Caithness Glass is a Scottish artistic glassware manufacturing company. It was established in

Wick, Caithness Wick ( gd, Inbhir Ùige (IPA: �inivɪɾʲˈuːkʲə, sco, Week) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population ...

, Scotland in 1961 by

Robin Sinclair, 2nd Viscount Thurso Robin Macdonald Sinclair, 2nd Viscount Thurso, JP (24 December 1922 – 29 April 1995), was a Scottish landowner, businessman and Liberal Party politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Caithness from 1973 until his death. Background Sinclair was ...

. It was by

George Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie George Yull Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie (10 July 1919 – 17 February 2015) was a British Liberal Party politician. Mackie was commissioned in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1940. He served with RAF Bomber Command and was awarde ...

in 1966. Mackie was chairman for the next two decades. Since 2006, the company has been based in

Crieff Crieff (; gd, Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has become ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. The company was created to help create additional employment in the face of continuing decline in local fishing and agriculture and also to take advantage of the easy availability of sand for glassmaking in Caithness. The local sand however proved unsuitable for manufacturing clear glass (as its high iron content would turn the glass green). The company soon specialised in the manufacture of glass paperweights, plus some ornamental glassware. The firm also became well known for supplying the annual trophy for the BBC ''Mastermind'' television quiz programme. The company was awarded a Royal Warrant by

the Queen Mother ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

in 1968. Manufacturing was initially solely located in Wick, with a second facility being opened in

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

in 1969 and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1979. In 1981 Caithness Glass purchased the historic London firm

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained glass window manufacturers. As ''Whitefriars Glass'', the company existed from the 17th century, but became well ...

, also known as Whitefriars Glass, but the London factory was closed. The company headquarters and paperweight manufacturing were based in Perth from 1995, eventually resulting in the closure of the original Wick base and thus severing the physical connection with Caithness. Caithness Glass went into receivership in 2004. It was bought by the owners of Edinburgh Crystal, but again went into receivership in 2006. It was bought (out of receivership) in October 2006 by

Dartington Crystal Dartington Crystal is a British manufacturer of crystal glassware, based in the town of Torrington in North Devon, England. The company manufactures their glassware using traditional glass blowing techniques. Many of their ranges continue t ...

and continues to manufacture and sell glass paperweights. The factories in Wick, Oban and Perth all closed and were replaced by a smaller operation within the Crieff Visitor Centre.

References

External links

Caithness Glass - official websiteWick Heritage Museum - glass
Glassmaking companies of the United Kingdom Wick, Caithness Companies based in Perth and Kinross Crieff {{Decorative-art-stub