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Author Topic: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence  (Read 2010 times)

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Offline Greg.

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Pleased to recently encounter this small studio glass bottle, which has strong influences of the work that came out of the Jam Factory during the 70s.

The bottle is unsigned, although has many characteristics of Herman's work during this period. I suppose my main question is, was this piece blown by Sam Herman or produced by someone under his direction/guidance during that period.

Interestingly,a short while back there were a handful of similar pieces that came up for sale on ebay Australia, which were discussed on the GMB at that time. Although, those images are no longer available, I did manage to find these related pieces for sale on an Australian website, which can be seen in the following link, picture 3

http://www.circa20.com.au/Australian-pottery/Australian-studio-glass-artists/Sam-Herman-Studio-Glass-1970s-Jam-Factory-Adelaide

All thoughts welcome.
Greg

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Offline brewster

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2014, 12:21:20 PM »
A recent find of more items from the Jam Factory Workshop in the mid-1970s helps to clarify the origins of Greg’s item. See my recent post to a parallel topic, where there are pictures and a discussion:

http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,50529.msg317764.html#msg317764

I’m inclined to agree that Greg’s item is likely from the Jam Factory in the mid-1970s. While there is a chance that Herman himself was involved in the making of the item, for the reasons I discuss in the other topic it would be a stretch to count it as a Sam Herman art piece without additional evidence.

Another point is the size. The original post describes it as “small” without giving measurements, but I recall an ebay listing of the item gave the height as 13.5cm or thereabouts. That is small for a piece of Sam Herman art glass, even in the mid-1970s.

Trevor
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Offline Greg.

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2014, 01:41:03 PM »
Hi Trevor,

Thank you for your confirmation that my piece does indeed originate from the Jam Factory. Really interesting to hear Peter Goss’s input on these pieces and to finally answer some of the questions surrounding them.

What initially, attracted me to my piece was some of the characteristic Herman traits, primarily the use of colours. However, as my example was unsigned and in comparison to other examples of Sam Herman’s work I wasn't 100% sure. Given this new information, this makes perfect sense.

Interestingly, whilst I expect slightly uncommon I do have a signed piece of a similar size, however i expect this piece was blown in London and possibly around the late 60s or early 70s. Handful of pictures attached for reference.

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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2014, 04:45:16 PM »
LUST
Cheers, Sue M. (she/her)

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Offline brewster

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2015, 08:06:39 AM »
Quote
...an ebay listing of the item gave the height as 13.5cm or thereabouts. That is small for a piece of Sam Herman art glass, even in the mid-1970s.

It is the exception that proves the rule, they say. When I made the comparison in Reply #1, perhaps I should have said most Sam Herman works from the 1970s onward are larger than Greg's Jam Factory piece. The delightful little bottle in the photos below is a shade under 12cm high and 7cm in diameter. There is no doubting its parentage, with its inscription "Samuel J. Herman 1977 SA1366". It was originally purchased at a Jam Factory exhibition in early 1977, where many of the items were already sold before the exhibition opened, thus leaving the original purchaser little choice.

As I said earlier, Greg's piece was more likely made by one (or more) of the trainees as a Jam Factory production item. I have found some clues as to which of them made it, or at least who had the dominant role in making it. I can't reveal all just yet, because I have some more evidence to collect and I may need to obtain permissions for the use of photos to illustrate the connections.

In the meantime, enjoy this Sam Herman miniature.

Trevor
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2015, 11:33:30 AM »
wow. That is almost as wonderful as my National Treasure. ;) (first pic)

I have a small unsigned piece, suspected to be of Jam Factory origin, there's a short thread about it here somewhere. (second pic)
Cheers, Sue M. (she/her)

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Offline Greg.

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2015, 01:59:29 PM »
Lovely example Trevor, thanks for adding the pictures.

Look forward to hearing any further insights that you are able to uncover on my Jam factory production piece above. Thanks for your time and efforts.

Sue. Always nice to see your National Treasure.  :)

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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2015, 02:22:44 PM »
It would go so well with the miniature Trevor just showed - but only on MY shelves.  ;)

It was the unsigned bit, though, that is most relevant to this thread as a probable Jam Factory bit from the mid '70s.
I seem to remember AdamA gave me a 98% chance it is by Sam himself. But I can't find the thread. I'll search a bit more. :)
Cheers, Sue M. (she/her)

‘For every problem there is a solution: neat, plausible and wrong’. H.L.Mencken

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Offline glassobsessed

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2015, 10:56:56 AM »
Here is the original thread Sue, I remember Adam commenting on the vase but it must have been in another thread: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,40449.0.html

John

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Offline brewster

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Re: Jam Factory Small Studio Glass Bottle - Herman or Herman Influence
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2015, 03:57:40 AM »
So Sue's unsigned maybe-Sam-Herman in Reply #5 is the same beast as John's bought-in-USA item he shows in the thread linked from Reply #8? That will explain why I kept finding John's thread whenever I searched for Sue's mention of an earlier outing for hers. I thought they looked eerily similar, but I confess I never looked hard enough until now. I was going to ask Sue for more views, but now it seems John's photos will suffice.

For what it is worth (and that may not be much) the item looks more Sam Herman to me than the usual run of Jam Factory production in the 1970s. But anything may have been possible in the early days of JF production (1975 or so). Then, of course, there is the USA source of John's find. Studio glass activity in the USA in the 1970s was perhaps twenty times that of Australia, so there are many other possibilities as well.

Trevor
See my blog on Australian studio glass. There is now a Facebook page with Australian glass news.
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