Isle of Wight Studio Glass Collectors' Day

Now held annually, these exciting events have become firm fixtures in collectors' diaries. Over 80 keen collectors and fans packed into the studio today for this, the second of such days. The busy schedule kicked off with a welcoming introduction from Ron Wheeler of Artius Glass. This was swiftly followed by Timothy Harris making a 'Flower Vase' in front a rapt audience. Next up was a lecture on the origins of British studio glass by Roger Dodsworth, the Keeper of Glass at Broadfield House Glass Museum. After a break to watch more glass being made, and even try your own hand at this most ancient of arts, a delicious buffet lunch was served.
Straight up after lunch was your truly, giving a lecture (above) on the fashion for textured glass during the 1960s & 70s, and Michael Harris' important part in that trend. It seems my choice of theme was fitting, as the most important event of the day - the unveiling of the 'Day Piece' - was to follow. Only available to attendees on the day, Timothy Harris keeps his new design very much under wraps until the afternoon of the day itself.
We were not disappointed, as Tim cleverly fused his own 'Undercliff' design with his father's designs for bark textured vases first produced in Summer 1963. The combination of the complex and abstract forest design of 'Undercliff' with a bark textured surface is inventive, innovative and highly apt. The production process was also nothing less than amazing, taking nearly an hour to complete, and ending with a dramatic gush of steam as the hot glass met the wet bark lined mould. If you're into the glass produced by this prolific family, then these days are a must. I always have superb fun, and I'm sure you will too. Check out Isle of Wight Studio Glass' website for more information on the next event, and see you there!

Go Sklo!

Well, it seems as if post war Czech glass design is very much flavour of the month! Could it become flavour of the year, and maybe even the next 'big thing', I wonder?
With July seeing the launch of an important and ground-breaking exhibition and accompanying catalogue focusing on the subject, prices seem to be rocketing. Last night, the jardiniére version of this vase design sold for over £230 on eBay - more than three times the price the version shown below fetched a few years ago.
From a range known to collectors as the 'Head' series, it was designed in 1972 by Adolf Matura, a highly notable and extremely influential Czech glass designer. Made from pressed glass, it was produced by the Libochovice 'hut (hut means glassworks), which was known for its pressed glass designs and was part of the important Sklo Union group of factories. Despite apparently being mass-produced, this design seems to be incredibly hard to find - a fact that is clearly reflected in the price.
I'm sure you'll agree that the design is both fantastically modern and innovative - it's still as fresh today as it was over three decades ago. Look closely though - although it looks like a face looking straight at you, you can also see two faces in profile kissing. Clever indeed.
I'd watch post war Czech glass design in general very closely right now. If you like it and haven't started collecting yet, I'd strongly advise you to start now, as it looks like the area is on the up!

Antiques Roadshow - Belfast

Phew - what a day! We were rushed off our feet - as is always the case with Antiques Roadshows, and as I am finding out as the 'new boy'. I still miss the direct contact that I used to enjoy with both people and their objects on valuation days for both Bonhams and Sotheby's. This replaces the excitement of these events for me, so was fantastic fun.
The folk of Belfast are certainly collectors. Everything from Beswick to Murano to Titanic to Worcester passed through the experts' hands today. Not only are they collectors, but they are also wonderfully polite, warm and welcoming. I mention the Titanic as it was particularly important to our location - the Harland & Wolff shipyards where the great ship herself was built. Despite it being a warm and sunny day, there was a distinct, almost eerie, chill in the air when I first set foot inside the romantically abandoned building early that morning. As I have suggested, the visitors soon warmed things up though!
After a short, yet fast and furious, spell on reception I spent much of the day on my usual haunt of the Miscellaneous and Collectables tables. Did I find anything? I sure did! Something related to Elvis Presley left me feeling 'all shook up', as did some rather interesting toys that I rather wished I owned myself. The fate of these unwanted gifts would have been quite different if I had been the recipient as a child - or even today, I am ashamed to say.
If you want to know more, watch the BBC Antiques Roadshows on 11th or 18th January 2009 to see if they make it to the screen. In case you're wondering about the image, it's of Judith Miller and I peeping through the expert biography board on either side of our dear friend Steven Moore - where ever did our cards go? A swift pint of Guinness (what else...) with my colleague Eric Knowles in the famous Crown Bar rounded off what was a fantastic day for all - me especially.

Right on your doorstep

Too often we're all guilty of travelling for miles to out-of-the-way places in the hope of finding that bargain that nobody else could be bothered to travel that far to find. Not only is it bad for the environment, but it's also not always the best thing to do.
A visit to a retro store in Kingly Court, right in the heart of London, and another to 'Antiques on High' in Oxford, yielded some rather good surprises this weekend, one of which is shown here. Designed by Josef Hospodka for the Prachen glassworks in Czechoslovakia in 1969, it's got to be worth more than the £40 I paid. it may not be everyones cup of tea, but I love the combination between the organic, alien 'limpet' like forms and the mechanical, geometric form. The other piece was a rather lovely Chance Glass 'Fat Belly' decanter and set of six shot glasses, printed with the much-loved 'Swirl' pattern. These really are very rare things, being produced as samples in the early 1970s. I've only ever seen one before - and that was in David Encill's excellent book 'Chance Expressions'. I hardly paid nothing for it, so I guess even though I'm not guilty of travelling un-necessarily, I am guilty of getting over-excited when I see something rare!

Sam Herman - Then & Now Exhibition

Last month I had the pleasure of another meeting with Sam Herman, who is arguably the greatest name in British studio glass - and pretty darned important in the global studio glass movement too. Unfairly in my mind at least, few recognise his incredible vision, abilities and importance. Without him, studio glass techniques would not and could not have spread to the UK and beyond. Sam studied at the University of Wisconsin under Harvey Littleton who, with Dominick Labino, sowed the seeds of the movement in the early 1960s. In late 1966, Sam came to the UK on a scholarship and ended up taking over as Head of the Glass Department at the Royal College of Art. His predecessor, Michael Harris, had been bitten by the studio glass bug and left for Malta to found Mdina Glass in 1968 - the rest is history, so read my book. Sam went on to found the influential 'Glasshouse' in London, and work and teach in Australia. He also taught the first generation of Britain's studio glass artists. The event was a dedicated retrospective organised by my friend Adam Aaronson at his superb Zest Gallery in West London. Including new work by the hand of the master himself, a selection of 'vintage' pieces, dating as far back as the early days at the Royal College of Art. As ever, the conversation with Sam was both incredibly enlightening and enormous fun. For a review of the exhibition and my interview, see the next edition of Collect It! magazine.

Fat Lava Friends

It's funny who you meet in this industry, and how easy it is to make friends. Wandering around the now (sadly) defunct Alexandra Palace antiques and collectables fair in north London last year, I came across the most wonderful stall that contained all sorts of modern treasures as well as some rather lovely Fat Lava vases. My interest was caught.
Chatting to the Dutch owners, it soon became clear that they were keen and experts in their area - as well as being lovely people. We've kept in touch and now they tell me that they have launched a new website specialising in these amazing vases. Visit Fat-Lava.com - NOW!
We're all responsible for promoting this much ignored area, and bringing to it the attention it deserves. Dianne and Rene join the ranks of the forward-thinking, along with Petra & Patrick of Outernational, Forrest of Ginforsodditiques and, I am sure, many more to come. Come on, you know you have the room for just one more vase...or maybe two. Oh, go on then, what's another to make it three...