Mid-Century Geoffrey Baxter "Bark" Glass Bowl

Description

A beautiful cobalt glass "Bark" bowl, from the textured range designed by Geoffrey Baxter for the renowned British firm Whitefriars. … more A beautiful cobalt glass "Bark" bowl, from the textured range designed by Geoffrey Baxter for the renowned British firm Whitefriars. A stunning example of Baxter's iconic work in textured glass.
Whitefriars was founded in 1860 and was a producer of stained glass that was very popular in the Gothic Revival period. 1934 the Whitfriars Glass Company was acquired by James Powell and in its early years continued producing stained glass windows for cathedrals among other decorative Art pieces in the Art Nouveau and Venetian styles that are very valuable among collectors as of today. 1919 the company's name was changed to Powell and Sons and played a large role in the Art Deco period with there geometric designs. In 1962 the name of the company was changed back to Whitefriars Glass Ltd. Geoffrey Baxter graduated from the royal collage in London to join Whitefrairs and to become the most well known artist in Mid-Century English glass. He is well known for his Textured range developed in 1967. These were innovative textured glass designs that were mostly geometric in shape. Some of the more common signature examples of the Textured line would include the Banjo, Drunken Bricklayer, Nailhead, Coffin, Bark, Stitched Cube, and Cello designs that have grew in popularity over the last decade among today's collectors. In 1972 the Glacier range was introduced which consisted of a textured colorless clear lead crystal bar ware. Whitefriar's Limited edition Paperweights were also made throughout the 70's. Millefiori paperweights of the 70's increased in production "Thousand Flowers" is what Millefiori is translated to in Italian. A Venetian technique using fused together rods cut to make flower patterns that would get embedded into paperweight. Whitefriars has produced these Millefiori paperweights since the 1930's. The recession and the end of stained glass production in 1973 resulted in the end of Whitefriars Glass in 1980. less