Welcome to the first in a series of news items about past copies of Andamento. It was hard to know where to start – looking through the past copies of Andamento is like being a child in a sweet shop. The cover photos are amazing, and the content is just as good. Each edition of Andamento provides a wealth of information about and is also a mini guide to the amazing mosaics around us in the UK, often in churches and public buildings we can visit for ourselves.

Three Andamento covers have wonderful images of angel mosaics. I chose Volume 7 published in 2013. Partly because this mosaic has recently been extensively restored by our friends at The Mosaic Restoration Company. It contains four articles, each illustrated by wonderful images of modern mosaics (- there are more angels).

If this tempts you to want to buy a copy and read it for yourself, it will be available for the reduced cost of £10, including p&p to wherever you live. This offer will last until the end of January 2026.

The first article by Rita Ensing, is an account of the history of Jesse Rust and Son, a remarkable enterprise which set about inventing a new vitreous glass mosaic material to enable them to compete successful for contracts for new architectural mosaics. It explores the many mosaics they created around the UK with their innovative and unique material, between the mid-19th to early 20th centuries.

The following article, by Ilona Jesnick further explores the history and contribution of Rust and Son to the UK mosaic landscape. It has the wonderful title of ‘’Corrosive Sublimate and other Diableries.’ This is a quote from a contemporary description, discovered by Ilona, of the factory where they made their patented vitreous material.

Robert Field’s article gives us an account of the work of another UK mosaic business. He describes the work of Manchester-based Eric Newton and the Oppenheimer family firm over 100 years from 1865-1965. The wonderful angel used on the cover of Andamento Volume 7 is by them and is in the church of St John the Baptist in Rochdale.

The final article is by Paul Bentley and describes the process by which the mosaics of Westminster Cathedral have been commissioned, created, and installed over many decades, their different styles and the controversy that has sometimes accompanied them.

Photo credit: Robert Field