It was only a few years ago that Whitefriars glass was completely ignored by collectors, yet now the prices for its Banjo and Drunken Bricklayer vases are around £1,000 each.  Not so long ago you could have found both of these in charity shops for a few pounds.  This all changed during the 1990s when exhibitions of Whitefriars glass in London and Manchester coincided with a revival of interest in Sixties colour and design.

This was no big surprise to the long term collectors of Whitefriars glass who had always seen the attraction of beautifully simple and vibrantly coloured glass.  Whitefriars has now become the most popular vintage glassware in Britain.  There has been a general shift towards post war design, not only in glass but ceramics and fashion as well and modern Whitefriars collectors are a new generation that not only buy at antique fairs and shops but also use the internet to source Whitefriars glass.

The biggest problem with Whitefriars glass is that the wares were marked with paper stickers rather than engraved signatures.  Naturally, these have long since disappeared and it is therefore quite difficult to identify a genuine piece.  Recognition has also been made more difficult as Whitefriars quite often copied Scandinavian designs, while other British glassworks ripped off the Whitefriars designs.

Because of these difficulties most collectors rely on the catalogue of the 1996 Whitefriars glass exhibition at the Manchester city Museum.  This 160 page booklet was largely based on the contents of a private collection and it has sold around 7,000 copies, almost all within Britain.  The contents of the catalogue are said to be completely reliable and covers the period from the early 20th century and it great Arts & Crafts/Art Nouveau  deisgner Harry Powell, who retired in 1920, through to Geoffrey Baxter, chief designer from 1954 to 1978.  The catalogue only illustrates 700 pieces which is a fraction of the Whitefriars output between 1840 and its closure in 1980.

Many collectors are so focused on the catalogue that they are totally oblivious to the huge amount of unidentified Whitefriars that is out there for sale.  Therefore, if you know what to look for you can pick up rare pieces from car boot sales and charity shops.  Obviously, you would not find the Banjo or Drunken Bricklayer vases as these are instantly recognisable.

While the Manchester catalogue is a good guide more information has come to light since it publication and several previously unkown Whitefriars catalogues from the 1930, 1950s and 1960s have since been found.  These contain drawings and photographs of almost every item produced by the factory and this enables collectors to identify thousands of pieces.

Geoffrey Baxter's early original textured range, including the Banjo vase, is illustrated in the earlier published catalogues and it has beccome very popular.  The late textured range launched in 1974 is not included and is, at present, less valuable.

The Whitefriars catalogues have now been published on the internet and you will also get a lot of free information on whitefriars.org and whitefriars.com, which has reproduced 12 catalogues dating between 1931 and 1980 as well as a lot of other information.  There are also previously unpublished factory photographs, illustrations of pieces commonly mistaken for Whitefriars and reproductions of original price lists.  There are also discussion forums and auction results.

Collectors are helped by the fact that Whitefriars limited its output to specific colours and it is possible to recognise anomymous pieces simply by their colour.  Meadow Green was only produced between 1969-1972 and these pieces are rare and valuable.  There is something for every Whitefriars collector - while you can pick up one of the slim vases made in the mid fifties for around £10 and a Geoffrey Baxter Hurricane lamp made around 1974 for about £50, the Drunken Bricklayer vase will cost you around £1,000.