Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: Anne on September 30, 2007, 02:36:15 AM
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I've been trying to find out about the Dartington Studio range of glass, and when it was made, who the designers were, etc... and found very little online. Can anyone tell me more about the Studio era at Dartington please?
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Hi Anne try 20th century factory glass by Lesley Jackson it gives some good info including designers.regards John
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Thanks John, I'll have to borrow it from the library again as I don't own a copy of this yet.
Edited to add... that's probably where I saw the Studio vase like the one I found yesterday... I've Googled all over and not found it anywhere else, and couldn't recall where I'd seen it before.
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The Dartington Studio range was all made at the Barbican Glassworks in Plymouth between 1997 and 2004. It's empahasis was on coloured items and creating a more contempary image for Dartington. The range was designed by Hilary Green and Simon Moore (Hilary Green is still Dartington's lead designer). The range was discountinued in 2002 as part of a major product rationalisation to re-focus on normal tableware. The Torrington Visitors Centre still has a small studio in place which make art glass lines and animals so it may have been produced here as well (Dartington Studio name is still used here).
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Brilliant, thanks twenty_zero_six, I appreciate your info. Pics below.
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The one pic there doesn't have a description as I have no idea what the finish is called - am hoping someone can tell me (it's a Dartington Studio piece we discussed here a while back.)
Does it look/feel like something's applied? Otherwise I'd think it's sandblasted. I've forgotten what it's called when itty bitty pieces of glass are adhered to a piece, but I can probably find out.
Are you thinking of frit? It's not that for sure. It could be sand-blasted - it feels sort of (thinks how to describe it!) a little rough but evenly so - a bit like when a cat's tongue licks your hand, if you know what I mean! ;D Not lumpy bumpy like frit or Matthey Crinkles. (BTW I've detached this from the topic we are highjacking and added it to the original topic about the vase.) 8)
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That is just enamels on the surface that have not been completely fused. Maybe an enamel made to leave that effect.
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That is just enamels on the surface that have not been completely fused. Maybe an enamel made to leave that effect.
Ach, again this confusing use of "enamels"! I have to say, even if this is a correct use of the term "enamel," I don't see why it's necessary when most people think of something much different when the see the word. What do you mean by enamel here?
I'm thinking it probably is fine frit, just not fused, as Frank suggests. The piece was probably rolled in it when it was still hot enough to pick it up, but not hot enough to melt it. I think the "bumpy" stuff you're thinking of, Anne, may be overshot glass, where the frit is applied and melted. The fact that it's uneven and the lines look like they have more texture in them argues against sandblasting. Thanks for splitting this thread off - makes sense! I was out of town for a few days, but now I'm back, and will put some examples of surface treatments in the gallery in the next couple days.
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Dartington call it a satin finish it is the same as Carlo Morretis Satinato achieved by dipping in acid i believe.
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Hmmm, acid? That's certainly one way of achieving a satin surface. As with sandblasting, I wouldn't expect acid to leave an uneven finish - even less so. The cuts seem whiter than the rest. Is this just an artifact of the photo? The edges of the treated areas aren't very abrupt either. I think we need substantiation before saying anything definite.
BTW, here's an article about "rough surface treatments." Unfortunately it doesn't show any unfused frit photos, though it does show some examples of overshot surfaces.
http://www.glass.co.nz/roughsurfaces.htm
Here's a photo of a creamer I took a while ago for a discussion about frit-coated surfaces in another forum, and one of a satin finish created by acid. The latter is much smoother than the Dartington vase. This may vary somewhat with the acid composition and length of time a piece is held in the bath(s), but Anne's vase seems really quite coarse in comparison.
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Well i have a vase in the same range as Annes except it has a small battuto panel on the front and i have about thirty pieces of Morreti satinato at the last count and i promise you the finish is the same and i have read several books that say satinato is achieved by dipping in acid.
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"frit coated surfaces" is usually referred to as "coralene" or "Mathey crinkles". Your creamer is the former.
Enamel in glass terms is coloured glass powder - get used to it.
Satinato is one of the many types of acid finishes - there are different recipes for achieving different results.
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OK, the Dartington vase has an acid finish... I can live with that.
I'm going to start another thread to discuss the OT issues of coralene, frit, and enamel.
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K, acid it is. I'll update the GlassGallery entry. Thanks all for your input into this topic. :)