styles of glass making, becoming a byword for affordable luxury. They became well known for their stained-glass windows. You can still see examples of these all over London, in many churches and public buildings.

In 1923, James Powell and Sons opened a new glass factory in Wealdstone. This move is the reason that Headstone Manor now has James Powell's book of sketches and design in its collections.

The London Museum's collection of Whitefriars glass captures over 200 years of creativity and craftsmanship. James Powell's design book from the Headstone Manor collection reveals some of the inspiration.

You can see many of the results of many of these fantastic designs at whitefriars.glass, created by Headstone Manor.

This partnership was supported using public funding from Arts Council England. With inputs from ‘Whitefriars Glass: James Powell & Sons of London’, by Wendy Evans, Catherine Ross and Alex Werner.