visitor information
The next Cambridge Glass Fair will take place at Chilford Hall Vineyard on Sunday, 27th September 2009. The fair is open from 10.30am until 4.00pm.
To view a video made at the last fair and posted on YouTube please click here
To read about the campaign to save Broadfield House Museum click here and also please sign the on-line petition.
For details about forthcoming Glass Association events follow the links below:
Glass Journey to the two Irelands.
Celebrating British 20th century Glass Designers in Stourbridge.
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Postcard for 14th
Cambridge Glass Fair
featuring Powell glass |
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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. You will be able 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.
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| A large Sowerby blue malachite 'Gathering Apples' |
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The foyer exhibition for February featured a private loan collection of English Victorian pressed glass, concentrating on the various colours used by different manufacturers. Including some rare pieces, the Sowerby factory was highlighted in the first cabinet and pieces from other makers were displayed together in the second cabinet thus ensuring the range of colours produced was well represented, if not complete. This exhibition was a treat for pressed glass enthusiasts and a fascinating insight for those with even a passing interest.
We were very pleased that Roger Dodsworth, the curator of the Broadfield House Glass Museum attended and gave a talk on the significance of the glass collections held at the museum.
In the Contemporary Glass Hall engraver Lesley Pyke demonstrated her skills. Glass engraving is always fascinating to watch and there was the opportunity to talk to Lesley and maybe commission a special piece.
You were able to find many other skilled glass makers in the Contemporary Hall including Tolly Nason, a glass artist and photographer from nearby Abington.
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| Pâte de verre 'Whimsicals' |
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She exhibited some of her cast and pâte de verre pieces, such as the intriguing and desirable 'Whimsicals' shown here. Methods such as pâte de verre allow Tolly to extract and express the beauty of glass in its very fragile state, forming a ‘crust’ or an exoskeleton of what could be there - an artwork that has shed its skin and is left exposed, raw and beautiful.
Primavera, the well-known central Cambridge fine arts and crafts gallery, also exhibited at the fair and brought along some new and special pieces by leading glass artists including Peter Layton and Layne Rowe, who features in our latest exhibitor interview.
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| Antique Baccarat lampwork paperweight |
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For paperweight enthusiasts, the Paperweight Collectors Circle again held an ‘Identification Clinic’ where you were able to bring along any weights or
related items you had questions about or just wished to discuss. This was an excellent opportunity to find out about weights you had tucked away at home that you may have bought, inherited or perhaps received as gifts. They will also be attending the next fair, so do make a note in your diary.
Representatives from Whitefriars.com, the website dedicated to Whitefriars glass and its many enthusiastic collectors, had a special stand in the Great Hall where they staged an exhibition of the perennially popular bubbled ducks, showing the various colours, shapes and sizes including some unusual examples. The pieces were drawn from the collections of some of the forum members who were at the fair and were delighted to meet other collectors and to answer questions etc.
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| Aqua and Sky Blue ducks |
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The Glass Association, the Contemporary Glass Society and the Guild of Glass Engravers attended the fair and were, as always, pleased to talk about their work and to welcome new members where appropriate.
In addition, John Ainsley was selling copies of his new book, 'Glass Prices at Auction', which contains at least 2500 full colour images with descriptions and prices from sales during the last few years. See cover image below.
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| Front Cover |
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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 September 27th - maybe combine your visit with a trip into Cambridge or even 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 Collectors Fair which will take place on Sunday May 3rd and Sunday November 15th 2009.
Mailing List Form
If you would like to be kept updated with news about
our Future Fairs and glass-related events please fill out the
'Mailing List Form' below.
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