The “Marine Bowl” was designed for Bagley’s Crystal Glass Company in December 1934 by Alexander Hardie Williamson (Rd 798843).  This salad bowl was made up to about 1955.  It came in pink, blue, amber and probably green.  Colouring glass at this time was a dicey business using arsenic and even uranium!

Some glass was part etched with acid to make the convex design stand out more.  The “Marine Bowl” has on each side a crab and two fishes, and the decorative handles are in the shape of shrimps.  The pink version of the bowl was presented to Queen Mary in 1937 when she and the King visited the Knottingley factory.

Pontefract Museum has not only a large collection of Bagley’s glass, but also a few of the original design sketches which survive.  The watercolour for the “Marine Bowl” is one of these rare drawings. 

Salad bowls and their matching individual portion bowls sometimes disappeared out of the factory. One lady admitted to me that she had smuggled a full set out in her bra – a pair a day.  I asked how she managed to “liberate” the large bowl and she just said – “don’t ask”! 

Soon an online catalogue of all our Bagley’s glass will be available at www.wakefieldmuseums.org, with a photograph and caption for each piece. 

Richard van Riel - Curator, Pontefract Museum