More Mahy Mahi

For those of you not conversant in New Zealand Māori, that's a poor attempt at a pun. Mahi is Māori for work, and I want in this post to explore more of the work of Keith Mahy.  In June 2013, I wrote about Keith's death (http://newzealandglass.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/keith-mahy-one-of-pioneers.html), and explored some of his early work on 18 October 2014 (http://newzealandglass.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/are-these-early-pieces-by-keith-mahy.html). Following that I have had a wonderful opportunity to talk with Keith's partner Shona, and see the wide range of examples of his work that Shona has. I was able to photograph these, and Shona kindly gave me several pieces. I've also come across some pieces held by others, and most recently was able to buy five wine goblets on TradeMe.

Keith was one of the pioneer glass artists in New Zealand, and one with a long career.  This blog presents examples of Keith Mahy's extensive glass practice, from the time he came to Northland from Christchurch in 1975 to set up his studios, initially at Otonga in 1976, then at Pahi from 1979 and lastly from 1986 in Whāngārei, at Northland Polytechnic and at Burning Issues.

A couple in Whāngārei bought this decanter set and two pair of wine goblets, from the wine shop in Hikurangi in the 1970s. Keith saw a marketing opportunity in selling his work through a wine shop, so customers could purchase both the glasses and their contents.

 These similar goblets belong to a friend who bought them from Keith's studio at Pahi in the 1980s.

The pair of goblets, at right, also bought at the wine shop in Hikurangi, are decorated with applied 'squiggles' (technical term!), which links them to Keith's use of this decoration on other pieces.

 I have puzzled over this small stoppered bottle for a decade, and finally the squiggles confirm I can be sure it was made by Keith Mahy.

But I couldn't make up my mind about this decanter and goblets, which I see now are clearly Keith's work, so I left them in the second hand shop where I found them. Sadly, it later closed. I wonder where they are now?  

 

The decanter at left belongs to a collector in Taranaki, who emailed seeking my opinion. I wasn't sure, but now I'm quite confident it is by Keith.

The following pieces, from a range of dates, are part of the Mahy Collection held by Shona.

Sadly now cracked, this jug has Keith's distinctive 'manaia' handle form

 

 















The exaggeratedly flared rim on the piece below was a trademark form of Keith's. 

These light shades were made for the Matakohe church

and this one as well

Shona generously gave me this wine glass

 

 Keith iridised this piece in the glass studio at the Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland, courtesy Mel Simpson














I was delighted recently when a potter from Havelock North listed on TradeMe five wine goblets she had bought from Keith Mahy's studio at Pahi about 1980. She had also been at the very first conference and workshop of NZ Society of Artists in Glass at Taradale in 1980, and had a try at glass herself, using the portable kiln Garry Nash made, though she has pursued ceramics rather than glass as a career.

 

























On either side of the slightly flattened stem is the small 'manaia-like' detail that Keith liked to use in his early work - it's very helpful in identifying some of his pieces.

That same little device, seen here at the upper attachment of the handle, indicated strongly to me that this separate TradeMe listing was also a piece of Keith's

 





As well as the glass itself, some of the treasures Shona gave me access to are Keith's scrapbooks, which contain a wealth of information. There's probably the making there of a further Mahy blog - watch this space! 

Crackle Glass by Chuck Simpson

Until now I've been only dimly aware of crackle glass, a form I tended to associate with trinkets from some European and American glass factories, and not something that appealed to me at all.  

So I was very surprised when this cranberry red crackle glass decanter appeared on TradeMe. 

The listing read: 

Cranberry crackle glass decanter with stopper.  
Very pretty and in lovely condition.
 
Signed by Chuck Simpson 1989. 
Very collectible piece.
28cm x 10cm 

No-one except me showed any interest in it, so my bid was successful. Now it has arrived I can confirm it is clearly signed Chuck Simpson 1989, when Chuck was working at Inglewood.

I can't recall seeing any other piece of crackle ware made by a New Zealand glass artist. Of course, now I'm hoping other examples will show up.

An article by Stan & Arlene Weitman in Angela Bowey's Online Glass Museum http://www.glass.co.nz/crackle.htm  tells me that crackle glass is formed by immersing the glass in cold water while it is still molten hot, thereby cracking the glass. The glass is then reheated and either mold or hand blown into the shape desired. The reheating of the glass seals the cracks. On the outside of crackle glass you can feel the cracks, but the inside is smooth.

Having experienced what happens when a hot glass object is dropped accidentally into a bucket of water (the explosion put my young daughter off visiting glass works for a number of years!), it sounds like a scary process, but it does create an interesting effect.



I will be interested to hear of other pieces of New Zealand crackle glass. I wonder how much of it Chuck Simpson made.

Are These Early Pieces by Keith Mahy?

Garry Nash said this handle was a Mahy trademark 19cm 

h

In June last year I wrote about the death on 14 June 2013 of Keith Mahy, one of the pioneers of glass in New Zealand http://newzealandglass.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/keith-mahy-one-of-pioneers.html. One of my considerable regrets is that although Keith lived and worked so close to me in Northland, I never got to interview him about his life and work. I spoke to him about my intention several times and he responded willingly, but I never got round to it.

Sadly now broken, this handle was the identifier too

Again the handle form is distinctive 13cm h

One of the things I intended to do in that interview was to show Keith a number of pieces in my collection that I believe to be his, seeking confirmation that they are Mahy pieces. Keith seldom signed his work, and certainly in the early period I don't think he signed anything. So identifying his work is problematical. Some times a former owner will attribute a piece to Keith, sometimes other glass artists have recognised a piece as being made by Keith, but often I have made a (more or less well-) informed guess, based on design, glass colour and quality, and ultimately, 'gut feel'. It's not a very good way to identify pieces, but it is usually all I have. 

The TradeMe vendor said Keith made this pair of beer mugs

Mugs 12.5cm h left, 15.5 right

 

Bottle 28cm h, vase 13cm dia

I believe the pieces shown here were all made by Keith in the 1970s or early 1980s. But my purpose is to seek feedback from others who may know. Please let me know if you think Keith did not make a piece (or if you can confirm that he did, better still!). And for those of you who may use my blogs to help develop your own collections, 'caveat emptor et lector' - buyer and reader beware! 

 

The same vendor said these two were also by Keith

25cm h

23cm h

As I see more pieces, my confidence grows, but equally, the risk of making a mistake grows too! These two bottles 'feel' like Keith Mahy pieces, but are they?








And then, if those are Keith's, what about these?

22cm h

23cm h

21.5cm h

28.5cm h

14.5cm h

21cm h

Sam Halstead, Mt Eden stained glass maker in the 1980s sent me this photo of a Mahy piece he has, which he thought he bought in the early 1980s. That made me more confident about the brown one above.

9cm diam

A neighbour of Keith's in Pahi bought the piece at right from him in the 1970s, which gives me confidence the piece at left is by him too.

And lastly, of course, there can be no doubt about these, though Keith was the designer rather than the maker of these Crown Crystal glass pieces

Murray Hill Made Lovely Glass at Inglewood

Signed MH85 6.5cm high

Living in Taranaki in 1983, 21 year old Murray Hill became interested in the glass being produced at Tony Kuepfer's workshop at Inglewood. Tony tells me Murray 'kept hanging around'. Having graduated with a B.Sc. in biochemistry, he began working at weekends in Tony's studio in 1983. He worked on the Motunui project and in the dairy factory, and saved enough money to spend a year learning to blow glass – he proved his persistence. Tony was able to arrange for Murray to receive a vocational training grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council in 1984 which also supported his working full-time at Inglewood. He continued there until 1987, making exhibition pieces as well as what he referred to as "domestic glass production work". He exhibited in the Philips Studio Glass Award in 1986 and was the overall award winner in the Crafts Council exhibition Glass '87 in Christchurch in 1987. Elizabeth McClure was the judge for the 4^th Annual Contemporary Craft exhibition for Glass at Compendium Gallery in Auckland in 1987, and she awarded the prize to Murray.  (You can read about Elizabeth at http://newzealandglass.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/elizabeth-mcclure-important-influence.html)

Signed M Hill '86, Earthworks paper label 22cm high

In 1988 Murray began working full-time for the Labour Department in New Plymouth, but he continued to blow glass at Inglewood at weekends. He won the ANZ Bank Art Award of $1,500 in the exhibition Fibre and Glass at the NZ Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington in 1988. In 1989, Murray went to Teachers Training College and then was a secondary school art teacher until 2013. Murray stopped making glass about 1990, though he did exhibit in the exhibition The Drama of Glass in Wellington in May 1991.

11 cm high

  

The illustration at left is Murray's entry in the 1986 Philips Studio Glass Award catalogue. The blown, cut and acid etched piece was entitled Taranaki Bite. In his artist statement,  Murray said "Glass is very seductive, it is easy to think you are making a statement with a piece, when really you are showing the intrinsic dynamics of the glass. I want to impose on the glass, not have it impose on me."

The piece at right is in a private collection in Taranaki and would seem to be from the same series as the Philips piece. It shows the colour not apparent in the monochrome catalogue photograph.


In an email to me recently, Murray said: "Right from the very beginning I was motivated by the desire to make sculptural  'art' pieces. During the financial strictures of the 80s and 90s this was not always a realistic proposition. Glass studios are expensive to run, and doing a lot of production work to pay the bills quickly stopped being fun. By production I mean the large volumes of day-to-day saleable items. You also had to be a very quick learner (which I wasn't) – studio time and materials cost money and failures had to be minimised. Sadly this worked against following up those mad ideas that were begging to be brought into form. Having said that, my happiest memories are of assisting Tony Kuepfer in the studio – bringing the gathers of hot glass to him (he could really blow glass)  and in his hands, the making of stemmed wine glasses, bottles, plates – anything at all – was this miraculous process. To have experienced that is a true gift. Midwinter in Inglewood was pretty harsh, and a hot glass studio was a great place to be – everyone wanted to stand next to the furnace!

"Lastly I must mention Nelson's Bakery of Inglewood, which was just around the corner from Tony's studio. They made these amazing steak and oyster pies (with real oysters) – stunning! A lot of glassblowing was powered by those pies!"

I'm pleased to report that Nelson's Bakery apparently continues in Inglewood, though I haven't sampled a steak and oyster pie - yet.

Signed 'Dropped by M H 86'  30cm high

 

The pieces of Murray's glass in my collection are from 1985, 1986 and 1987. Murray's work in glass seems not to be widely recognised so I show a range of pieces here to illustrate what he produced.  

I asked Murray about the inscription 'dropped by MH' on this piece. He replied: 'When I was assisting Tony a piece would occasionally pop off the punti, and if it was at a certain temperature it would bounce and roll, and with luck the punti could be reheated and the piece picked up, and finished. These pieces always seemed a bit special to me, especially if they came through unblemished - have a close look on the sides and you may see some scuff marks. The odd, dull, hollow clonk these pieces made when they hit the concrete was so surprising, even more so when the piece was at a very finished stage and the crash of shattering glass is expected.  Thanks, that has bought back the memories of all sorts of sights, sounds and smells that were long forgotten.'   

Signed M Hill '86 11.5cm high

Signed M Hill 86, Earthworks sticker 28cm h

This sticker occurs on several pieces of Murray's work

Signed M Hill 87 - as below 25cm high

Signed MH 86 8.5cm high

Signed M. Hill 86 19cm high

Signed M. Hill 86 12 cm h

Signed M Hill 86 14cm high

Signed MH 86 21cm high

So Who Was GBC?

One of the great thrills of hunting for glass on internet auction website TradeMe is when you buy something you don't know what it is, but you have a hunch, and it turns out to be something quite special.

Of course, there are also those occasions when the hunch proves to be wrong, and the piece turns out to be nothing, or something of no interest that I can't identify. Which is why I have a box of motley pieces ready to be donated to the Opp Shop...

But here's one of the success stories.

A chunky art glass goblet, the trader said, with GBC 1979 engraved on the base. No other clues as to its origin or the identity of the maker. The auction was set for bidding to start at $20, with no reserve price.

I racked my brains to think who GBC might be, but to no avail.  There was a photo, which had hints of NZ glass - Keith Mahy seemed a possibility, but he clearly wasn't 'GBC'. The photo wasn't as clear as this one, which I took once the piece arrived, but it was good enough to encourage me to bid. So I did. There was no interest from anyone else, so my opening bid of $20 was successful.

Garry Nash has always been helpful in my NZ glass research (as indeed have others), and he was involved in the glass scene in 1979, so I thought I'd send him an email to ask what he thought.  A few days later I happened to be in Auckland so I called in to Nash Glass to see if Garry had any thoughts about it.  Talking about it with Garry Nash and his colleague Claire Bell, Claire said ‘that could be a J, what is John Croucher’s middle name?’ Garry said at once ‘Barry, John Barry Croucher’.

Which made for a really exciting possibility.  Once the piece arrived and I could handle it, I could confirm that it indeed it had JBC 1979 on the base, as you can see in the photo on the right.

I sent the photos off to John Croucher, who replied, saying: 

'Yep you have a very early Croucher. We had just started blowing full time then. Amazing that people bought enough of that stuff that we could keep on doing it!'

So I am thrilled to be able to add this to my collection. I have several early Crouchers, but this is one of the earliest, and certainly the earliest signed one. The glass is very similar to that used in the decanter I have blogged about before, that was bought at Sunbeam in 1979 but is not signed.  (See 'An Early Piece of Sunbeam Glass?' from May 2007). John was unable to be certain which of the early Sunbeams had made the decanter, identifying Danny Keighly, Ken Cooke and himself as possibilities, though he didn't think he had made it.  But with the signature, there can be no doubt who made this goblet.

Just to round out the story, here are two other early pieces signed by John that I have bought on TradeMe, though I paid quite bit more than $20, since the vendors knew what they were. 

 

The vase at left is signed 'J Croucher 1982' and the 'Hot Lips' sculpture at right is signed 'J Croucher 83'.