Art Glass
Very much a 'catch all' field that includes studio produced art glass from the tail
end of the 19th century through to the current day. It includes what might be considered
the broadly 'traditional' work of the Nancy school of glass making (not including
Emile Galle whose overlay glass is dealt with elsewhere), the principle
exponent being Daum whose skill set included wheel engraving, mould blowing,
acid etching and pate de verre (literally ground glass paste), all typically signed
and marked with the double cross of Lorraine.
A Daum Nancy landscape vase.
Daum obviously wasn't the sole practitioner of any of these techniques. Gabriel
Argy-Rousseau and Almeric Walter spring to mind as perhaps the
most accomplished craftsman in the pate de verre field. However the list of French
art glass makers is a long one that includes Legras, Muller Freres,
Val St Lambert, Baccarat, Schneider and countless others.
An Almeric Walter pate de verre paperweight, circa 1910.
Just over the border into Austria, the Vienna concern of J & L Lomeyr
found inspiration from the East to create their Persian inspired intricately enamelled
glassware, but their Bohemian neighbours Loetz produced by far the brightest
and dynamically formed pieces of art glass. More often than not produced in fantastical
iridescent colour combinations with exotic names like Phanomen and Papillon
in bold organic and asymmetric forms, sometimes enhanced with robust metal mounts.
A Loetz phanomen vase.
Perhaps the striking appearance of Loetz is just as well, as it is rarely marked
and as a result has spawned many lookalikes. Whilst some of the bold decorative
affects are similar to those used by Louis Comfort Tiffany in America,
Tiffany was no mimic and certainly capable of original design particularly in the
field of stained and leaded glass – there can be nobody who is unaware of the classic
Tiffany lamp.
Alessandro Pianon for Vistosi (Murano) 'Pulcini'.
When it comes to pushing the boundaries of glass techniques then one probably needs
to look towards the work of Venini and his cohorts in Venice. The application
of multi-coloured tiles to form pezzato, occhi or murrine
effects on glass is the epitome of the glass makers' skill. However, not to take
themselves too seriously, they did also use humorous and light hearted modelling
to produce comical figures and childlike animals – a far cry from the ubiquitous
Murano clowns and multi-coloured fish.
A restrained piece of
Scandanavian glass by Tapio Wirkalla.
Perhaps at the opposite end of the spectrum for art glass is the sleek lines and
often restrained palette of the Swedish and other Scandinavian glass makers. The
strong intaglio cutting and also the subtle colour combinations of Sven Palmquist
for the Orrefors factory are perhaps worthy of note and similarly so Kosta, where
often form in and of itself without the addition of decoration was sometimes considered
enough. However, Orrefors particularly could also produce bold effects with its
graal technique utilising etched, carved and coloured glass cased within a vessel
of a differing colour.
Flying the flag for the future Norman Stewart Clarke.
Domestically the Whitefriars concern of James Powell & Sons straddled
the 20th century making museum copies and restrained pieces in the early decades,
culminating in the archetypal pieces of the 1960’s and 70’s with brightly coloured
banjo, bark and drunken bricklayer vases amongst their repertoire. Innovation continues
in the field of art glass making with many of the previously mentioned larger concerns
still in active production alongside many smaller artisanal one man bands such as
Norman Stewart Clarke – so the future looks promising for tomorrow’s glass collectors.
Specialists
 | Nic Saintey
Department Head
|  | Andrew Thomas
Ceramics and Glass Expert
|