An arts & crafts pendant vaseline glass hobnail lampshade with original gallery by Best & Lloyd of Birmingham but apparently unsigned. Complimented with original brass flex spacer. England c.1900

Ht.(as displayed)90cm/36in, Ht.(shade & fit)26/10, W.12/4.5

Provenance: see registered design Best & Lloyd gallery stamped with R.D no.31997, National Archives

Best & Lloyd, Birmingham 1867

• Best & Lloyd founded in 1867 after liquidation of Best & Hobson producing candle lamps
• By 1900 Best & Lloyd had become the largest lighting manufacturer in the world.
• In 1928, founder Robert Best’s grandson designed the iconic Bestlite range inspired by the Bauhaus movement.

Stourbridge Glass, Birmingham

Thomas Webb & Sons, Henry G. Richardson & Sons,  Stevens & Williams, John Walsh Walsh

• The industry was established at the beginning of the 17th century by glass-makers from Lorraine in north-eastern France
• The industry grew and evolved for the next 275 years and glass from Wordsley, Amblecote and Brierley Hill is recognised as amongst the finest in the world
• Birmingham Lighting designers such as Best & Lloyd, Faraday & Sons, Osler & Co, James Hinks & Son and Messenger & Sons employ the Stourbridge factories to produce the glass-ware for their lights.
• Mostly it is impossible to say which firm produced a particular lampshade but some patterns were registered/catalogued and can therefore occasionally be attributed.