Collection: Whitefriars (England)

Whitefriars traces its glassmaking history to a London works established in 1680 near the River Thames. The name recalls the Carmelite friars whose white habits gave the district its identity. James Powell purchased the glassworks in 1834, beginning the long association with the Powell family and the company known as James Powell & Sons.

The business combined decorative and practical glassmaking with a substantial stained-glass operation. In the later 19th century, Harry Powell and James Crofts Powell developed new forms, colours and decorative techniques, while the company also made specialist glass for scientific uses. This breadth of experimentation is an important part of Whitefriars’ history beyond its better-known mid-century vases.

In 1923 the company moved from the City of London to a purpose-built factory at Wealdstone, Harrow. Its modern design story developed through the work of successive designers, with Geoffrey Baxter joining in 1954 as assistant to managing director and chief designer William Wilson.

Baxter’s interest in colour, organic form and experimental mould-making helped shape the glass most strongly associated with Whitefriars today. For his textured designs he explored materials including carved wood, bark, wire and nails, translating their surfaces into glass. The textured range launched in January 1967 included striking irregular forms, with designs such as the Hoop and Drunken Bricklayer becoming particularly recognisable.

The firm adopted the name Whitefriars Glass Limited in 1962 and introduced its stylised friar logo the following year. The glassworks closed in October 1980. Surviving objects, pattern records and original moulds preserve a history that connects London’s older glassmaking traditions with the experimental British design of the 1960s and 1970s.

Read more about Whitefriars and its history here.

Read more about the Powell family’s glassmaking at the British Museum here.

Read more about Geoffrey Baxter’s textured glass at the V&A here.