Thanks, John, for sharing my pain! I used the Wayback Machine to look at some old iterations of their web site, which appears to have been created around 2000 and in 2007 their site changed to very simple site with three links (a gateway site) to the glass maker (Laugharne Glass Studio), a pottery shop (Laugharne Pottery) and a restaurant (Portreeve Restaurant). The 2007 glass studio was the same as the earlier studio, the gateway link led to their old home page. The site then became dormant in 2012, changed from a gateway site to a window installer's web site around 2013 and then became suspended in 2017. Guessing that the art glass company closed around 2012, maybe downsized or suffered other changes and a commercial glass company bought the domain. Here is what was on the main page of their web site from September 2000 until around October 2012:
"Laugharne Glass Market Square, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire,
Wales, UK. SA33 4SA Tel: 01994 427476
We are world renowned originators of fine designs in hallmarked Silver Overlay. This unique work is made to the highest quality, making each piece eminently collectable for the discerning buyer.
Our small team of craftspeople give dedicated and personal attention to every detail to ensure that we maintain the highest standards and value.
All the processes, from original design to the final polish, are completed in the Laugharne Glass Studios, only the Hallmark (your guarantee of the standard of silver) is impressed in the Sheffield Assay Office.
This rare and exclusive Silver Overlay has a quality and thickness that surpasses even the antique overlays of the 19th century. This is why it is sought so much by collectors world wide. No illustration can do full justice to the richness and satisfying “feel” of this high quality product.
Our range of Silver Overlay designs include perfume bottles, decanters, vases, bowls and other special designs.
We can also produce personalised designs for that very special occasion, trophy or corporate gift.
Our New range of Handmade Iridescent Crystal is decorated with a stylised design of poppies, and now includes three new Table Lamp designs."
From the "Gallery and Studio" page:
"It is here, in Dylan Thomas’s “timeless, mild, beguiling island of a town” that you will find
Laugharne Glass Studios
situated in the old Market Square of Laugharne close to the Norman castle. Here you can visit our studio and watch the glass-blowers skilfully fashioning pieces from the molten “metal” in the glare of the furnaces.
We use only the age old traditional methods in manufacture, and because of this each piece of exquisite studio glass is unique and has its own individual quality.
Our shop stocks a splendid mouth watering range of our glass from tiny pendants to imposing vases. We also make our own exclusive stoneware mugs and goblets. Here you can find a unique souvenir to carry away as a momento of your visit.
The Portreeve's
Restaurant and Bar
Our Restaurant and bar overlooks the Market Square and the ancient Town Hall of Laugharne. Attractively furnished with displays of our Glass, antique furniture, plates and pottery, the atmosphere is welcoming and relaxed with friendly service. It offers a delicious choice of the very best Welsh Cuisine using only the best local ingredients. Our well stocked fully licenced bar is open lunch time and evening.
"
From the New Pieces page:
" The "Poppies" Range
Our New range of Handmade Iridescent Crystal is decorated with
a stylised design of poppies, and now includes
three new Table Lamp designs (see bottom of this page)."
The Wayback Machine does not go back before September 2000, so that could be when the site was created or it is just not archived further back than that. I have found references to work by this studio in the 1990s, but nothing before that. Still trying to ferret out information from their old web presence.
If you want to see when their web site looked like:
https://web.archive.org/web/20040830180930/http://www.laugharneglass.com/The gateway site:
https://web.archive.org/web/20071222053240/http://www.laugharneglass.com/I think that this company started mainly as a pottery in 1971 but also offered lead glass paperweights before taking on high end art glass manufacture. Reading between the lines.....
BTW, Laugharne is pronounced "Larn".
Topic: Laugharne Glass co.? (Read 846 times)
