Antiques in Colombia – Bogota, Medellin & Cartagena

Antiques in Colombia

This Christmas and New Year (December 2018 & January 2019), the banker and I decided to continue the holidays we’ve taken in South America over the years and cashed in our air miles to make a trip to Colombia. Despite what you may think, and the large numbers of policemen and soldiers on many streets, […]

Czech Glassmaking at Skrdlovice – A Short Film

Czech glass making at Skrdlovice

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 […]

Northern Ireland Meets Venice – BTU Studio

Scott Benefield Filigrana

I’m a great believer in supporting contemporary glassmakers and artists where I can. After all, they’re creating the treasures that future generations will treasure. Visiting Belfast to film for the Antiques Roadshow at the Stormont Parliament Buildings late last year, I managed to find some time to visit the city’s historic St George’s Market early […]

My First ‘Design At Home’ Auction with Dawson’s

Saturday 2nd December 2017 saw my first ‘Design At Home’ midcentury modern and contemporary design auction with Dawson’s Auctions, and my return to the auction world (other than as a buyer!) after 16 years. And I loved it – every single bit of it! It was great to connect with new clients, and reconnect to […]

Curious Glass – An Enamelled Opalescent ‘Sunflower’ Vase

Opalescent Sunflower Vase

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 […]

A Quick Trip – Helsinki & Pentti Sarpaneva

1970s Pentii Sarpaneva Oy Kumela vase © Mark Hill Publishing Ltd

The many different hats I wear for my career often take me to unexpected places. Last month, I was delighted to be asked to visit Helsinki in Finland, home to many a notable mid-century modern glass factory and designer, from Iittala to Riihimäki and Alvar Aalto to Timo Sarpaneva. I don’t often get too much […]

Book Launch – Sklo: Czech Glass Design from the 1950s-70s

Mark Hill signing his new book on modern Czech Glass

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 […]

A New Name & Attribution – Dragan Drobnjak

Henryk Albin Tomaszewski Glass

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 […]

These Vases Are NOT From Murano – Or Even Italy!

Snowflakes Glass Vase

Browsing around the excellent and huge Hopkinson Vintage, Antiques & Art Centre just by Nottingham’s station after doing a NADFAS lecture, I stumbled upon this vase. I was delighted as it had a label – something I’ve been looking for for ages. When sold on eBay or in countless fairs, shops and antiques centres across […]

London Antiques Legend Alfie’s Hits 40!

Last Thursday Alfie’s Antiques Market in Church St, Marylebone, London hit a major anniversary when it turned 40. It’s almost as old as me! A day of festivities, including a lecture on 20thC Glass given by me, culminated in an intimate party, held as part of the London Design Festival. Exhibiting in a pop-up shop […]

Glass Artist Sam Herman Interviewed By Graham Cooley

Sam Herman Glass

Sam Herman (b.1936) is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential living glass artists and makers in the world today. After studying and helping to develop the new studio glass techniques directly under their inventors, Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino, at the University of Wisconsin, he brought them to the UK in 1965. He […]

Don’t Let The Hero In Your Soul Die – An Art Deco Glass Beaker

Wilhelm von Eiff Glass

I’m a great fan of the Glass Fair at Knebworth and The National Glass Fair, and have been a regular visitor (and buyer!) since it was based in Cambridge years ago. They promise over 300 years in glass in one day, and they and the dealers who attend have always delivered it too. It’s the […]