Topic: Mdina or Mtarfa Glass? ID = Valletta Glass

[Nannycamera]

Hi, this is my first post on the Board and I wanted to ask a question please.

I have been a frequent visitor to Malta since the late 70's and always buy a piece or two of Maltese glass while I am there. I purchased these two yellow glass vases about 10-15 years ago and until recently believed they were from the Mdina factory. They are not signed as I always have a browse round the seconds as you never know what you might find and I do remember being very pleased at the time.

I recently sent a picture of the vases to the Mdina factory in Malta to ask if they would be able to provide any information about them and received a reply that they were not Mdina. It is possible I purchased them from another factory on the Island but I wanted a second opinion please. I wondered if they might be Mtarfa Glass and did try to contact the factory but unfortunately received no response.

I have not seen this design before or since and wonder if anyone could help. Thank you.

[glassobsessed]

Welcome to the forum.

I think Mtarfa may be your best bet, they were never afraid to experiment with unusual colour combinations. Matching the shapes can help to pin down a maker too. This vase was made at Mtarfa and has the same shape as your round one: Click here for link

John

[Nannycamera]

Hi John

Thank you for your reply. I did think they might be Mtarfa but wanted to double check as I was so sure I had found them in the Mdina factory.  I like them just as much no matter where they were made and although they are not signed I can find no fault with them and I have looked very closely.  Kind regards Rita

[WhatHo!]

Hi Nanny, Im sure Mtarfa is now closed or it been takeover/renamed Valletta Glass. Paul Said start Mtarfa and now runs Valletta. This might be your point of contact, if you can get hold of him. We have tried before with no luck
Is that gold aventurine in the glass?

[Patrick]

Hi Rita,
 Did you by any chance visit Malta Decorative Glass or Craft Glass Ltd ? 

WhatHo and I collect their glass and wonder if you have any pieces.......  it would be wonderful if you do.

Best wishes,

Patrick.

[Nannycamera]

Hi Patrick and Whatho,

Thank you for your replies. The metallic stripes are more coppery than gold.

I am not sure which factories you are referring to. We always visit as many factories as we can, some years they are open and other years they appear to have closed down. I have a Valletta piece and some Phoenicia Glass as well as Mtarfa and Mdina.

Regards Rita

[Patrick]

Hi Rita,

If you read all pages of the WhatHo topic here you will see a picture of the factory. http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,58498.0.html

At the time it was the largest glass factory on Malta.

Cheers,

Patrick.

Ps, if you then read many other MDG topics you will see some of the glass they made.

[Nannycamera]

Hi again, I have been reading up on MDG and Craft Glass and saw the photo of the factory and some examples of the glass they produced. Both myself and husband are certain we have never visited the factory as it would have already closed down by 1979 when we first started going together to Malta. I do recall seeing odd glass pieces for sale in those days with the MDG labels on them in some shops around Valletta and having now seen some examples of the glass I can see the differences from Mdina. Would I be right in saying that these pieces were not signed? It was nice to learn something new and one of the reasons I joined the message board. I even had a google up and found a couple of swordfishes and some vases for sale on Ebay Australia that someone had just unearthed in an old unopened crate from the 70's and am pretty sure I also saw a small fish or animal sell on UK Ebay in the past few weeks as I remember seeing it was crimped and thought that looked odd.  We have always visited the various glass factories around Ta Qali but I do recall once years ago trying to find a glass factory on Manoel Island which I had seen on a leaflet but it had already closed down by then.  I was pretty certain I had found the yellow vases in the Mdina factory but as my hubby reminded me, we would visit as many factories as we could around Ta Qali including Mtarfa so I suppose I must have got them there.  Thank you again for your advice. Regards Rita

[Patrick]

Hi,
 I bought a couple of those fish that were found in Australia,  also the vases discussed here were found in an unopened box ........ http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,59258.0.html

Interesting that you remember seeing the labels all those years ago.

Regards, Patrick.

[Nannycamera]

Hi Patrick

The two green swordfish and vases I saw on Australia Ebay are currently for sale on a buy it now. They must have found another crate!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pair-GREEN-MDG-VINTAGE-Malta-Decorative-Glass-Blown-Vase-Swordfish-Handmade-70s-/252055556930?hash=item3aafae9342

Regarding the labels, I do have quite a good memory which is why I was surprised that I had mistaken Mtarfa's factory for Mdina. I know them both well and would have placed a bet (if I was a gambling person) that they were found in the Mdina factory. Maybe I should try contacting Said via Valetta Glass as WhatHo suggested.
 
Regards Rita