Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: WhatHo! on October 20, 2014, 06:18:53 PM
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It has always been said Vicente Boffo and Ettore Boffo left Whitefriars and went to Mdina together in 1970.
With my on-going research I can say for certain this is not correct and in fact Ettore went before Vicente. I’m not sure how long before but quite possibly in 1969.
Here are the details.
27/9/69 - At Whitefriars Ettore stops being Vicente servitor and was replaced by Jim Munnelly. After this there is no sign of Ettore in any of the WF workbooks.
12/5/70 - Malta Times Mdina article, Ettore is mentioned a lot with a pic of Ettore working in a chair. No mention of Vicente.
20/6/70 - Vicente leaves Whitefriars.
14/8/71 - Munnelly stops being servitor to Ray Annenberg. (Joins Mdina to fill the gap after the early death of Ettore)
The Malta Times article which I quote; “Mr Dobson hoped they will be allowed to employ another ex-patriot craftsmen in the near future” has to be referring to the arrival of Vicente.
There are also some other interesting facts in this article that state Ettore was a partner with Eric Dobson and Michael Harris and also that his title was Production Manager.
I hope this helps with timings at Mdina, Wolfie
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What a great piece of research Wolfie !
Perhaps they weren't 'allowed' to employ both father and son at the start (some sort of limit on workers from abroad perhaps) , that's why one went out before the other .
The article in the 'Times of Malta' does state ...." The concept is the brainchild of Michael Harris, 36, who launched the glass together with his partners Eric Dobson ,37 and Ettore Boffo, 28 ."
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Newspaper evidence may be subject to journalistic licence, so should be taken with a pinch of salt; partner may or may not be true along with whether or not Ettore was production manager. You have to big up a three man band...
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Hi,
Perhaps Ettore was headhunted from Whitefriars with the promised title of 'Production Manager'...... to get his father Vicente the offer might have been 'God'.... :)
The Whitefriars dates found by Wolfie Rayner have given a great insight into start up of Mdina along with Baked Beans 'Malta Times' article.
Regards,
Patrick.
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I'm not disputing the value of the information just advising caution. I've spent far too many years in publishing and looking at press releases where the facts never get in the way of a good story
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I agree Christine but its good to have facts concerning the dates. It has long been said that the Boffo's went out together and this has now been proved wrong. Who knows what position was offered to Ettore, Production Manager over the trainees maybe?
The only person that might know some details is Jim Munnelly and I have a friend that knows him and 'yes' Im already asking!!!
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Thank you Wolfie, very much appreciated :)
I shall print this off and stick it in my book - these were my previous questions on this information
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,45680.msg256023.html#msg256023
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,41620.msg256071.html#msg256071
m
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where the facts never get in the way of a good story
Or for that matter a deadline...
Having been peripherally involved in several incidents that made the press (mostly cave rescues) I know that what was printed was at best gibberish. Sometimes as a result of laziness but generally it seemed that objective truth was irrelevant and just got in the way of the story and the agenda of the reporter or editor.
John
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With reference Christine's comment on journalistic licence, indeed clearly this sentence, from earlier in the thread, is not correct (see the underlined bit) according to Mark Hill's book ...
'The article in the 'Times of Malta' does state ...." The concept is the brainchild of Michael Harris, 36, who launched the glass together with his partners Eric Dobson ,37 and Ettore Boffo, 28 ."'
... as the 'glass was launched' in 1968 by Michael Hill and Eric Dobson before Ettore Boffo arrived.
page 19 of Mark Hill's book says
'Even though production had not begun, the business had been officially announced to the trade in England and Europe, and the company had to be promoted. To this end, both Dobson and Michael had attended the annual International Gifts Fair held in Blackpool in February 1968.'
And on page 20
'... In late summer 1968, the furnaces were lit and word went around that the new glass company was about to begin work,...'
m
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Thanks Flying Free, I hadn't seen that previous thread. There is obviously a mistake in Mark Hills book concerning the arrival of Vicente, the workbooks are not wrong :) Im also friends with Mick Payne who was a 'boy' on V Boffos chair at WF and he arrived 11/4/70 and became good friends with Vicente.
Also Mark Hill talks about repetitive tedious work Vicente was doing at WF, implying that's why he left etc, I think this statement is not exactly correct either. He did make Thorn light shades but Vicente was making (and doubtless helping with the design of) the very exciting 'Peter Wheeler' Studio Range in 1969-70. And these designs of course had influences over several Mdina pieces he made.
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Hi, I hate to discuss the death of someone but is there any documented proof of when Ettore Boffo actually died? I have just read this statement from Elizabeth Harris,
"In 1971, Michael and I finally decided to sell the business and return to the UK. One of those who purchased shares and became a new owner was a former employee, Mr Joe Said. Mr Boffo remained working at M’dina until Mr Mintoff (added: = 1971) came to power, when he was given an ultimatum – either work under the Chinese or leave the island. He decided to stay but unfortunately, and all too soon, his son Etore developed leukaemia and died a year later. His father was heartbroken."
This suggests it was 1972. I am hearing 1970, 71 and 72 and I just wanted clear this up.
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WhatHo! if the '1971' date you mention has come from my post on the other thread about the Chalice, I corrected that and apologised for my typo on that thread. I also mentioned on that thread, when John corrected me that it was 1970, that he was right to correct me because these things get misquoted :)
If you have seen 1971 mentioned elsewhere then please ignore my comment above, but if it was in reference to what I wrote, I was quoting Mark Hill's book incorrectly.
The date given in Mark Hill's book is December 1970 (source: Mdina Glass & Isle of Wight Studio Glass - Mark Hill, Page 26)
m
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I have found the date of death of Ettore from Malta Gov.mt and it was on 28/12/71. This means when Jim Munnelly arrived Ettore was still alive. ..Edited..
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I have only just discovered the name of Jim Munnelly, does anybody have any known examples of his work?
Clearly, if he was somebody of advanced skills, working there in the early days, it is more than likely his work has been mistaken for that of somebody else.
It would be really good to find out a lot more about him.
My best friend at school died of leukaemia in '69. There really wasn't anything anybody could do about it back then. She was only ill for 3 weeks; she died shortly after they'd finally managed to diagnose her.
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Ettore may not have been extremely ill up until the last few weeks of his life. In the 60's and 70's treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia was not available as Sue mentions. We lost our little son, an Uncle and a dear friend to this terrible disease despite them appearing well up until the last few weeks of their life. Even today this is one of the least successfully treated forms of leukaemia.
So it may well be that Ettore was working well and producing glass up until the Autumn of 1971.
Modified: I see you have edited your post Wolfie, and so my posting is just to confirm the fact that it could well be that Ettore was capable of working and producing good glass art late into the year 1971.
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Thanks for advising me about Leukaemia I wasn't aware how aggressive it can be.
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Jim Munnelly pieces after he left Mdina can found, a few have turned up on eBay recently that are signed by him. Quite a few paperweights and this, http://www.result.ly/result/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXRzeS5jb20vbGlzdGluZy8xNzM4MjQ3NDUvamltLW11bm5lbGx5LXN0dWRpby12YXNlLXNpZ25lZC1hcnQ=
Also check ebay completed listings.
Example from Mdina I have no idea.
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I'm really sorry to hear of your loss Rosie , you are brave to even talk about it here . My dad has been fighting a less aggressive form of cancer for over a decade now and it's dreadful .
I was so sad to discover, recently, that Vicente lost another son in a car accident . How much grief can one person(s) endure ??
There is one glimmer of hope , the 'Times of Malta' article about Mdina Glass said that Ettore had two sons . I hope they are doing fine and perhaps they might, one day, make contact with this message board !......This being a message in a glass bottle ;)
Kindest Regards, Mike.
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Hi, l would like to rectify all that has been stated by Elizabeth Harris regarding my father and brother Vincenzo and Ettore Boffo.
Liz was correct only when she said my father was heart broken after Ettore passed away.
Ettore died on the 29th of December 1971 and my father was not given an ultimatum by the goverment it was his choice to leave Mdina Glass and go to the MDG as he found it very hard to stay there after Ettore passed away.Mike Harris left late 70s,they were at my wedding in 1973 and left Malta some years later maybe 1978.,returned after some years and started a small factory in Gozo.
l'm am proud of my father and brother and will be happy to give any information regarding them and their work,my memory is still good !!
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How very kind of you to register and respond here. thank-you very much indeed.
I am much heartened to learn that the masterglassmaker Vicente Boffo, who we all very much admire here, still had a daughter to love after he lost his son, but I am sorry that you lost your brother in such a horrible way.
We did not know about you.
Apologies if anything wrong said here has upset you; our aim is to find out the truth about the work your father and brother did, to get their work and their true place in art history, as the important characters they were, recorded for posterity. I hope you will forgive the errors we have made so far.
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l'm am proud of my father and brother and will be happy to give any information regarding them and their work,my memory is still good !!
Hi Maria,
It is so good that you have posted here and yes you should be rightly proud of your Father and Ettore, they were masters of their art !
I have been collecting his wonderful animals and they are admired by me everyday.
My friend Wolfie is going to have many questions for you ..............
Once again thank you,
Patrick.
Ps , you may not have seen my topic about his animals here http://www.whitefriars.com/smf1/index.php/topic,5513.0.html
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Hi Maria, its so wonderful that you have posted here and I am absolutely thrilled. I am an avid collector of your fathers work and I have done extensive research into your Father and Ettore whilst at Whitefriars and after. I visited Malta 3 years ago and Joseph Said at Mdina Glass said that he would try and put me in contact with you but unfortunately I was flying back to the UK the next day so it couldn't be arranged.
I would love to be in touch so if you could be kind enough to email me that would be fantastic, my email address is glassaspirations AT aol DOT com [Mod, to protect against spam harvesting programs it is best, for initial contact, to use only the "email icons" beneath the member details on the left. For now, the full email address in the text has been changed with respect to the "@" and "."]
In the mean time here is a picture of your Father with Mick Payne (you may have taken this pic?) and also what I think must be you with your arms around Vicente? These were taken when Mick visited you in 1984.
Kind regards Wolfie
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Hello Maria, we are all so pleased to receive your message.
As you must have gathered, we hold the work your Father and Brother produced, in very high regard, and have been struggling to find more information that is truthful and accurate about their history.
You have every right to be proud of their work and I suspect that there will be many of us looking forward to more information from you, either in the form of answers to our questions, or just simply information that you feel you would like to share with us about their work and history.
Thank you so much for getting in touch.
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Hi Maria,
Thanks so much for getting in touch ! :D
I'm over the moon !
Cheers , Mike.
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Hi all,many thanks for the welcome you gave me.l tried posting a long reply but l don't think it allowed me.l am not very good with the computer so l hope it comes up,if not l will try post another.
Kind regards Maria Rosaria
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Hi,back again !
The last posting went through so here l go.
First of all l must apologize to Elizabeth Harris,l was so taken aback with her statement and too quick in answering that l made a mistake as well.They were at my engagement party and not wedding,so their leaving Malta maybe correct but for sure they returned to open a small factory in Gozo.
Ettore joined Mdina Glass in October 1969 as production manager,my father Vincenzo Boffo (Vincent) joined Ettore in July 1970 as head craftman and to teach the young Maltese,Joseph Said was one of the first boys to work there. The Boffo were called in when orders started coming in and production needed to be increased,Mike Harris was an artist and as such each peace of his work was one of and as you all know production need many of the same kind as requested by the orders.
In February 1970 Ettore was very sick,Doctors gave him 10 days,but we had him for 10 more months,he worked on and off till the end.
August 1970 Jim Munelli joined Mdina Glass. My father Vincenzo could not bear working at Mdina Glass any longer after Ettore passed away and when approached by the MDG if if would consider taking a post with them he accepted.He never received an "Ultimatum " so much so he lived the rest of his life in Malta.Ettore children,two boys Peter and Steve and his wife Renate continued coming every year to stay with us,it was Steve last week when he was over to tell me about this site and show me some of the comments.
Some of the work like the Dolphin,fish and others were made by both Boffo's as an extra allowed them,to make in their own time ones a week. l hope this will be of help to some, l am ready to give any other information you may want to ask.
Thank you again for all the nice words spoken about my dearest father and brother,it filled me with joy to read them after so many years.
Best regars to all,thank you again for the warm welcome
Maria Rosaria
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Hi Maria,
Once again you are a shining star ................ Thank you so much for re posting your lost message.
This-afternoon Wolfie was going to phone Jim Munelli and tell him the news about your contact. Unfortunately Wolfie has had to go out on an urgent mission so he will probably do it tonight.
I have a beautiful elephant that your father made when he worked for Whitefriars. It was made for the lady who was the manager of the factory shop.
Do you have any of his glass animals ? It would be wonderful to see pictures ...... :)
All best wishes,
Patrick.
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Hi,sorry but l have to make a correction,Ettore was taken ill in February 1971 not 1970.
Patrick,l had a look at your topic,it took me back in time you have a lovely collection,made me regret not keeping more of the glass my father kept bringing home............... l gave so much away,used to tell him stop bringing things we have no more space!! How silly l was.
Patrick did you never have a sitting dog? Or lizard ? They were made in the same way as the standing horses.
l would love to hear from Jim Munelli,he surprised me by turning up at my front door last summer,have lost his address maybe Wolfie could pass on to me his Email. I will need my husband's help for the photos and to post them, l am not very good with the computer,surprised l managed this far.
Good evening to all
Maria Rosaria
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Thank-you so much for persevering with the evils of computery stuff so that you can tell us all this! :)
Here's a couple of pictures of some Art Glass from MDG, I hope at least some of it was made by your Dad. 8)
The third image is of jugs made at Mdina.
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Patrick did you never have a sitting dog? Or lizard ? They were made in the same way as the standing horses.
Maria Rosaria
Hi ,
No, I only have an MDG sitting dog........( Similar to the image of Baked Beans dogs below )
However I have spoken to a Whitefriars gaffer that knew and watched Boffo making glass. He remembers him making lizards and he also remembers your dad selling them for £ 2.00 each ( for his beer money ).
Best wishes,
Patrick.
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Welcome Maria and a big thank you for helping to tie some loose ends up we have gone from knowing virtually nothing for years to where we are now.
A big thank you also must go to Wolf Rayner for his tireless work helping to put all the jigsaw pieces together others too of course like Patrick and Mike for sticking with it.
Maria I have a photo of a sitting dog in amber with a MDG label if you would care to have a look.
Chris
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Hi Maria,
So pleased to hear that Ettore's sons found this website ! Please thank them from all of us here !!
I have always wanted to know where your father and brother worked before they made the brave step of coming here to England . Did they work in Murano ?
It's very kind of you to offer to answer some of our questions and it's so lovely to hear from you and to read your comments :)
Thanks again, Mike
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Hi Maria, the number I had for Jim is no longer working and I just got his mobile number, I will be contacting him soon. I will asking him for his email address but you need to contact me to receive that address, obviously I cant post it on here. Just click little mail envelope icon near my name and you can contact me from there. Wolfie
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Hello Sue,
l am over whelmed by what l keep on reading about my father,Vincenzo and brother Ettore,there is so much,new things keep coming up and pictures that take me back to a long time ago.l am happy to see that at a close look you can distinguish their work.My father was so skilled and at the same time very humble,he always said that in his work every day you learn something,when making a piece of glass if it was not perfect he had the capability to turn it into something different.
The Mdina jugs and small jug l remember well but do not recall the square bottle having a handle.
Some of the MDG in the photo may have been made by my father l do not recognize his finishing touch in others.
Hi Mike,
my father started working glass at a very young age in Naples,his parents gave up when he just did not want to know about going to school.When my brothers were young they lived for a while in Murano where he worked and returned to Naples just before l was born.After managing a factory for many years and having his own production within the factory,when it closed down he decided to move,that is when in 1969 he started working in UK. Ettore had started working and learning glass making under my father,became a good craftman and was tops at making the swans.
Hi Cris,
The dog is one of his, l had one but mine broke years back like other things,not by my children by different maids l had.
l have now secured most of his things in a cabinet,under lock and key. (better late than never ).l will in time post photos of what l have.
Best regards to all,Maria
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Hi Wolfie,l have sent you an email,l hope you have received it.Please let me know.
Many thanks,Maria
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;D
Your Father's finishing touch was very fine and delicate, Maria. It is easy to tell apart from less experienced work.
I know he is not responsible for finishing the rather lumpy and lopsided bits, but I did wonder if he was teaching somebody during the making of some of them - getting the apprentice to form the shapes, but perhaps he did some of the decorating?
On the other hand, the grid pattern he favoured might well have been the way he taught apprentices to do it, and it's one that perhaps isn't too difficult to copy, especially when taught by such a master. :)
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Hello again Maria, what a lot of interesting information you are giving us, and so much help.
Most of my collection is Glass animals and birds. Amongst them I have a dog that is the same shape as Chris's, but it is in green glass. Sadly there is no label, but do you know if your Father made these in other colours or just in the Amber coloured glass?
We are all looking forward to seeing pictures of your collection, and sharing ours with you... and I will just HAVE to find one of Ettore's swans to add to my collection!! You have given me a new project!
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Ettore had started working and learning glass making under my father,became a good craftman and was tops at making the swans.
I have been researching Patricks Whitefriars Lehr sheets and Ettore certainly did make swans, here in the 1967 week 24 he made 680!! These would have been in either Twilight, Arctic Blue, Flint or Ruby.
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Oh Wow! I was thinking of Maltese Swans, assuming they were different to Whitefriars... I have just started to collect those... might that mean that I may have one of Ettore's , and if so, how would I know?
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Thanks Maria,
We so much need your help here ...it's great !
There are quite a few Whitefriars swan collectors that are members of this website so they will have to work out how to identify an Ettore swan. There are subtle differences in how they are made , depending on who made them ...so it's going to be an interesting challenge ;)
Thanks very much for the information about Murano and Naples. Did your father work for the same company in Murano or did he move from one company to another ? It might be possible to identify some of his early Murano animals if we knew which company he worked for . There is a fabulous website here called the Murano zoo which is devoted to animals made by all the different companies in Murano , you may have seen it before but if you havn't just click on the blue link below ....there is page after page, all from different time periods...the companies that produced them are all listed down the left hand side and you just click on them to see what comes up !
https://sites.google.com/site/muranozoo/
Also do you have the name of the factory in Naples where your father was manager , it would be interesting to see if any of the members of this message board have examples of the glass that was produced there.
Thanks very much ! Cheers, Mike.
P.s. Sorry Rosie our posts crossed !
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Thank you for the information on the amber dog.
Chris
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Hi Mike,the factory where my father worked in Murano was different from the one in Naples.The one l remember and was the last is Vetreria Auriemma,the production he had for himself was on work for chandeliers,in the 1960 they seemed to be very fashionable,there were some made up with leaves and flowers and also arms in glass.I will have to look through some old papers l still have and note books of my father ,with notes of different recipes for glass, in case there maybe some names of factories.
Thank you for the Muranozoo site,had a glance and it is fascinating but l don't know any of the names there.
Best regards,Maria
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Hello Rosie,the swans are very different,Mdina and Whitefriars,l have a ruby one which Ettore made as soon as l can l will post a photo.Maybe that might help you,the Mdina's were much smaller infact l don't know if they still make.There were also green dogs like the one Chris has,so it could well be one of the MDG Hope this can help you
Best regards,Maria.
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Thanks Maria,
I shall do a bit of searching on the internet to see if I can find anything about Vetreria Auriemma . It will be great to see an Ettore swan !
Ta, Mike.
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I shall do a bit of searching on the internet to see if I can find anything about Vetreria Auriemma .
I have had a good look for the above but no luck, Vetreria means Glasshouse and Auriemma is a surname, thats about as much as I can find out.
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Thank you for your reply Maria, here is the green dog, very similar to Chris's Amber one, but the label has long since been washed off.
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I thought you might like to see the rabbit I have with a label Malta Craft Glass (CGL)( I have two, but only one has a label, but they are virtually identical apart from minor differences with any hand made piece.)
Perhaps someone can confirm the maker?
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Hi,
I have just read in the Malta Times dated 20th June 1977 that Vincenzo Boffo along with three other Italian artists exhibited some of his glass at the Italian Cultural Institute, Valetta.
The exhibition ended on Saturday July 2nd.
I would have loved to have seen his work. :)
Cheers,