Stourbridge Glass Museum reflects the industrial efforts of such world-renowned makers as Richardson’s, Stuart Crystal, Royal Brierley Crystal and Webb Corbett’s. Yet how many pieces in the collection have been produced solely by women?

Within those hot working factory conditions, it was said that the only limitation to the glass-blower’s art was ‘the strength in his arm’. The hot shops were considered an all-male environment - women were not allowed. Archive sources and ladies who subsequently worked in the glass industry have helped Kate Round uncover a fascinating picture of this ‘glass ceiling’. From the 1860s to the present day, this is a revealing account of changing attitudes and the struggles between unions, management and workers to finally allow women to do “men’s” work.

Photo: Edith Shutt, acid-dipping at Stuart Crystal, Red House Glass Cone