The Success to R. Brown 1768 Tumbler and Comparative Beilby Enameled Glass of the Eighteenth Century

The distinctive opaque white-enameled glass tumbler inscribed "Success to R. Brown 1768" is key to our understanding of the work of William Beilby and his family of English enamelers in Newcastle upon Tyne. William Beilby is famously known for decorating glass between 1762 and 1765 in colored enamels with heraldic coats of arms. The R. Brown tumbler demonstrates convincing evidence that his style of enameled glass in opaque white enamel was the joint production of William and his younger brother Thomas, generally after 1765. This corpus of material depicts country pursuits, architectural motifs, foliage, fruiting vines, and flowers amongst other subjects. Based on the survival of this tumbler, new research now considers that the Beilbys worked specifically between 1762 and 1769 and not beyond 1770. Drawing comparison with other examples of dated and inscribed Beilby glass it is argued that with its simple legend and delicate portrayal of a wildfowler, this tumbler reveals not only its Northumbrian origins, but also a connection with the aristocracy of northern England and significant British political figures of the period. A wider range of Beilby glass with similar white-enameled decoration, especially tumblers, wine glasses, and goblets, is examined in detail.