above: Mdina vase
and sea-horse
If you are looking for
Mdina Glass there
is always some for sale
on eBay. See what there
is just now - click
Mdina Glass
You could also look
for other Mdina-related
glass - click
Maltese Glass
Glass Encyclopedia
Click here for the full
list of latest topics
or click on any of
the following links:
Advertising glass
Akro Agate glass
Amberina glass
American glass
Ancient glass
Apothecary glass
Apsley Pellatt glass
Art Deco glass
Art nouveau glass
Arts and Crafts glass
August Walther Glass
Baccarat glass
Bagley glass
Barolac glass
Beads (glass)
Bimini glass
Blenko glass
Books on glass
Bottles (glass)
Boyd's Crystal Glass
Brierley Crystal glass
E O Brody glass
Bubble glass
Burtles Tate glass
Caithness glass
Cameo glass
Cameo incrustations
Carnival glass
Cast glass
Chance glass
Charder glass
Cire Perdue glass
Cloud glass
Cobalt blue glass
Consolidated glass
Contemporary glass
Coralene glass
Coudersport glass
Crackle glass
Cranberry glass
Custard cups (glass)
Custard glass
Cut crystal glass
Dartington glass
Daum glass
Davidson's glass
Depression glass
Dew drop glass
Dorothy Thorpe glass
Drinking glasses
Dumps
DVDs on Glass
EAPG glassware
End-of-day glass
Etling glass
European glass
Fairy Lights
Federal glass
Fenton glass
Fire-King glass
Flygsfors glass
Fostoria glass
Frank Thrower glass
French glass
Fry Glass
Galle Glass
Glass hand vases
Glass-working
Glass Dumps
Gold ruby glass
Goofus Glass
Gray-stan glass
Greeners glass
Hand vases
Hazel Atlas glass
Heisey glass
Historismus glass
Hobnail glass
Hunebelle glass
Imperial glass
Intaglio glass
Irradiated glass
Isle of Wight glass
Italian glass
Jack-in-Pulpit glass
Jade glass
James Derbyshire
Jeannette Glass
Joblings glass
Joe Rice glass
John Derbyshire
J Walsh Walsh glass
Kemple glass
King's Lynn glass
Komaromy glass
Lalique glass
Leerdam glass
Le Verre Francais
L G Wright glass
Libbey glass
Libensky glass
Lobmeyr glass
Loetz or Lotz glass
Lost wax technique
Malachite glass
Manchester glass
Marbles (glass)
Marqueterie de Verre
Mary Gregory glass
Mdina glass
Mercury glass
Milk glass
Molineux Webb glass
Monart glass
Murano glass
Nailsea glass
Nazeing glass
New Zealand glass
NZ paperweights
Northwood glass
Opalescent glass
Orient & Flume glass
Orplid glass
Orrefors glass
Pallme-Konig glass
Paperweights
Paperweights of NZ
Pate de Verre
Peachblow glass
Pearline glass
Percival Yates & Vickers
Perthshire Paperw'ts
Phoenix glass
Pictures on glass
Pilgrim glass
Pirelli glass
Powell glass
Riverside glass
Reverse paint on glass
Roman glass
Rose bowls
Royal Brierley glass
Ruby glass
Sabino glass
Scandinavian glass
Schneider glass
Shoes in glass
Silhouettes on glass
Silvered glass
Silver overlay glass
Slag glass
Sowerby glass
Spatter glass
Stained glass
St Clair glass
Steuben Glass
Stevens & Williams
Strathearn glass
Stretch glass
STS Abel Zagreb glass
Sulphides in glass
Sun changed glass
Thomas Webb glass
Tiara glass
Tiffany glass
Tiffin glass
Toothpick Holders
Tortoiseshell glass
Tudor Crystal glass
Uranium glass
Val St Lambert glass
Vasart glass
Vaseline glass
Venetian glass
Venini glass
Verlys glass
Videos on Glass
Vistosi Glass
Vitro Porcelain Glass
Walther Glass
Waterford Crystal
Webb Corbett glass
Webb, Thomas glass
Wedgwood glass
Westmoreland glass
Whitefriars glass
WMF glass
Ysart glass
Useful glass links
Glass Message Board
Glass Museum on Line
Books on Glass
Glass Target Searches
Mdina Glass from
The Glass Encyclopedia
A short explanation of Mdina Glass:Mdina glass comes from Malta in the Mediterranian. It is easily recognised both for its distinctive colours and for the Mdina signature and paper labels. The vase on the left is flattened on one side and the other side rises to a smooth rib running from top to bottom of the vase, almost like a spine. It has the Mdina signature in script on the base, like so many other Mdina items.
The little seahorse is very typical of Mdina, and must have been made by the thousand. The top is clear glass and the paper-weight base is coloured turquoise with gold and brown streaks. The colouring is similar to colours found in marine scenes, and is very typical of Mdina glassware. The company made numerous designs of vases and bottles most commonly in two colour schemes, turquoise with amber streaks, and brown glass with green and yellow streaks.
The company was set up by Michael Harris and Eric Dobson in 1967/8. Michael Harris was born in 1933 in Derbyshire and started his training at the Leeds college of Art, then Luton College of Art, Stourbridge College of Technology and Art,and the Royal College of Art in London, where he specialised in Industrial Glass Design. After two years in the army (national service), Michael married Elizabeth, returned to the Royal College of Art and graduated with First Class Honours. He was invited back to the Royal College as a Tutor in Industrial Glass and whilst there he worked with some wonderful people, including Ronald Stennett-Willson (Kings Lynn and Wedgwood Glass), Bill Heaton (Whitefriars), Geoffrey Baxter (Whitefriars) and Sam Herman (studio glass pioneer from the States). Michael became the pioneer of the studio glass movement in the UK, and together with Eric Dobson, set up the small Mdina art glass studio in 1967 on the Island of Malta in the Mediterraneum. This was partly funded and greatly encouraged by the Maltese government on the understanding that Michael and Eric would train local people in the skills of working with hot glass.
Mdina Glass was a great success for many years, and gave birth to a significant glass craft industry on the Island of Malta. Mark Hill's excellent little book "Michael Harris: Mdina Glass & Isle of Wight Studio Glass" gives more details of Michael's career and the beautiful glass he designed (see link below).
Eventually the government changed, attitudes in Malta changed, and Michael left Malta in 1972 with his family. They established Isle of Wight Glass in the UK. Eric Dobson continued until the early 1980s working with the local glass artists that he and Michael had trained. Eventually Mdina Glass was taken over by Joseph Said, a Maltese glassworker who had trained at Mdina. There have been several other glassworks operating in Malta all producing glass which bears the hallmarks of Michael Harris designs. Gozo glass, from the Island of Gozo, was founded by Michael Harris in 1989; Phoenician Glass was founded on Malta by Leonard Mulligan, who was later a partner in Gozo glass; Mtarfa glass and Valletta glass are two other Maltese glassworks. All of the Maltese glassworks identified their glass with labels or engraved signatures. You can find examples from them all by searching on ebay - click Maltese Glass.
Here are some books which include information on Mdina glass.
- Michael Harris: Mdina Glass & Isle of Wight Studio Glass by Mark Hill, 2006.
- 20th Century Factory Glass by Lesley Jackson, 2000.
- 20th Century glass by Judith Miller, 2004.
- Millers 20th Century Glass by Andy McConnell, 2006.
Glass Blog
have a look
Browse specialist books on Glass- what's new?
- what did you miss?
The place to browse through interesting glass books - book-seek.com
Target ebay searches!
Find your favourite glass
with our Target Searches
- save time when you are busy
and don't miss an opportunity!
- CLICK HERE
INFORMATION about Pirelli Glass!
A new book on Pirelli Glass. This is the second part of the London Lampworkers Trilogy covering Pirelli Glass.
And if you didn't read the first part of this Trilogy, you can take a look here:
Copyright (c) 1998 - 2021 Angela M. Bowey.
All rights reserved. Copying material from this page for
reproduction in any format is expressly forbidden.
Web site designed by: Angela M. Bowey.
URL to this page:
http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/Mdinaglass.html