Topic: Dartington Studio Glass

[chopin-liszt]

Hi, I promised picture of my Dartington Stodio Glass in another thread about Dartington crystal, but I think these deserve a thread on their own, as well as a discussion about what Dartington has been doing recently, and does anybody KNOW what happened about the Dartington Studio Range and their revival stuff of recent years? I was following it quite closely, in contemporary shops, but it seems to have vanished!
Dartington Studio glass
http://tinypic.com/5x8ilt      Plate, 9.25” diameter
http://tinypic.com/5x8ite     Base of plate, showing “2 gathers of glass on blowing         rods” logo, impressed in blob of glass put on pontil mark (gathers and rod stand proud),  Dartington name, etched and sticky “Studio Glass” label. Also showing the texture of the colouring quite nicely.
http://tinypic.com/5x8j6q    Plate in profile.
http://tinypic.com/5x8jeo    Close up of plate front, showing texture of colouring and gold foil.
http://tinypic.com/5x8ks0    2 Beautiful (IMNSHO) bottle/urn vases, 7” tall (with flash).
http://tinypic.com/5x8kux    Ditto  (in daylight). These have the “2 gathers on rods” mark etched on the base, as well as the Dartington name. I’ve moved the sticky labels to the inside of the vases. The bases have no pontil mark at all, but have the same decorated colours and texture of the vases, just the etched marks on this surface. One base is completely flat, the other is slightly concave.
http://tinypic.com/5x8l1x     Trio of Dartington Studio glass.

Edited to add pics - I pushed submit instead of preview  :oops: :?  :oops:

[Max]

Wow Sue, they really are fabulous!  I'd never have guessed they were Dartington!   :shock:

The copper oxide colour streaks on the vases look almost crackled, but then the tops are swirled slightly...how intriguing!

The plate's stunning too, they have to be collectibles for the future.  

[chopin-liszt]

:?   Hi Max,
I don't think there are copper oxide bits on the vases! The surface has been covered with bits of gold foil, "cracked" and then reheated and blown again, much in the way of Monart paisley pattern. (Copper oxide is black, copper sulphate is bluey-green, copper nitrate is green or what PC Plod earns on the late shift!) The reds/yellows/oranges are enamels, as are the greeny turquoisey bits.
I think the odd texture that comes at the neck of the vases must have something to do with having had the end at which the pontil rod is attached changed from bottom to top, probably when the vase was cracked and reheated, so that the swirly bit on one of the necks and the "jiggered" bit on the other comes from having the pontil rod removed from that end. This would explain the fact that there is no pontil mark and the base is fully decorated. Or perhaps the reblowing was done in a mould, so the odd bits at the necks come from removing it from the mould. Perhaps somebody with far more experience and knowledge than me can put me right over that one!!! :oops:

[Max]

Copper oxide colour is green surely?  The sort of oxidisation you'd find on copper pipes?  :?  I was only referring to the colour, I didn't actually mean there was copper on your vases...  :shock:

[chopin-liszt]

  It's copper nitrate that you see on copper pipes! (And on copper domes on roofs). There's loads of nitrogen in the atmosphere. Copper oxidation requires heat. You're quite right in that that is the correct shade of green! I hadn't realised you were talking about the colour and I did think you meant copper oxide on the vase! My brain is playing away from home just now :oops: , I'm having a bit of a lousy time with the ME/CFS at the moment! (:cry: poor ickle me :cry: :!: )

[Frank]

"cracked" and then reheated and blown again, much in the way of Monart paisley pattern.

Paisley Shawl is the Monart whorled surface decoration,


The cracked one is called Cloisonne.

[chopin-liszt]

:oops:  :oops:  :oops: I knew which bit I meant, Frank, I just wrote the wrong thing down, :oops:  sorry. I said I was having a bit of an off time just now! Perhaps I'd better just crawl away and hide until I get over it!!!     :wink:
I also forgot to apologise to Max for not reading what she'd written properly - Max, I'm sorry, you did write COLOUR in the context of the copper compound, I just went off at a tangent thinking about copper.  :oops: :roll:

[chopin-liszt]

Personally, I think Dartington, while currently underrated, will find it's place. Quality normally does, and the popularity of Frank Throwers' earlier designs at the moment will bring the name into public awareness. I think the more recent stuff is stuff to hang on to. I just wish I had more of the Studio range. I googled Dartington, but all I got was cut glass, the only coloured things were Versace glasses.
(I'm not always good at current designer names - I got a great pair of multicoloured stripey trousers by Versace from a charity shop. I had to cut the labels off because they were stitched on with itchy thread. I wore them out one time - they tended to cause comment, and I said to someone who did make a remark - "These are my Visocci trousers".  :oops:  :oops: For those of you who don't live in Dundee, Visocci's is a famous local ice-cream shop!) :lol:

[paradisetrader]

I must be weird as I'm not very impressed by the Frank Thrower designs and that seems to be the only Dartington which is collectable at the moment.

I'm mildly shocked to see that they are still in business.
They must be one of the very few English glass companies to survive intact. BUT they have a very limited range going by their website.
http://www.dartington.co.uk/index.html

No "studio" range at all  

I used to have a set (4) of these large wine flutes back in the 80s http://www.dartington.co.uk/acatalog/Shop_Online_Sharon_Large_Wine_528.html
Can't afford to replace them now and threw the last chipped one away a few weeks ago

[glasswizard]

This is what is so great about the board. Here in Iowa, who ever heard of Dartington?  Now I have and have checked it out and I would tend to agree that it is a collectable of the future. Sue, yours are just FAB. A friend sent me a small "Ice" bowl, bet its the baby to yours Max, I just love it. Although I will admit I feel like calling it "Frozen Water Splash" Terry