super glass

Perfume Bottle and Stopper, Stuart Akroyd, signed J S A, late C20th

Price: £75

A perfume bottle and stopper, the body of slender baluster like form, a flat tear drop shape panel to one of the sides, the stopper bead shape and flaring inwards towards the base, the clear glass mottled with a purple roundel, the base flat with the incised initials ‘J’ ‘S’ ‘A’.

The signature here, which occurs on other pieces by the same artist, is for Stuart Akroyd, a celebrated English glassmaker who worked from studios in Sunderland then Sheffield from 1991 to 2021(see image 8). Born in 1966, Akroyd studied at Sunderland University, following this with a Post Graduate Diploma at the International Glass Centre, Brierley Hill. After working as the head maker at Lakeland Crystal, Cumbria he went on to establish his own business, Stuart Akroyd Glass Designs, in 1991, renaming it Stuart Akroyd Contemporary Glass when he moved from Sunderland to Sheffield in 2000. Best known for his sculptural pieces which were inspired by the ‘Skylon’ structure, the well known symbol of the 1951 Festival of Britain, Akroyd also worked on a smaller scale and there a number of small bottles by him of which this is an excellent example. The glass effects are skilful and inventive and the flat panel to the body is both decorative and functional, allowing the level of fluid in the bottle to be seen clearly. Many of his sculptural pieces were made in his later Sheffield workshop which, with its greater space, allowed him to employ the techniques necessary to create them, so it is a reasonable guess that this bottle and its companions belong to the first phase of his output.

Cameo art glass Vase decorated lilies, Jonathan Harris Glass, signed and dated 2006

Price: £35

An art glass vase of upright beaker form curving inwards towards the spreading foot and outwards towards the top rim, the pale green ground intricately decorated using cameo techniques and gilt metal flakes with a design of lily leaves and reads issuing from a stylised rocky base, the ground speckled to resemble water. The base carries an etched signature for the artist ‘Jonathan Harris’ ‘Stourbridge’ ‘England’ ‘2006’ and there is also a label for the studio ‘Jonathan Harris’ ‘Studio Glass’ ‘Ironbridge’.

Born in 1965 Jonathan Harris (see image 13) is one of the sons of the famous glassmaker Michael Harris who founded Mdina glass in 1968 and then Isle of Wight Glass in 1972. Jonathan worked with his Father in the Isle of Wight studio and is said, with his Father’s help, to have blown a glass fish, aged eight. After studying glass at Stourbridge college and a long spell at Isle of Wight Glass, where he became managing director 1992, Jonathan and his wife Alison set up their own studio in the Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire in 2000 being given permission to establish their own premises within the Coalport China Museum complex.

The aim of the studio was to assemble a highly talented team of glassmakers to develop complex and intricate glass making techniques drawing inspiration from such designers as Galle and Tiffany but also, like his Father, from the natural world. A wide variety of influences can be seen including Gothic, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. It is perhaps the second of these which is most closely seen here and the technique is one resembling cameo glass where the surface of the glass is skilfully carved by hand through layers of enamel colours, 24ct gold & sterling silver leaf to reveal an intricate design in outstanding detail. All the art glass pieces are unique and all hand signed by Jonathan Harris himself making this vase an impressive example of his studio’s output.