Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: 8ootneck on January 06, 2011, 08:58:12 PM
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Hi,can a anybody give us some advice as to what is the best 20th century glass book for the beginner,all replies welcome,thanks very much.
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Hello and welcome to the board. Are you interested in art glass, factory glass, pressed glass, British made, American, European, Scandinavian, Czech? There are so many books that to recommend one without knowing your area of interest might be a tad tricky, but we'll do our best. :)
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Hi Anne thanks for the fast reply,i would be interested in British made/Art Glass and European many thanks.
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One of the better books to start with IMO is "Miller's 20th Century Glass" by Andy McConnell (not to be confused with Judith Miller's 20th Century Glass). It's out of print, but I bought mine secondhand and was very happy with it. Many books will cover early 20th century glass (Gallé, Lalique, etc), but this one also pays attention to the glass made after WWII.
The only drawback is that certain areas of European glass are not very well covered in the book. It doesn't say much about postwar Czech, Dutch, German, Belgian and French glass, to name a few, so if you want to check those areas out, you'll have to do additional research.
Apart from books, I found that admiring the webposted collections of fellow members on the board is a nice way to explore and learn... and they often link to other collections as well.
Have fun browsing!
Astrid
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Thanks for the fast reply and information Astrid,i will have a look at the following book -"Miller's 20th Century Glass" by Andy McConnell,many thanks.
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Lesley Jackson's "20th Century Factory Glass" is another good and reasonably comprehensive introductory book, though published in 2000, it is obviously missing the newer information which has come to light since then. (although it was one of the first books to recognise Michael Harris' important contribution, the info. is sparse)
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As a beginner myself I'd echo what Astrid says. I've found Andy McConnell's book to be the one I return to again and again. I have also treated myself to Charles Hajdamach's 20th C British Glass book, which covers the topic in great detail. If you can get hold of it cheaply, Millers Collectables Price Guide for 2009 has over 70 pages on glass by Mark Hill which I've found useful. It's full price is £19.99 but I'd imagine it could be found for under a tenner. It doesn't cover French Belgian or German but it does give four pages or so to Czech glass, carnival glass , Scandinavian glass etc - a light taster. Similarly, Miller's little guides to Glass of the 20's & 30s and of 50s & 60s might whet your appetite. They should be findable on Ebay quite cheaply.
There is also Judith Miller's 20th century Glass book, which I have, but don't seem to use much, somehow the way it's organised doesn't seem to work so well for me, but it might be worth a look.
But before spending very much money, I'd suggest exploring this website and its links to others to get a feel for what's out there. There is a huge amount of info and expertise available on this message board and it acts as a brilliant portal into the bewildering/illuminating amount of info on the web as a whole.
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Thanks very much for all the replies and information,one more question does any off these books give you the value of the pieces,thanks.
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Value is subjective and out of date the instant it is printed, though some of them do give an idea (mostly those that were also sold in the US market).
It really depends what you want. Do you want a book for ID purposes? One to find out how glass is made? Or one for general looking and getting a feel for glass? You might be better deciding on an area or two of interest and then going for more specialised books. Almost all the books mentioned are taster books. I have them all but rarely use any of them for ID purposes, though I dribble on the pictures.
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Hi Lustrousstone,i would like to ID them as i go to car boot sales and charity shops and would like to have more knowledge in the pieces that are on offer and what they are worth,general piece off mind really,thanks.
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To be honest you're not going to find one book for that. There are/were 100s and 100s of glass companies out there that export/ed glass worldwide. The only way is to read as many books as possible, read the posts on here, search the Internet, join other boards, handle as much glass as possible and take ebay and shop attributions with a bucket of salt unless you can verify them elsewhere. There is no easy answer.
The only certainty is that glass can become addictive...
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Thanks Lustrousstone i will take everything you said on board,thanks once again for quick reply.
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Unless you want to deal in glass, the best way to feel comfortable on what to spend on a piece of glass to me is the following:
- Do I think this is a good quality piece of glass that I like and think is beautiful?
- Do I think the price asked is reasonable for the amount of appreciation I have for it?
- If the answer to both pieces is yes, then buy it.
To avoid the mistake of really overpaying, I limited what I spent on a single item initially until I'd learned more about what I really want to collect and what the prices of those pieces generally were. And as with any form of collecting, I guess, if it really makes me cry out "It must be mine!" and I can afford it easily, I just go for it, even if I don't know exactly for what price I'd be able to find it if I'd wait half a year or so. Since I still rarely buy anything over 50 euro, I don't mind if I 'overspend' by 5 or 10 euro, that's just the price of passion and collecting I guess...
After all, every computer I every bought would have been cheaper if I'd waited another few months in buying it, and every piece of really nice clothing is too expensive when it is part of the 'new collection'. It doesn't mean automatically I regret having bought those items at full price...
Astrid
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You have more money for glass if you buy second-hand clothes - while searching for bits of glass in charity shops!
To work out whether or not a bit of glass is overpriced, I generally try to work out how much it would have cost to make - in terms of the maker's training and years of experience, the complexity of the piece, fuel, location and materials.
And how much I can or can't live without it.
The more you learn about how glass is made, the better the feel you get for how good a piece is.
Go and watch every glassmaker you can find at work. (there are loads of places - and it's fascinating)
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Thanks very much for your replies astrid and chopin-liszt,i suppose you have got to start some where and it will be a learning curve hopefully not an expensive one,also will have to purchase some books that was mentioned and also study the pieces on this website,thanks again.
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Where on the planet are you?
Perhaps we can point you in the direction of glassmakers who are working nearby, so you can go and watch them.
You could also try your local library to see if they have any of these books mentioned in stock - that way you could get a different one and just borrow the ones there - or at least get a good idea of how much you like the book.
While Lesley Jackson's is called "Factory Glass" - it does take studios in under that, although not really individuals. It devotes a small section to each maker covered - well-illustrated.
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Hi chopin-liszt,i now live in whitley- bay tyne and wear and my home town is Campbeltown in scotland,thanks.
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As you're up in the north-east it'd be worth spending a little time in some of your local museums. That was a major glassmaking area and many of them have good collections of locally made glass. Also, pay a visit to the National Glass Centre at Sunderland if you can. http://www.nationalglasscentre.com They have exhibitions - there's nothing like seeing the glass closeup to get a feel for it. Books can only help so far, after that it's handling and watching and comparing that will help you learn. If you ever manage to get down to the Midlands (or if you fancy an expedition) make a visit to the Broadfield House Glass Museum http://www.dudley.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums--galleries/glass-museum where you will learn so much from what they have on display too. It all helps. ;)
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Thanks for the info Anne,will have a look into it,thanks again.