Hey, thanks for the words of encouragement! My membership is growing fairly steadily....I just need to deliver on more of the information that I'm promising on the site. As I said, it's difficult to FIND information about Lotton glass....at least the kind that collectors really care about...like "What's rare"? I know several long time collectors that DON'T know what's rare...and have passed by exceptional pieces because they didn't know what they were. Now, I'm not an expert by any means (in my eyes, anyway), but I'm interested in finding out, and have made several knowledgeable acquaitances who have helped out. I did speak with Charles on the phone in January, who wanted to meet with me about my intentions for the club.....we never got back in touch but I'll be contacting him again soon! I want to get the site to a place where I'm proud of it so I can show him the work that I've done so far.
All Lotton glass should be signed (I say this with a small caveat - there have been a (VERY) few pieces that for whatever reason were not signed, but authenticated by Charles himself to be his works). The earliest pieces will simply be signed "Lotton", as Charles was the only Lotton to be making glass in the early days. So, if it's simply signed "Lotton", it was made by Charles. The other members of the Lotton family that have or are still making glass are as follows: David Lotton (Charles' oldest son), Daniel Lotton (Son of Charles, still making glass at their studio in Crete, IL), John Lotton (retired from glassblowing recently and is currently involved in real-estate development), Jeremiah Lotton (Son of David, Grandson of Charles), and Jerry Heer (nephew of Charles). There are also several studio artists both past and present. Scott Bayless would be the most recognized of those still working at the studio. I would be happy to authenticate pieces for anyone, as I have seen no less than three pieces listed on Ebay in recent weeks that were NOT made by any member of the Lotton family. Outside of John, all of the Lotton family still blow glass, including Charles who will turn 70 later this year.
Warner