James Couper & Sons

JAMES COUPER & SONS, Manufacturers of Globes and Shades for Gas, Oil, and Electric Lighting ; City Glass Works, Glasgow.

    It would be difficult to indicate an industry in the whole range of productive activity which has undergone more rapid development within a recent period than the ancient art of the glassmaker and worker, every succeeding decade finding new fields of utility for this beautiful material, which, in its varied forms, lends itself with peculiar adaptability to every artistic and useful purpose. A branch of this important industry with which Glasgow has for many generations past been closely identified is the manufacture of globes and shades, and of the leading firms engaged in this department we have no hesitation in selecting as typically representative of the art in its highest form the old-established and eminent firm of Messrs. James Couper & Sons, of the City Glass Works.

    This business was founded upwards of half a century ago by Mr. James Couper, and is now continued by the representatives of the third generation of that name. The works occupied by Messrs. Couper are of very commodious proportions, covering a total area of about three acres, in which are erected the conveniently adapted buildings requisite for the extensive operations of the business. The main building is of four flats, with a well-appointed suite of general and private offices and large, well-lighted showroom, 100 ft. in length, arranged for the effective display of the high-class productions of the firm. These embrace a splendid assortment of ornamental goods, “Clutha Art Glass” in all the newest designs and most brilliant colours ; beautifully finished table glass in exquisitely cut decanters, wines, tumblers, etc. ; Venetian, coloured, hand-painted, engraved, etched, satin finish, sand blast, and other varieties of glass ; ships’ lenses and chemical retorts.

    In the gas globe department over 20,000 different patterns of these goods are made in all the most modern designs and in every variety of colour and tint. The firm also show a large assortment of electric light globes, shades, and other appliances in connection with this department of the trade, which they have cultivated with conspicuous success. The works are of spacious proportions, and are provided throughout with plant and machinery of modern and improved construction for facilitating the various processes of the trade.

    The cutting department measures 160 ft. by 31 ft., and provides ample accommodation for the numerous skilled workmen employed in this delicate art. In the process of etching by sand blast a fan making 6,000 revolutions a minute is used, and for “metallic etching” a novel machine known as the “ Pentagraph” is employed. The other departments of the works comprise mixing rooms, in which the raw material is prepared ; picking-house, for sorting the refuse and broken glass into the various qualities for re-melting ; two large glass houses and annealing furnaces ; brass - finishing shop, for the manufacture of the metal fittings used in the business ; joiners’ shop ; smithy and engine-house with 30 h.p. engine ; boiler-shed ; and packing and despatch departments.

    Tram rails are laid in every part of the works for facilitating the transit of goods and materials, the whole forming one of the most completely organised glass works in the Kingdom. Messrs. Couper have recently introduced the manufacture of ships’ lenses of great power, and these goods, from their very superior quality, have already secured a wide reputation in the trade. The firm also manufacture the glass-melting crucibles used in their works, for which purpose they have laid down special plant. The connection established by Messrs. Couper extends throughout the markets of the world, and their reputation for high-class workmanship has an unrivalled standing with the leading buyers of these goods in every quarter of the globe. A large number of hands are employed in the various departments of the works under the able supervision of the principals, whose extended connection with the business ensures perfection in every detail of the management. The members of the firm are personally well known and respected in social and commercial circles.

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