Hi,
If this is the first time you have received my Glass Newsletter, welcome and I do hope you enjoy it.
1: We have a new page on the Glass Encyclopedia this week - about Baccarat Glass. You can find it at http://www.encyclopedia.netnz.com/Baccaratglass.html. I hope you find it helpful. By the way, visitor numbers to the Glass Encyclopedia have been steadily above 20,000 a week for the past six weeks! Thank you so much for your support.
2: And related to that, we have a new page on the Glass Museum by Kevin Holt about rare Baccarat Horse Paperweights. In Kevin's usual style it is full of detailed information which I'm sure any paperweight collector will value. And at the same time this article contains first-hand accounts from the seller, the successful bidder, and one unsuccessful bidder (Kevin himself) of the exciting action that jumped some 20,000 dollars in the last seven minutes of this recent ebay auction. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have. Its at http://www.glass.co.nz/baccarathorse.htm
3: There is some really exciting news from New Zealand this week. For the very first time a glass artist has been recognised in the Honours List. Garry Nash was awarded the ONZ (Officer of the Order of New Zealand) for his Services to Art. That's the equivalent of the English OBE, and just one level down from a knighthood!! Our northern newspapers showed a huge smiling picture of Garry holding up one of his vases, and Garry himself is really thrilled about it. He told me that when he went down to Wellington to receive the award he was awed by some of the other people there for the same ceremony. Most of them were much older than he is, and he said "I kept thinking maybe they've got the wrong Garry Nash and its not really me they want to give this to!" Well, we know it was meant for you, Garry, and very well deserved it is too. Congratulations!
To celebrate and in recognition of Garry's superb skills we have some special art glass pieces on ebay this week. First of all, a simple green Nash vase with murrini insets all around it on ebay #1224637079. Secondly, a Nash goblet with a delightful shape and an iridized blue knop in the stem, on ebay #1224868612. Thirdly, a Nash paperweight with a gold leaf star rising above an orange lacy background over a bright yellow base. This is a complex weight, and definitely one to see, on ebay #1224637861. And our second Nash paperweight has a golden yellow base cushion with murrini's set around it, and a 22kt gold leaf fountain rising in the center, on ebay #1224347430.
From Peter Viesnik we have a very special marine paperweight with two beautiful red fish in an underwater scene, a great asset to any collection. You can see it on ebay #1225937883.
Also from Peter Viesnik, a very beautiful blue frosted perfume bottle, spherical and with millefiori inserts on ebay #1224636803
There are two superb millefiori paperweights by Peter Raos, the first a waterlilies paperweight with a lovely scene of a lily pond on ebay #1224877247. And the second a very beautiful "Tidal Rock Pool" millefiori flat paperweight on ebay #1224345372
You can see a preview at http://www.antique.co.nz/glass.html and they are all put up without reserve. So far most of them do not have any bids.
4: Our survey of Glass Insurance produced some really interesting feedback that I thought you would like to read. Elaine wrote and told me the following (I have not named the Company for obvious reasons).
"I had sent some glass- well wrapped- and it arrived broken. The company denied my claim and I challenged this and called the CEO when I saw I was going nowhere with my challenge. This is what I learned from a representative of the CEO, (name supplied)
Well! That certainly makes you think doesn't it! Thank you Elaine for sharing that information with us.
5: On a positive note, Mike sent me some information about customs and tax on glass imported to the UK from overseas. I'm sure the information will be useful to others in a similar situation, and if anyone has any similar useful reference data for other countries, I'd be happy to pass it on. Mike collects Cloud Glass, made by Davidson's in the 1930-1950s period. He wrote:
"I have been having a battle with Customs and excise. It appears that goods up to about £120 can be carried through UK customs on the person, but anything over £18 by post is or can be subject to Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT). I have now had an opinion from the appropriate department. Antiques are defined as at least 100 years old, but Davidson Cloud Glass is deemed to be "Collectable and of Historical Interest". As such there is no duty on import, but VAT can be levied at 5% (rather than the usual 17.5%). The reference CODE for this Decision is 9705000000 dated 13 March 2001 "
I think this means that British made art deco glass (such as Ysart, Monart, Cloud Glass, etc) is "Collectable and of Historical Interest" and not subject to import duty. So if our UK readers are charged import duty, maybe they should challenge the charges and quote the reference number above. And if there are some more useful decisions with reference numbers, please let us know.
6: Coming back to insurance, here are some tips about insurance that I received from Bill Geary. He points out that there are three ways you can purchase glass insurance:
And Bill recommends that if you have a major collection to insure, you use an independent broker with a well-established reputation and specialists on their staff who deal with art collections.
Bill also recommends that you get your insurance company to issue an endorsement called an "Agreed Value" clause or a "Valued Form" where the insurance company agrees to the insured value. This cuts out any hassle about the value of the item(s) if you make a claim. Thank you Bill for adding those tips.
6: This week I received my copies of the two video's about Carnival Glass produced by Steve and Glen Thistlewood. They are really wonderful. If you want to know about the history of Carnival Glass, identify a pattern, learn what some of the unusual colors look like, these videos are for you. They are a great pleasure to watch, visually. And even if you are well-informed about Carnival Glass, this is a very easy way to enhance your knowledge. You can buy copies from: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Geyser/1799/video.html
7: And finally, here are some new Books about Glass - for your information in case you missed them:
- Bill Banks new edition of his Price Guide for Victorian Opalescent Glass (6th Edition 2001). Click here to read more about it.
- James Yood and Tina Oldknow's new book (Feb 2001) William Morris: Animal/artifact. Click here to read more.
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.encyclopedia.netnz.com/
The Glass Links Page is at http://www.glass.co.nz/links.htm
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