Antiques expert Mark Hill examines a rare 19th century German or Bohemian enamelled glass painter’s advertising or promotional goblet.
In 2013, I wrote a blog post on the origins of iridescent glass. Despite credit usually going to the hugely successful Art Nouveau iridescent glass produced by Tiffany and Loetz from the 1890s onwards, the origins of iridescent glass actually date back to 1856 and a Hungarian chemist and technician called Leo Valentin Pantocek. You […]
Anyone who has seen glass being made will know mesmerising the process is, from the silent dance of the skilled glassmaking team to the transformation of a blob of hot, orange glass into a three dimensional artwork. My good friend and colleague Graham Cooley recently told me about a fascinating film produced in 1980 by […]
It’s usually the things that nobody knows about that attract and intrigue me. If they’re of a certain (good, or fine) quality, or have an interesting look, I want to know more. Browsing around the Cambridge Glass Fair, I came upon this rather unusual looking small posy vase. Somewhat etherial, it’s also rather appealing. “But […]
On February 26th 2017, I launched my latest book, Sklo: Czech Glass Design From The 1950s-70s. It is a revised and considerably enlarged version of my bestseller Hi Sklo Lo Sklo: Postwar Czech Glass Design from Masterpiece to Mass-Produced, which I published in 2008 and which sold out two years later. I was delighted to […]
Attributions in the world of antiques and collecting change frequently, and across the board too, from porcelain to furniture to glass. This is particularly the case with ‘new markets’, like mid-century modern Italian ceramics and postwar Czech glass design. A new source will be unearthed, such as a catalogue or forgotten book, or a piece […]
In April this year, I was lucky enough to be able to secure the central exhibition space at the Spring Antiques For Everyone fair at the National Exhibition centre in Birmingham to promote Skrdlovice glass. Although the accompanying book ‘Berànek & Skrdlovice: Legends of Czech Glass‘ was launched later that month, we were able to […]
A quick, but important, one here. On my trip to Novy Bor, I was taken to the Crystalex factory shop. A selection of ‘interesting’ decorative pieces and tableware was available, but the things that caught my eye were those in the photos below. The collectors amongst you will recognise the glass in the first photo […]
It’s not often that you get to meet the people behind the designs you collect, even though there’s more of a chance with postwar pieces. While I was in Novy Bor, I was lucky to meet Karel Wünsch, one of the best and most innovative postwar Czech glass designers who is globally renowned for his […]
My main reason for visiting the Czech Republic last week was to attend the opening of a major retrospective exhibition of the work of eminent Czech glass designer and maker Frantisek Vizner. I was kindly invited as the guest of the Ajeto Glassworks, whose smart and spacious museum in Novy Bor was the location of […]
It started with a question, and I never expected the answer to turn out like it did. Last week’s amazing visit to the Ajeto Glassworks in Novy Bor, Czech Republic, brought me into contact with a vibrant, charming and talented young Australian glassmaker called Jasper Dowding (above). Even though it seemed to pass in minutes, […]
Okay, it’s not pretty, but I think it’s an important thing. It looks like a basic attempt at working with glass, even thought it’s way better than I’m sure I could manage. I’m always intrigued by chunky pieces like this, and make a point of picking them up when I see them, hoping they turn […]
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