Topic: A few favorite engraved pcs from my collection, variety of styles

[krsilber]

I hope this isn’t a social faux pas.  Judging by my searches, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of engraved glass on the board or gallery.  I don't know if people don't really go for it, or it's just not as common as other glass, but I'm hoping it's the latter.  The photos are in my gallery, but sometimes it's nice to read a little about what you're looking at.

Here goes...

I’ve posted my absolute favorite in other threads, an intaglio (US definition) bowl with lilies.  In case you missed it, http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9887 and http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9886 .

In a totally different style, this is my next favorite piece, a 7 inch plate.  It took me a long time to decide who I think did it, but I'm pretty confident now that it's Lobmeyr. 
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9828
It's such a simple, fresh design, really quite unusual.  And yet the engraver had to be immensely skilled to execute it with such precision.  In this photo you can see some of the individual cuts; the ribbons between the flowers, for example, took about 18 cuts with two different wheels, yet from a normal distance it looks seamless.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9827
Here are two other Lobmeyr pieces for contrast:
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9416
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9414
(and a different view of the above)
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9414


Here’s a rock crystal (do you UK crowd use that term for totally polished?) vase.  The glass is exceedingly clear, really amazing.  It’s a very hard one to photograph well.  From the style, I strongly believe this is Hawkes, but Jane Spillman suggested it might be English, so if it looks familiar, let me know.  One thing I absolutely love about this vase is that it’s got dirt engraved on it!  At the base of the plants is a mottled surface depicting soil, and each stem comes out of a seed half-buried in it.  As an ecologist, that kind of thing turns my crank. 
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9883
interior view:  http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9421
detail of flowers:  http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9889


This piece is hardly engraved at all, and what’s there isn’t anything to rave about.  But I just have to mention this bowl.  It’s Sinclaire, my favorite American glass company.  It’s free blown, very thin, perfect glass.  Even though the bottom is well-weighted and it’s 12” diameter (~36 cm), it weighs only 1 ½ lb (about 0.7 kg?).  And it has a perfect hollow rim, with an air space inside about 4mm diameter.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9429
FWIW, a photo of the rim:  http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9890


Back to Bohemian.  This was my first engraved glass purchase.  About 5 years ago I got this, and another of the same but depicting horses, on ebay for $13.85, including shipping.  You’ve probably all seen this kind of engraving before, but this is an exceptional example.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9426
Closeup of buck’s head (his teeth are visible, and the little furrows around his nostrils!): http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9885
You can always tell by the trees, especially the leaves, how high the quality of the engraving is.  This photo is looking through the tumbler to the trees on the other side.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9884
Notice the cut facets are perfect, there’s no distortion of the image.  Often you can tell when an “intaglio” piece has been molded because there will be distortion near the molded part (example:  photo of Max’s in the gallery:   http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-1189 ).


Another style, this a surface-engraved pond scene on a very simple, thin bowl by Boston and Sandwich (I believe):
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9597
Notice the "shading" on the fish achieved with different grits used with the copper wheels.  The only totally polished bits are the tiny 0.5mm eyes on the fish.  I was messing around with my loupe one day looking at this bowl, and discovered I could look through an eye with the loupe and read the titles of books on my desk!  Talk about nicely polished.  (BTW, Pairpoint [maybe others] used wheels made of walrus hide to polish their cuttings.)


And one more style, a typical Bohemian engraved 12” tray/low bowl.  Things like this are often attributed to Moser, but I suspect there were others doing the same sort of work.  The engraving was once entirely gilt.  Nothin’ special I suppose, but I really like it for some reason. 
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9599
closer:  http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9598



OK, that’s a plenty long post!  Hope I didn’t get too verbose and put y’all to sleep.

[Pip]

 :clap: wonderful pieces - thanks for sharing them.  Personally, with the limited space I have, I don't own or deal in engraved glass however I was absolutely amazed at the Art Glass Fair in Dulwich today to see Lesley Pyke's work and to see her actually engraving a piece there at the fair.  The people on the next stand to us were engravers also and, again, I was astounded by the delicacy of the engravings and the detail that they were able to achieve - such skill!

[krsilber]

Oh, that makes me so jealous!  I would have loved to see her and others in action.  I agree, the skill it takes is phenomenal, especially with wheel engraving and diamond point stippling.  I first got into glass when I was trying my hand at "engraving" with my Dremel, but that's not nearly as hard.  (Just for the halibut, here's a vase I started before I realized what real engraving was like!  http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9891)

It seems like there are a lot of venues in the UK to see some amazing glass.  Minnesota, on the other hand, has very little glass of any sort. :cry:

[aa]

http://www.sofaexpo.com/

We will have some good examples of copper wheel engraving by Alison Kinnaird MBE and Katherine Coleman at the Zest Gallery booth at SOFA New York 

http://www.zestgallery.com/artists.php?display=3

http://www.zestgallery.com/artists.php?display=5

[krsilber]

Sigh.  If only NY weren't 1200 miles away.

[Max]

Hi Krsilber 

Great stuff!  I've got a plate somewhere with stags engraved on it, with a couple of initials engraved too.  I guess it was part of a service once.  I accidently broke my favourite piece of engraved glass and only recently smashed another piece too!  I should really stop buying glass before I've broken it all!   

I was talking to Vic Bamforth at the Dulwich Glass Fair and I told him the reason I love his work is because you can see his hand in it. (sounds a bit strange typing that, I hope you know what I mean!) Not to say that you can't 'see the artists hand' in other glass work, but his is so painterly, like engraving is 'painterly'.  That's what I particularly love, it's adding a narrative to glass which wouldn't have been existed without it.

Thanks for giving me the heads up about this posting. xxx   

[Leni]

I was thrilled to (finally) buy Lesley Pyke's piece called 'Deadly Lace' at Dulwich!    I had been coveting it since I first saw it over a year before at Cambridge.  It's a beautiful but tragic piece, showing sea turtles caught in fishing nets. 

(Excuse my awful photo.  The ones on Lesley's website are much better! http://www.lesleypyke.com/page/for_sale.htm )   

[krsilber]

Congratulations, Leni!  That's a beautiful piece.  I really like the fact that she brings awareness of the environment into her designs.  I'd forgotten that she uses a hand drill rather than copper wheels.  It's impressive what she does with them.  Inspiring, too - maybe one day I'll get around to making something of the vase I started.  The quality isn't the same using a Dremel, but it's fun anyway.

Max, so sorry to hear you broke your favorite engraved piece!  I would be crushed if I broke my favorite.  Fortunately it's on a really thick blank, but one slip of the fingers and...I hate to even think about it!

The point you raise about seeing the hand of the artist in today's work is a really good one.  With a few exceptions that's not the case with the older stuff, though sometimes you can guess at the designer or the company.  The graal technique is pretty amazing - the knowledge and skill required to reheat multiple layers of glass must be phenomenal!  That Vic must be one cool cat! 

[azelismia]

Thanks for posting that Kristi, really gorgeous collection, you got a steal with taht stag vase!