The Tughan Collection

Foreword:
We are delighted to be able to offer this fine collection of
baluster glasses belonging to Kenneth Tughan. An avid
collector for most of his life, Kenneth began to concentrate
on glass in the late 1970s. From his home in Co. Down, he
and his wife Carole made frequent forays to London in
pursuit of his quest, visiting fairs, auctions and specialist
antique shops. As time went by he began to specialise in two
particular areas, one of which, quite naturally, was Irish
glass, the other being heavy baluster glasses from the early
years of the eighteenth century. This beguiling interest was
ignited by his visit to our showroom, then in Campden Hill
Road, on the 1st of May 1985. On this day we opened the
Baluster Family Exhibition, which comprised the collection
of Dr Clarence Lewis of Toronto, Canada. Dr Lewis had
been a customer for many years and had built the finest
collection of baluster glasses known to us. A small crowd
assembled on our doorstep and at the given hour were
admitted to make their purchases. What ensued might be
described as a bun fight as rarely had such a good collection
of balusters come onto the market. In amongst the turmoil
Kenneth managed to secure his first serious baluster glass,
no. 12a, now no. 12 in this current exhibition.
As the years went by Kenneth’s collection rapidly grew into
something to be proud of. It became his mission to acquire
as many glasses from the Lewis collection as possible, as and
when they appeared on the market. Ultimately he succeeded
in gathering no less than fourteen of these glasses, twelve of
which are now offered for sale here. For any collection a
good provenance is highly desirable and Kenneth’s collection
is rich in that department. The other important source for
acquisitions was our mutual great friend, the late John Towse,
whose collection of baluster goblets, cordials and glasses in
general was legendary.
I do not propose to regurgitate here a history of English
glassmaking or to detail the finer differences in the variety
and combination of knops in stems. This can be read in the
introduction to the Baluster Family Catalogue and I cannot
recommend highly enough Dwight Lanmon’s survey of John
Bryan’s collection in The Golden Age of English Glass. You
will there learn all there is to know on the subject. But I
would draw your attention briefly to a few highlights. The
majority of glasses from this period have bowls which are
round funnel, conical, sometimes trumpet and especially bellshaped
from about 1725. Others less common are thistle and
bucket shapes, but then there are a number of curiosities
which a glance through the early books on the subject will
reveal. I refer to a variety of double ogee or pan-top bowls,
and even tulip-shaped ones which rarely appear for sale these
days. There are no less than six such glasses of this type in
the collection.
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