Edinburgh Crystal was a

cut glass Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasive wheel is still u ...

manufactured in Scotland between 1867 and 2006, and was also the name of the manufacturing company. In addition to

drinking glasses upTypical drinkware The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glas ...

, Edinburgh Crystal made

decanter A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid (such as wine) which may contain sediment. Decanters, which have a varied shape and design, have been traditionally made from glass or crystal. Their volume is usually equ ...

s, bowls,

basket A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehai ...

s, and

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

s, in several ranges. The Edinburgh Crystal company

went into administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on ...

in 2006 and following its subsequent acquisition by

Waterford Wedgwood Waterford Wedgwood plc was an Irish holding company for a group of firms that specialized in the manufacture of high-quality porcelain, bone china and glass products, mostly for use as tableware or home decor. The group was dominated by Irish bu ...

, it became solely a brand name. After Waterford Wedgwood was acquired from administration by KPS Capital Partners, in January 2009, the brand was discontinued.

Ranges

There were many ranges of glassware but at the collectable end there were just four in the former 'Connoisseur Collection'. * 'Star of Edinburgh' – decorated with a star-burst pattern. * 'Thistle' – the tops of these pieces are shaped in accordance with the

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves ...

theme while the body is stippled. * 'King James' – glassware in this range is notable for the long stems and neck, and is loosely based on that in use in the 17th century. * 'Lochnagar' – Lochnagar was introduced during the reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and can be identified by its swirling pattern.

Collaboration by design

For several years students from

Wolverhampton University The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute found ...

and the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

were employed, for periods of 12–15 months, to work in the design department. This provided the students with work experience while inputting new design ideas. The 'Edge' range came out of this collaboration.

Visitor centre

The

Visitor Centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

, now closed, was located at the Eastfield Industrial Estate in

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former Police burgh, burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River Esk, Lothian, River North Esk. It lies on the A701 road, A701 midway between Edinburgh a ...

, Midlothian. It hosted around 100,000 people, each year, who could see how the glassware was made and speak with the Master Craftsmen.

History

Glass

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

manufacturing can be traced back for at least 400 years. However, it was only in the 19th century that commercial companies appeared on the scene. Amongst them, in 1867, the Edinburgh and Leith

Flint Glass Flint glass is optical glass that has relatively high refractive index and low Abbe number (high dispersion). Flint glasses are arbitrarily defined as having an Abbe number of 50 to 55 or less. The currently known flint glasses have refractiv ...

Company was established. Alexander Dixson Jenkinson took over the business upon the death of his father in 1880. Alexander Jenkinson died in 1909 and the business was inherited by Stanley Noel Jenkinson. 1921 saw Thomas Webb and Sons Limited of

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, buy Edinburgh Crystal which continued to trade under its own name. 1955 brought a name change from the Edinburgh and Leith Flint Glass Company to The Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company. Further corporate activity took place in 1964 when Crown House Limited acquired The Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company and Thomas Webb and Sons. During 1969, there was a move to a site of over in

, Midlothian some from Edinburgh. Then in 1971 Edinburgh Crystal and Thomas Webb merged with Dema Glass, another Crown House subsidiary. Thomas Webb and Sons and The Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company traded well resulting in 1987 in being incorporated into the Coloroll Group. After Coloroll went bankrupt, Caledonia Investments, with the support of senior managers, led a buy-out of the Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company and the Thomas Webb and Sons brand in 1990. The new company moved all manufacturing and distribution to its site in Penicuik. In April 2004, Edinburgh Crystal bought

Caithness Glass Caithness Glass is a Scottish artistic glassware manufacturing company. It was established in Wick, Caithness, Scotland in 1961 by Robin Sinclair, 2nd Viscount Thurso. It was by George Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie in 1966. Mackie was chairman ...

from the receivers

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...

. Caithness Glass are notable for

paperweights A paperweight is a small solid object heavy enough, when placed on top of papers, to keep them from blowing away in a breeze or from moving under the strokes of a painting brush (as with Chinese calligraphy). While any object, such as a stone, ...

. In May 2006 the offices and warehouse were badly damaged by fire. On 26 July 2006 the Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company Ltd went into administration. Its two subsidiaries, the Caithness Glass Company Ltd and Selkirk Glass Ltd, continued to trade. On 5 August 2006

Company Ltd went into administration. On 10 August 2006 Selkirk Glass Ltd went into administration. It ceased trading soon afterwards. The

arm of the business was purchased by Dartington Crystal and is still manufacturing paperweights in Scotland. In 2007

bought the Edinburgh Crystal company. Edinburgh Crystal continued as a brand name only with all manufacturing moved to Europe. Then, in January 2009, Waterford Wedgwood went into administration and were bought by

KPS Capital Partners KPS Capital Partners is an American investment company that manages KPS Special Situation Funds, a family of investment funds. KPS specifically invests out of two funds raised in October 2019: KPS Special Situations Fund V ($6.12 billion) and KPS ...

. At this time the brand was discontinued.

Notable products

The company produced the glass panels for the lamps on the

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

carriages. Caithness Glass produced the trophy presented to the winner of the BBC's

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...

programme.

References

External links

Scotland's Glass information

Scotland's Glass 400th anniversary 2010

Caledonia Investments
{{Glass makers and brands Drinking glasses Companies based in Midlothian Glassmaking companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1867 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2006 1867 establishments in Scotland 2006 disestablishments in Scotland British companies established in 1867 British companies disestablished in 2006