Topic: Large, heavy art glass triangle -ID = Caithness sandcast

[heartofsklo]

Art glass tringle with a Scandinavian look and feel but is un-marked as far as I can see. The back is totally clear and it measures just over 19cm tall.

[glassobsessed]

Probably a Sandcast from Caithness, shape and size is ok. There have been other examples on the board labelled as 'Dartington Innovate'.

See: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,25850.0.html

Current Caithness range: http://www.caithnessglass.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=sandcasts

See page 88/89 Caithness Glass by Mark Hill.

John

[heartofsklo]

Thanks John. I have just found a direct link to a website with similar pieces to mine stating it is Dartington, Innovate, Sandcasting.

http://www.englishchinashop.com/dartington/innovate.asp

The other pieces referred to are indeed "Caithness Glass, Sarah P Sandcasts" - Those are more pictorial.

[glassobsessed]

The recent stuff is more pictorial, the older designs (like yours) are more abstract. In the link you provided are images that are also shown in Mark Hill's book on Caithness. It appears they were all made by Caithness regardless of the marketing labels.

John

[heartofsklo]

When you say "older" John, what years or dates do you mean exactly? Were they ALL made/designed by Sarah P as the more recent ones?

There is nothing around on the internet that I can find about any of these (older) pieces whatsoever, searching for photographs or text. I can only assume that they were an extremely short run of production.

[glassobsessed]

They have been making them since 2003 in various forms and they are still being made.

If you cannot find many online perhaps it is because they are still a bit recent and comparatively few have hit the secondary market so far.

Here is another variation: Scotland's Glass website

You could also try asking Caithness, I assume they have contact details on their website but right now it's not working for me.

[heartofsklo]

I have also tried many time to get onto he Caithness website without success, I will keep trying. These are certainly attractive, retro looking pieces.

[heartofsklo]

As I posted earlier, this is a piece of Dartington, Innovate. Here is the official reply I have recieved from Dartington Crystal

"The piece below is actually from Dartington Crystal, and sold under the now discontinued 'Innovate' range, which was manufactured in China and then imported to the UK. Sarah Peterson, who designs the Sandcast ranges was, at the time, employed and based at Dartington Crystal and developed this range, hence the similarity to the Caithness sandcasts which we now sell. Dartington bought Caithness in 2006, and it was at this point that Sarah moved back up to Scotland and started to manufacturer the items in their current form."

So all is now clear 

[glassobsessed]

That really is clearer, very useful to have an authoritative source.

Not the first time Dartington Crystal have been helpful either.

John

[chopin-liszt]

The Sarah P. sandcasts really are wonderful. She trained with Bertil Vallien and it shows.

"Innovate" was after the other very short-lived enterprise, "Dartington Studio Glass", which was a top-quality range,  incredibly expensive to produce, and was made in the uk.

I do have a massive Innovate vase - it was a TKMaxx purchase on the grounds of it being Dartington Innovate to have a record and an example, and I have to say, it looks like Chinese mass produced. The quality is simply not there.