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The next Cambridge Glass Fair will take place at Chilford Hall Vineyard on Sunday, 26th February 2012. The fair is open from 10.30am until 4.00pm.
Chilford Hall Vineyard is situated amid rolling countryside a few miles south east of the City of Cambridge with its colleges and lively arts scene.
The Cambridge Glass Fair is more than just that - it is an event which brings together around 100 exhibitors from across the U.K. and Europe.
Originally founded along with the respected collector and glass expert Dr. Graham Cooley, this fair offers the ideal opportunity to find both antique glass and contemporary studio work; glass from all eras and to suit all tastes. If your preference is for Georgian drinking glasses you will find many knowledgeable specialists, if you are interested in the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods you will be amply catered for by several quality exhibitors and if you lean toward modernist collectables and art glass you will be spoilt for choice.
At the Cambridge Glass Fair we continually endeavour to improve the visitors’ experience. We were the first one-day fair to introduce regular exhibitions presenting both loan collections and previously overlooked areas of glass to our visitors.
Our promotional postcards were another real innovation and have become collectors’ items in their own right.
We have offered visitors the opportunity to meet some well-known personalities including Eric Knowles, Sam Herman, Andy McConnell and Mark Hill and we have hosted several book launches and selling exhibitions. The Stained Glass Museum from Ely cathedral are also regular exhibitors.
The venue itself has much to offer with a very pleasing ambience and with various pieces of artwork displayed around the halls and grounds. It also offers free parking for up to 1000 vehicles. There is an excellent bistro and bar within the halls and the Vineleaf café is located nearby. At lunchtime there is live music in the restaurant area which adds to the occasion.
We have updated our exhibition archive pages and all of the previous foyer exhibitions have now been reinstated. We hope that you will enjoy looking at them and at the 'exhibitor interview' pages where some of our regular exhibitors give an insight into their interest in the world of glass dealing and collecting.
The foyer exhibition for February will be entitled 'British engraved drinking glasses from 1770 to 1850' , and kindly loaned by leading dealers and regular exhibitors Robert Marris and Timothy Mills.
Included in the exhibition will be more than 100 glasses including stemmed drinking vessels, rummers, tumblers and tankards. Overall, the range of engravings will illustrate and support the research carried out by Timothy Mills and Robert Marris and published in the Glass Association Journal (2010).
In the Contemporary Hall, visitors will be able to see and buy studio glass from around twenty contemporary makers and engravers who are also always happy to discuss commissions. Stained glass artist Ann Benwell will once again demonstrate the art of making Tiffany-style glass and visitors will be able to try their hand at this and maybe take home something they have made themselves.
A regular exhibitor at the fair since its inception is pressed glass dealer Philip Housden. He is the latest contributor to our exhibitor interviews and this can be viewed here.
To the left can be seen an example of the type of high quality British pressed glass he will be offering for sale.
Regular visitors may recall that Philip curated the February 2009 foyer exhibition which was a marvellous display showing the range of colours of Victorian pressed glass. Here is a link to the relevant exhibition archive page.
Primavera, the Cambridge contemporary art and design gallery, will be represented once again at the fair. They always bring along an interesting display of contemporary studio glass giving a tempting insight into what can be found at the gallery, too.
For this fair, they are focussing on the work of renowned glass artist, Peter Layton.
Peter Layton is one of the world’s most widely respected glassblowers and he has done more to promote glassmaking as an art form than anyone else in Europe. He has influenced, encouraged and nurtured.
several of this country’s leading glassmakers and has inspired many more internationally. At the age of 74, Peter remains extremely active and is regarded as the ‘grand old man of glass’.
Peter runs the London Glassblowing Studio in Bermondsey like a collective at which glassblowers are free to use the kilns to create their own work and develop their skills as well as work on pieces that help to pay the vast energy bills. Peter has always put creativity before the need to be commercial which is why the Gallery is an Aladdin's cave of unique and surprisingly affordable works of glass art. Much of the richly coloured glass art is his own work which can also be found in museums, galleries and exhibitions across the UK, Europe and America.
Glass is extraordinarily seductive,’ explains Peter. ‘Every piece is an adventure and you never know exactly what you have created until you open the kiln and see how a piece has turned out. I love that moment of surprise.’
Representatives from Whitefriars.com, the website dedicated to Whitefriars glass and its many enthusiastic collectors, always have a stand in the Great Hall and this time they are staging a special display of Wuidart designs plus pieces from the 1931 catalogue.
The glass in the exhibition will be drawn from the collections of some of the forum members, in particular Terry and Peggy Martin, and they will also be at the fair and delighted to meet other collectors and to answer questions etc.
Details of all of the previous Whitefriars.com exhibitions can be found by clicking on 'Whitefriars.com' on the menu bar.
You can usually also follow collectables expert and author Mark Hill on Twitter as he goes around our fairs, finds pieces of interest and chats to the exhibitors.
Andy McConnell, the Antiques Roadshow glass expert, will again attend the fair. Both he and Mark are always delighted to meet visitors and to talk about anything to do with glass.
The Glass Association will be at their usual stand in the foyer and pleased to talk about their work and to welcome new members where appropriate.
The Guild of Glass Engravers will also be attending the fair and again will be very pleased to meet enthusiasts and new members.
For paperweight enthusiasts, in addition to the several specialist dealers attending the event, the Paperweight Collectors Circle will once more hold an ‘Identification Clinic’ where you are invited to bring along any weights or related items you have questions about or just wish to discuss. This is an excellent opportunity to find out about weights you have tucked away at home that you may have bought, inherited or perhaps received as gifts.
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2011 Visitor Survey £50 prize draw was Mr. F. Tonge. The next survey will be available at the February fair.
We will continue to innovate and to develop the fair, and to that end we have lots of good things in store. Come along and join us on February 26th or maybe make a weekend of it.
For those of you travelling by public transport we have listed some local taxi firms and are happy to put visitors in touch with each other if they wish to share the fare. If you would like further information please click here.
If glass is your passion, we at the Cambridge Glass Fair will ensure that you can indulge it to the full and have a wonderful time.
If you are unable to visit the Cambridge Glass Fair you may like to know that we also organise the National Glass Fair, the next one of which will take place on Sunday May 6th 2012.
A memorial to Dan Klein
With the sudden and sad death of Dan, the glass world has lost its most distinguished proponent and strongest advocate. His influence has touched every glass maker, curator, gallery owner, collector and enthusiast around the world. His passion for glass has inspired us all; he was the most knowledgeable, generous, encouraging and kind mentor.
In 1995 Dan played a key role in the founding of North Lands Creative Glass at Lybster in the north of Scotland and at his death was a Director of North Lands and the Chairman of its Advisory Board. It has been decided to establish a fund in Dan's memory to develop the work of North Lands both in education and in the provision of further state-of-the-art studio space.
