Topic: ID Help: NZ Villas Gallery signed piece 1990 or 1998 possibly O’Leary?

[Dorismite]

Hi - I have inherited this lovely little glass piece but can’t work out the signature on it. It was suggested that it might be O’Leary? I think the date reads either 1998 or 1990 and the sticker is the Villas Gallery that used to exist in Wellington.

I emailed Garry Nash thinking he was still at his Auckland studio (so I could take it in) and he said that while the colours looked like his, he didn’t know the signature. Unfortunately he’s now based in Ohakune and I’m in Auckland so I can’t take it in to show him.

Any tips or guidance would be truly appreciated in trying to work out who created this little beauty.
Thank you so much.

[gaspy1]

Joan O'Leary was a student at Whanganui under Tony Kuepfer - one of the first group of graduates in Design from Whanganui.  In 1989 she worked at Inglewood with the Simpsons and Andrew Williams, then from 1992 Joan worked with Mandy Angus in New Plymouth. In 1995 she worked at UCOL Whanganui as technical assistant for David Traub.  She subsequently married; her rural location forced her to give up glassblowing.

This piece is typical of the work produced at Glassplant, Inglewood by the Simpsons and Andrew Williams. I suggest the date is most likely to be 1989 or 1990, rather than a decade later as you suggest.

[Dorismite]

Thank you for the detailed reply.

I couldn’t read the number at the end of the date properly but thought it was 1990 so that definitely helps.

Would the signature more likely be ‘Glassplant’ rather than ‘O’Leary’? There is a curved letter at the start before it gets murky in the middle part so that would fit.

I will do some searching and more reading now that I have an idea of where to look.

I found some info on your very helpful blog and some beautiful photos some I will delve deeper.

Thank you again - muchly appreciated.

[gaspy1]

Joan's frequent signature was J with oan in the loop of the J, rather than her full name.  I can't see the signature clearly in your photos, not helped by its being upside down!  I'll happily look at a more detailed image, but Glassplant is definitely a possible signature.  You can email me an image at spark@xtra.co.nz

[chopin-liszt]

  If you rub a little talcum powder over the marks, they come up much better for photography. Lovely piece. Welcome to the board.

[Anne]

Dorismite, welcome to the board. It would be helpful if you could make your images larger please, so we can see the detail. If you aim for 700px along the longer edge they should fit our file size limits. Have a look at my Techie Tips Help post on resizing images here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,34093.0.html. If you get stuck and need help drop me a line to support @ glassmessages.com (close up the spaces).

[Dorismite]

Thank you for the suggestion and help. I preshrunk the images on my phone before loading them so now I’ll definitely figure out how to load them using these notes. That will make a big difference for this newbie