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Caithness Glass

Reflections 3 - 1987

Reflections 3 - 1987

Tuesday, 01 December 1987 12:03 |

Author: Caithness Glass Co Ltd |

Glass articles - Caithness Glass Co Ltd

Reflections 3 - 1987

Caithness Paperweights - Annual Review

VIGIL, MINARET, FLIGHT - three outstanding weights from the 1987 Collection.

Annual Review
Dear Collector... a message from Caithness Glass Designer Colin Terris	3
And In The Beginning... How it all began	4
Favourites of ’87 - The year’s best sellers!	6
Designing For The Future - Meet the design team	7
Pot Set - Hot work!	8
New Horizons - A challenge for the glassmakers	10
Shaping New Horizons - A challenge for the facetters and lampworkers	12
Pate-de-Verre - Rediscovering an old technique	13
Summer Rose - The Maestro creates a 'Treble' Magnum	14
Specially Commissioned Paperweights - Something different	16
Chorale - The 1987 Caithness Collectors' Weight	17
Collectors Worldwide - Global News	18
A Date to Remember...	19

Paperweight or sculpture?	Smoke gets in your eyes.

Saturn - One of eleven.	Pot Set - On the count of three ...!
Director: Colin Terris U.K. Club Secretary: Caroline Gallacher U.S.A. Club Secretary: Charlotte Judd Publications Co-Ordinator: Mhairi Coull	Design and Photography by Davis Design Studios, Glasgow Colour Separation: Studio North, Leeds Printed by Commercial Centre, Oldham

On the cover VIGIL, MINARET, FLIGHT - three outstanding weights from the 1987 Collection.

Scotland’s Glass version 2007 with permission of Caithness Glass plc. By Frank Andrews and Wolf Seelentag.

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 3 Dear Collector...

Where has 1987 gone? It's certainly been an eventful year for the Paperweight Studios. Two new designers, Margot Thomson and Alastair Macintosh, have joined the Company. Margot's input in 'Regatta', 'Acrobat' and 'Tempest' have already made an impact since their introduction in July. You will have to wait until January 1988 to see Alastair's first Limited Edition designs. The U.K. Collectors' Club goes from strength to strength with current membership now approaching 4000. Your reaction to this year's Collectors' weight, 'Chorale', has been great. So overwhelming, in fact, that our facetting team, who create the pyramid facet, are working flat-out to keep up with your orders! The January 1988 Collection will be the largest ever launched by Caithness. A total of 75 new pieces are being introduced and the variety of colours, design and facetting innovation is staggering. We're sure you'll agree that this Collection even excels that of 1987. Yours Sincerely, Colin Terris
	We hope you like Reflections III. This larger format has allowed us to say more, show more, and do justice to the splendid illustrations.

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 4 & 5

And In The Beginning...

Although I knew what a paperweight was when I joined Caithness in 1968, I had never seen one made. Thanks to the skill of Paul Ysart this gap in my education was remedied in the best possible way when Paul invited me to see him create a millefiori masterpiece early one Sunday morning. During the next few weeks I was privileged to see him display his incredible skills, both in lampwork and paperweight making techniques, and was convinced that the paperweight was a natural form in which to embody abstract forms which were lurking somewhere in my subconscious. I tried out ideas and forms using Paul's assistant, Peter Holmes, as my glassmaker. Eventually I gained enough knowledge of predictable glass techniques to plan out a paperweight design step by step. Space, sputniks and a landing on the moon were tremendously exciting events at that time, and it was a natural decision to try to create, in glass, my impressions of the 'Planets'. I read as many books on the subject as possible and formed a list of the most distinctive features of all eleven planets. I then broke down the list to the four planets which could be most easily represented using the glass techniques I had proved out. After many weeks I was satisfied we had an acceptable and exciting version of Mars, Mercury, Saturn and Venus. The sales team took a brave gamble and decided to launch 'The Planets' in a limited edition of five hundred sets of four in an expensive presentation box. The gamble payed off especially in the U.S. In one year four hundred sets were ordered from U.S.A. leaving only one hundred for U.K. - the major reason why the first Planet set is so hard to find in this country. 'Build On Success' says the marketing textbook, so within three years I had designed the remaining seven Planets. Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Earth were sold in a set of four, but boxed singly. Issued in 1970, they were sold out by 1972. The remaining three, Sun, Moon and Pluto were also boxed singly, issued in 1971 and sold out by 1973.

It's amaziug to think that 'The Planets' happened over 15 years ago. In common with 'Superman' (or 'Rocky') I, II, III, IV, I am often tempted to create 'Planets II'. The Caithness Paperweight Studios have amassed an incredible bank of glass making techniques since 1969 and the challenge of a new approach to the theme which began Caithness Modern Paperweights could be irresistible.

Mars	Mercury
Saturn	Venus
Neptune	Jupiter
Uranus	Earth
Moon	Pluto

Sun

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 6 Favourites of ’87
After showing the new Collection to our Salesmen it's always interesting to try to assess from their reactions of shock, horror or ecstasy which particular designs will finish up as the best-sellers of the year. How accurate were your predictions...???. SHANGRI-LA which is illustrated on the back cover holds the record for the fastest sell-out ever.	FLIGHT (Ed. 750). High flying best seller.
MINARET (Ed. 650). Fulfilled its eastern promise.	SCARLET PIMPERNEL (Ed. 250). They seek one here... They seek one there.
NIGHT OWL (Ed. 500). Wise collectors swooped early.	JUPITER (Ed. 750). Space success of 1987.
WILL O’ THE WISP (Ed. 150). Elusive but a prize catch.	ACROBAT JET (U/L). Had retailers performing somersaults to re-order.

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 7 Designing For the Future

Alastair Macintosh	Alastair Macintosh "One of the most interesting aspects of paperweight design is the way that one basic idea often sparks off a series of new ones. Glass always has the ability to surprise, especially if working with colour. A hot paperweight tends to look orange, black and red regardless of what is inside it, but undergoes a magical transformation as it cools in the lehr. Only in the morning does the clarity of the glass and richness of colour become apparent. I've spent about 12 years specialising in one Venetian technique called 'Vetro a Fili' (literally glass threads) but I still find lots of scope for doing different things with it.
Helen MacDonald	Helen MacDonald "My design effort has been concentrated on the development of engraving in it's widest sense. Recently I have been working on designs which use the sandblasting technique to carve and shape the rims of vases and bowls. I then design engravings which echo or make use of the cut out shapes. I would like to change the popular conception that engraving is a flat image on a piece of glass to that of a more sculptural effect. I'm convinced that the sandblasting process is one of the most versatile and underrated glass engraving techniques currently in use".
Margot Thomson	Margot Thomson "When working with hot glass I find the designing and making of paperweights can be a quick and spontaneous process - a contrast to Pâte-de-Verre, another area of development. For the past three years I've been experimenting with the Pâte-de-Verre technique using, at first, glass beads fused in the kiln to form vessels and three-dimensional forms. I'm now working with glass melted in the Perth Studios. This glass is crushed to various grades from a chip size to a very fine powder. When I have collected all the data from trial firings, I hope that new forms can be designed that will broaden the existing range."

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 8 & 9 Pot Set
	One of the easiest ways of making good glass into bad glass is to allow impurities to get into the molten 'metal'. A major source of spoilation is the clay pot within which the glass is held. Each pot is handmade of a very special clay, called grosseralmerode which has been formulated to withstand up to 1500°C within the furnace. This intensive heat will find any minute faults in the clay and lead to the pot cracking. Even with no faults the pot will still not usually last for more than 20 weeks. As soon as the pot starts to become eroded or cracked it will throw off clay into the glass thereby causing a severe deterioration in the glass quality. The only way to be sure of eradicating the problem is to replace the pot. This exercise is called a 'Pot Set'.
The procedure starts 8 days before the Pot Set itself. A new pot has to be cured - in other words brought gradually up to the temperature it will withstand in the furnace itself. If this is not done correctly the pot will crack immediately it is placed in the furnace and we'd have to start again. The furnace cannot be switched off for the Pot Set and, therefore, the team is faced, literally, with around 1100°C of radiant heat.
The first stage of the Pot Set itself is to remove the whole front of the furnace. The front is built of bricks, clay blocks and fire clay and all of this must be stripped away to allow access to the deteriorated pot. Using a series of levers and trolleys, designed and made within the factory, the team expose the pot. If the pot has cracked it has probably seeped some glass onto the furnace base and could be stuck in that solidified glass. This is bad news because all that mess has to be removed before we will be able to extract the pot. Once again the crowbars are put to good use. Not that long ago human muscle power and a trolley were used to lift the pot and wheel it away. Now we use a specially protected fork lift truck to take out the old pot and put it in the skip for cooling and disposal.


We then need to clear the base of the furnace in readiness for a new pot. Again using the fork lift truck, we approach the Pot Arch in which our new pot has been curing. There is very little clearance both between the pot and the Pot Arch and then between the pot and the furnace walls. It, therefore, requires considerable fork truck driving skill to transfer the new pot from one to the other quickly. It has to be done quickly because if the new pot is allowed to cool too much it is likely to crack and we'll have to start over again. The pot is lowered carefully on to the bricks and we can then build a new front for the furnace being careful to minimise the heat loss as much as possible.




	Carrying out a Pot Set is an extremely taxing activity. Even 'teetotallers' have been known to partake of the beer we supply after a Pot Set.

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 10 & 11

New Horizons

Every year we try to dream up a new idea for a paperweight making feature. This time we gave everyone the chance to create their interpretation of ‘New Horizons’.

The results are excellent. We must be the only glass company with such a variety of design talent on the staff!

We almost headed these two pages "What's In a Name?" We think the amazing variety of designs illustrated proves the point.

Stuart Mackenzie

Peter Fuin

Dave Ramsey

Iain Beedie

Graham Mackenzie

Stuart Cumming

Stan MacNab

Jim Duncan

Graeme McFarlane

Calum McCauley

Calum Anton

Harry McKay

Davie Nicoll

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 12

Shaping New Horizons

We persuaded the factting team to show off their skills as well. We illustrate bow their "brilliance" can add new sparkle to the old favourite "Moonflower".

Tina Clark

Archie Anderson

Brenda Garland

Mari Dewar

Allan Scott, "Lampworker", also took up the challenge. He created the delicate floral design and persuaded Harry McKay to encapsulate it in glass and then used further persuasion to have it facetted by Brian Lawson.

Above right: Allan Scott

Below left: Ian Shaw, responsible for most of the facetting on pages 10 & 11.

Below right: Brian Lawson

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 13

Pâte de Verre - An Age Old Process Revived

Pâte-de-Verre is a technique which allows three-dimensional designs to be made in glass, either hollow or solid, without using a blowing iron and molten glass. A wide range of finishes can be achieved from a rough crystalline texture to a smooth glassy surface, depending on the choice of powders and the firing temperature of the kiln. The density and positioning of colour in the design can be accurately placed, as the glass is modelled cold, being mixed into a paste which is then fused in the kiln.

1. Modelling wax is melted in a double boiler.	2. Once the wax has started to set but is still pliable, it is hand-formed to the intended shape.
3. Finer details can be applied or incised using a range of modelling tools. The piece is then ready for casting.	4. Once surrounded by a plaster/flint mixture, the wax is melted out leaving a negative mould. Once the surface is clean, it is ready for the glass.
5. A glass paste (pâte-de-verre) is then prepared using coloured and clear glass powder, water and a binder, in this case a P.V.A. glue.	6. This paste is then applied to the walls of the mould and with the glue, it soon hardens.
7. To help support the shape while in the kiln, ceramic fibre is used, pressing the glass onto the sides of the mould.	8. The mould is then ready for the kiln. The firing takes around 8 hours to reach a temperature of 700°C and then a very slow cooling period is required, otherwise the piece would crack.
The finished product.

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 14 & 15 Summer Rose - The Making of a Treble Magnum
Every so often a slot becomes available in production time to try out something very special. Franco Toffolo's skills were tested to the maximum when we asked him to create a 'Treble Magnum' sized paperweight. The manual dexterity needed to control such a mass of molten glass is incredible and the formation of a pink rose surrounded by green leaves made Franco's task even more difficult.
1. Three gathers of glass are needed to start the paperweight.	2. Picking up ruby coloured powdered glass.
3. Melting-in the ruby glass in the 'glory hole'.	4. Picking up white powdered glass.
5. Palleting the glass to shape to enable it to fit into the mould.	6. The stainless steel rose mould.
7. Inserting the hot glass into the rose mould.	8. 'Blocking' the glass round again.
9. Picking up green powdered glass underneath the rose.	10. Creating green leaves by pushing a desert spoon through the green layer.
11. A final gather.	12. A 'drop-on' of cobalt blue glass to create the base.
13. Applying the 'punty'	14. Removing the punty mark.
15. Cracking-off the treble magnum from the iron.	Summer Rose required an annealing time of 24 hours compared to our normal cycle of 12 hours. The finished piece is 17cm in diameter, 16cm high and weighs 7kg.
Summer Rose

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 16

Specially Commissioned Paperweights

During the year Caithness Paperweight Studios have been commissioned to make special paperweights for many companies, organisations and fine glass retailers. A selection of the more interesting ones are shown here.

Ballet	Opera
Theatre	Theatre, Ballet, Opera Produced over a three year period, this set was commissioned by David and Barbara Sandbach of Llandudno.
Marlborough School, Los Angeles - A centennial commemorative weight for Marlborough School in Los Angeles.	Sherlock Holmes - Another American commission to celebrate the centenary of the first Sherlock Holmes publication.
Schering Agriculture - An unusual combination of shape, engraving and lampwork.	Bermudiana - A finely detailed lampwork 'iris' commissioned by Blucks of Bermuda.

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 17

Chorale

The 1987 Collectors Paperweight.

We always try to create a distinctive piece for the Collectors' Weight. This year the talking point is the unusual 'pyramid' facets which reflect a single silvery sphere centred above four silvery bubbles which rise from a velvet green ground. A vibrant cobalt blue base adds a stunning colour contrast to this piece. Chorale is created exclusively for Club members and the edition size is set at 1000.

For details of how to become a Caithness Collectors' Club Member in the U.K. please write to:-

The Secretary, Caithness Collectors' Club,
Caithness Glass Plc, Inveralmond, Perth PH1 3TZ, Scotland.

See page 18 for details of Caithness Collectors' Clubs worldwide.

UNITED KINGDOM
Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 18 Collectors Worldwide Now that the Collectors' Club has gone truly international, we thought it a good time to ask the respective Club Secretaries for an up-to-date report... preferably in English!
As full-time Secretary of the U.K. Caithness Collectors Club my main task is to run an efficient service for the growing number of Collectors and admirers of Caithness Paperweights. As U.K. membership now stands at over 300 and is steadily increasing, full-time can become overtime! January is one of the busiest times for the Collectors Club as after the Christmas period registration cards are returned in their hundreds. This involves checking the names and addresses on the computer records in order to sort out the new Collectors from those who are already members. This job is quite time consuming but with the help of my computer the time can be cut considerably. As a paperweight Collector myself I always look forward to the launch of the new paperweights along with the twice yearly Newsletter which I hope Collectors find interesting and informative. Autumn is always an exciting time for the Collectors Club as we see the launch of the paperweight made exclusively for members of the Caithness Collectors Club and I'm sure you will agree that this year's Collectors Paperweight. 'Chorale' has been a major success. Finally, the highlight of the Collectors Club year must be the production of the annual paperweight review, 'Reflections'. A great deal of hard work goes into its production and we all breath a sigh of relief when we deliver them to the Post Office for mailing. Caroline Gallacher
U.S.A.
The U.S. Caithness Collectors Club goes from strength to strength, mainly due to an increased awareness to the beautiful paperweights, as they are offered by more and more quality retailers. The Club gains a lot of members as a result of tours by Colin Terris and Alistair Mair throughout the States but many members join the Club after having visited the factory complexes in Perth and Oban. We have planned a number of changes in 1988 to enhance both the appearance and educational aspects of the U.S. Newsletter and hope that these will encourage even more paperweight enthusiasts to join. Last year was the first time the special collectors weight was offered in the U.S. as in the U.K. and the response was so good that the same was done this year with 'Chorale'... The initial response to 'Chorale' has been very strong and we hope the next air shipment arrives in time for Christmas. Charlotte Judd
GERMANY
Paperweight collecting in Germany was, until 1985, a hobby practiced by only a small minority of enlightened enthusiasts. However, the last two years have seen a rapid increase in interest in paperweights, both as a collectable item and as a beautiful gift. Their suitability as an ideal present for men has resulted in an evenly balanced membership between the sexes, and all age groups are represented in the German Club which presently numbers around 500 enthusiasts. Recently the Club services have been extended to Austria, a country with a great historical glass tradition, and although numbers are not large, the Austrian Club members are very active in their quest for all sorts of information on Caithness paperweights. Heide Moore
SWITZERLAND
The Collectors Club in Switzerland is probably the youngest member of the worldwide family, being born at the end of July this year with an introductory letter to all registered addresses in our country. We now have over 40 members, and as an avid collector of Caithness paperweights myself it gives me real pleasure to deal with the enquiries of fellow enthusiasts. Did I say "avid collector"? I hadn't realised the full meaning of the expression until I received a letter the other day addressed to me as "Mrs Caithness Paperweight". Our poor postman, who does not understand English, was very puzzled. Amongst the "objets" much prized by Swiss collectors are delicately engraved and coloured eggs, and I was particularly pleased to come across the name on my list of one of our best-known practitioners of this art-form. I like to know that someone who produces objects of such fragile delicacy is also an admirer of the intricate subtleties of a Caithness paperweight. My own family treats my new preoccupation with my wider "family" with great forbearance. In fact, when one of my daughters finally arrived to collect me from the station half an hour after my train had arrived she explained that she had been delayed by a telephone call from the wife of one of our members, who had rung up to complain about the amount of money her husband spent on paperweights. My daughter agreed that we have a similar problem in our house, and revealed some "family secrets" for coping with it. From this the conversation went on to a joint interest in animals, and half an hour later the telephone call ended in mutual friendliness. Mother, waiting patiently at the station, had been quite forgotten, but didn't mind so much when she heard the reason. Now I look forward to 1988 - an exciting new Caithness Collection, and a widening circle of collectors. Ursula Schefer
For details of our Caithness Paperweight Collectors' Clubs worldwide please write to:- {2008 - Addresses are no longer valid}

U.K. The Secretary, Caithness Collectors' Club, Caithness Glass Plc, Inveralmond, PERTH, Scotland PH1 3TZ.	U.S.A. The Secretary, Caithness Collectors' Club, Caithness Glass Inc, Building 12, 141 Lanza Avenue, Garfield, NJ. 07026 U.S.A.	STOP PRESS It has just been confirmed that a Canadian Club will be launched in March 1988. Details can be obtained from:- Thc Secretary, Caithness Collectors' Society, Frederick Dickson & Company, 28 Carnforth Road, TORONTO, Ontario, M4A 2K7
GERMANY Caithness Paperweight Sammlerclub, Präsent Sterling, Langäcker18, D8918 Diessen3, W. GERMANY	SWITZERLAND The Secretary Caithness Collectors' Club, Kappelacker, CH-8581, Zihlschlacht, Switzerland

Reflections 3 - 1987 - Page 19

A Date to Remember...

Last year we gave you a sneak preview of Shangri-La. This year - something completely different - a Calendar. Ernie Davis has created a stunning photographic extravaganza on the theme of "Caithness Paperweights". All we can tell you at this stage is that this Collectors item will be available in June 1988 but as a taster we illustrate September 1989...