The Collectors
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Friday 2 November 2007
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High quality European studio glass from the 1960s and 1970s has become very collectable. Adrian offers some tips to collectors on what to look for.
While glass makers in the 1950s allowed the liquid nature of the glass to influence the design, in the 1960s and 1970s they moved away from this organic free-flowing look and introduced objects with more textures, brighter colours and an architectural feel.
If you find objects with the manufacturer’s label still attached, an important collecting tip is to leave it as it authenticates the item and adds value.
Another tip for telling the quality of glassware is by the sound it makes when it’s tapped. High quality crystal has a lovely sounding ring, which Adrian demonstrates with a bowl from the Eden range, designed by Lars Hellsten and made for the Swedish company Orrefors.
Pieces by Jeff Baxter, a new designer at Whitefriars during this period, were far more urban and architectural than existing designs. He used an eclectic range of surfacing techniques to create texture, including the use of plywood, concrete, nails, wire, rubble and bark. Adrian shows us a piece that the women in the factory called The Drunken Bricklayer vase.
A varied glassware collection like this can offer an architectural feast of colours and, if you know what you’re looking for, you can pick up pieces for just a few dollars that can be worth hundreds.
