Tyne & Wear

The idea of making glass ships in bottles was propagated in Sunderland in the 1960's, and it quickly took root among the scientific glassblowers, particularly a James A. Jobling Ltd. Jobling was a large company in Sunderland Producing borosilicate glass products ranging from kitchenware to industrial equipment, and the local people called the company 'Pyrex' after the brand name of the heat-resistant glass that Corning USA licensed to Jobling.

Its Laboratory Division had approx. 40 scientific glassblowers and trained new staff on a 6-year-apprenticeship. The laboratory Division of Jobling started to downsize in 1972 and closed its doors in 1982. During this decade, the newly redundant scientific glassblowers established independent studios around the city, making almost exclusively glass ships in bottles.