Richardson, Benjamin

Benjamin Richardson, (born 1802, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, Eng.—died 1887), founder of one of the great English glass-manufacturing houses, who was instrumental in the introduction of modern glass-working methods to England. Richardson’s Stourbridge factory was the first in the country to have a threading machine for making filigree glass and the first to make mass-produced pressed glass tumblers. The factory pioneered in the use of pressing machines for decorating flint glass with relief ornaments. His firm also became one of the leaders in producing cameo glass for commercial sale.

Richardson became a public figure when he offered £1,000 to anyone who could produce a replica of the British Museum’s famous Portland Vase. The blue-and-white Roman vase was considered one of the most beautiful pieces of glassware ever made and the finest surviving example of Roman cameo glass. The first successful replica of the vase was completed in 1876 by a former employee of Richardson’s, a local glassmaker named John Northwood (q.v.), but it was not made for Richardson. Northwood’s piece had been commissioned in 1873 by Philip Pargeter, himself a glass manufacturer and a nephew of Richardson. Richardson is also remembered for his efforts to reduce the cost of manufacturing quality glassware, thus rendering it accessible to the general public.