Hi,
This issue has some information about Wedgwood and King's Lynn glass, an on-line automated system for dating Victorian English glass, something about Glass Toothpick Holders, and our usual features of glass on ebay, glass training and events in the near future, and some new books about glass that you may have missed.

Welcome to all the new readers receiving my Glass Newsletter for the first time, I hope you find it interesting and useful.

Since my last newsletter I bought a new computer (hence the delay - sorry). Somewhere along the line I lost a whole month of new members for the Glass Newsletter list, so if any members of your own glass community didn't receive this Newsletter, then I've lost them from my list. The link to join again is at the bottom of this Newsletter.

1: Dating Victorian glass:
How quickly can you date a piece of English glass which has a diamond-shaped registration lozenge on it? Tony Hayter has provided a website where you can just fill in the numbers and click for the anwer. Try it here: http://1st.glassman.com/lozengetranslator.html

2: Wedgwood Glass:
Wedgwood, who have been renowned for their pottery for centuries, are now part of a merged company with Waterford Glass of Ireland. But did you know that their first venture into the glass industry was when they bought Ronald Stennett-Willson's fledgling company Kings Lynn Glass in 1969? Ronald continued to manage it for them until he retired in 1980; but it was closed down in 1988 not long after Wedgwood merged with Waterford Glass. Some major designers played a part in designing glass for Wedgwood/Kings Lynn Glass. If you would like to read more there's a new article on the Glass Encyclopedia at http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/Wedgwoodglass.html and an excellent book by Susan Tobin called Wedgwood Glass.

3: Glass Toothpick Holders -
We have a new page on the Glass Encyclopedia about Glass Toothpick holders which you can find at http://www.encyclopedia.netnz.com/toothpickglass.html. I hope you find it interesting. By the way, the number of visitors to the Glass Encyclopedia website has gone over 3 million! Many thanks for helping us get there.

4: Did you know -
Pyrex glass has been around since the 1920s, it is always marked and fairly easy to date. And yet it is still very very cheap. Old and unusual pieces turn up in markets and second-hand shops all the time. I was looking at a price guide and unfortunately the recommended prices for most Pyrex glassware are low. Some of the early Pyrex glass teapots can fetch about US$100 but these are the exceptions. The only item that I could see that is really valuable is the glass iron, produced in 1946, and that can fetch nearly a thousand dollars. I thought I'd mention it - so we can all keep an eye out for one of those!

5: Around New Zealand:
I recently toured the North Island of New Zealand (another reason this Newsletter is late!) and visited all the antique and collectibles shops I could find. During that whole week I saw no more than five items in Davidson's Cloud Glass - and yet very few years ago there was plenty of Cloud Glass here. It has become so rare that its cheaper to buy it on ebay than to buy it here.
I did find a pair of stunning Davidson's lemon pearline dishes (often called vaseline glass) in a shape and size I haven't seen before (William and Mary pattern). Since I bought two of them, I thought I would give other collectors a chance to own one, so I've put one up for sale on ebay - you can see it at ebay #2606721267.

6: Art glass from New Zealand on ebay:

Peter Raos
- a millifiori paperweight in the Vincent Van Gogh series on ebay #2606708486
- a red Star o' the Sea marine paperweight on ebay #2606684260


Peter Viesnik three lovely paperweights and a tall perfume bottle:
- Seascape undersea paperweight with fish on ebay #2606697825
- Floral Posy paperweight on ebay #2606713380
- cala lily paperweight - on ebay #2606682978
- tall perfume bottle - on ebay #2606681844


Keith Mahy - a classical shaped perfume bottle with masterly blue and silver pulled trails - on ebay #2606697321

Gary Nash - while unpacking some boxes for my Glass Museum Studio I came across this neat little perfume bottle from 1996. You can see it on ebay#2606703338

They are all put up without reserve and so far most of them do not have any bids. If you would like to see a quick summary with pictures, go to http://www.glassart.org/conferences/seattle/
b: Depression Glass Shows (click here) - a listing of depression glass shows across the USA - really useful.

8: Training Courses: The Glass Furnace in Istanbul is an international center for glass and fine arts which aims to provide glass instruction that parallels the best in the world. The school, which is affiliated with the Glass Furnace Foundation, offers two-week residential, intensive courses for beginners, covering the necessary basic skills, and encouraging artistic creativity. The next session starts on February 16th, 2003 with the well-known French glass artist Jean-Pierre Umbdenstock. The following session on glassblowing will be run in March with Petr Novotny, a master from Czech Republic. You can find more details on their website at http://www.camocagi.org/ (click on English when you get there).

9: Recent Books about Glass - for your information in case you missed them:
a:Murano-Glass: Themes and Variations (1910-1869) - click here. bi-lingual book by Marc Heiremans, published Jan 2003.
b:Is it Genuine? -click here. edited by John Bly, this is one of the Millers series published by Mitchel Beazley in Sept 2002. Our websites get a mention in this book - must be good!
c:Dichroics: Art Glass All Dressed Up - click here. A useful book for glass artists, by Jackie Paciello-Truty published by Glass Press; November 2002.
d:Glass: Materials for Inspirational Design - click here; by Chris Lefteri published by Rotovision, November 2002.
e:Flameworking - click here. written by Elizabeth Mears, published by Lark Books, April 2003.
f:Fostoria: Serving the American Table 1887-1986 - click here; by Leslie A. Pina, published by Schiffer, November 2002.
g: Glass Art: Reflecting the Centuries - click here;. by Helmut Ricke - Masterpieces from the Glasmuseum Hentrich in Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf, published by Prestel USA in October 2002.
h: Glass Animals and Figurines - click here; by Debbie & Randy Coe, published by Schiffer, November 2002.
i: Warman's Glass: Values and Identification (4th Edition) click here; edited by Ellen T. Schroy published Warman, Nov 2002.
j: How to Work in Beveled Glass: Forming, Designing, and Fabricating - click here; by Seymour and Anita Isenberg, published by Dover Pubns, November 2002.
j: New Zealand Glass 2nd Edition -click here . Published July 2002; author A. M. Bowey. - couldn't resist mentioning my own book again!

10: Did you know: When you buy art deco frosted or satin glass the chances are that somebody somewhere has had it wrapped in newspaper, and newsprint makes it dark. Even if it looks perfectly clean give it a light scrub with soapy water and most of the time your piece will come up a brighter more attractive color. I find this especially true with Bagley glass.

I have now completely caught up on my email backlog, and the additions to the Glass Links page. So if you are still waiting to hear from me, could you send again. I did lose one day's email messages just recently.

I do hope there was something interesting for you this week.
Very best wishes
Angela

Useful links:
The Glass Museum at http://www.glass.co.nz/
The Glass Encyclopedia is at http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/
The Glass Links Page is at http://www.glass.co.nz/links.htm
The Glass Message Board is at http://www.glassmessages.com/
My glass at auction http://www.myglassauction.com/
To join this list: http://www.netnz.com/email/joinlist.html

From: Angela Bowey
http://www.netnz.com/email/news/ - archive of my Glass Newsletters