This Mdina art glass piece SOLD through the iNVISeDGE website for AUD $379 in 2014. Today in 2019 I’d price the exact same vase at AUD $395 to AUD $429.
THIS LISTING IS FOR THE FRONT CENTRE PIECE IN THE GROUP ONLY- THE OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE SEPARATELY THRU INVISEDGE AND ARE SHOWN TO GET A RELATIVE FEEL FOR SIZE, COLOUR & SHAPE ETC
Background Info and Provenance
(Written in 2014).
A SIGNED art glass vase from the studios of MDINA GLASS in MALTA. It’s signed Mdina Glass 1978 with a hand signature. This base marking is rare- most are signed Mdina only- this adds further appeal to this piece. This could be the signature of Ettore Vicente but I’m not sure. It’s the “fish” vase but in this variation it’s commonly called the “axe” vase because of the squared form. This vase differs from the majority of Mdina pieces because of its multi-dimensional appearance. The fish vase is regarded as one of Mdina’s classics. It was designed by Michael Harris (the founded of Mdina Glass) in the late 1960’s and is more complex in construction to most (all?) other Mdina glass. Because of this, Michael Harris was the only person at Mdina Glass capable of making fish vases for a long time. This one came later after the success of Mdina Glass had been firmly established and the business was able to lure other artists with technical skills similar to Harris’s (but it is still early Mdina). These vases are much harder to find and consequently more collectable. In Australia these vases are virtually non-existent. This is a heavy piece weighing well over 2kg, therefore many postal services won’t accept it for international post. From most countries it costs over AUD $100 in postage to get a piece of this weight into Australia.
This piece has an incredible web of deep yellow which looks like seaweed and the form reminds me of an anchor. It’s a great way to put a bit of the ocean inside your home.
Upon close inspection it’s obvious that all Mdina pieces are made by artist hands and not pumped out of a factory by the thousands. Mdina Glass has etched a place for itself in the history of international art-glass and this place will only become stronger in coming years. (In fact, it’s becoming stronger even as I write- values have increased in the last 5 years.) The distinctive hand-made quality of Mdina and it’s affinity with the natural environment will always find new fans which means this piece is not only stunning but a very strong investment. Above all though the real beauty of these pieces is knowing they have a good chance of outliving us all- Mdina Glass will continue to tell stories after most modern decor has ended up as landfill. There are very few better ways to invest in your home and reduce your carbon footprint.
Ref- 2001
PICK-UP . . . from 30 or 40 minutes North of BRISBANE city is accepted but postage is preferred as my home is hard to find. Because of this I will nominate a friend or family member for you to collect the item from if you need collection. Pick-up in person must be worked out prior to purchase- thank you. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE is offered internationally. All our Decorative Arts pieces are delivered through AUSTRALIA POST. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE ESTIMATES. . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To BRISBANE- most of our pieces cost $15 - $18 to send. . . To SYDNEY or MELBOURNE- Small Vase- around $20 - $23, Medium Vase- around $20 - $25, Large Vase- around $24 - $30. Let us know if you need an EXACT COST for postage prior to purchase. The above postage estimates include $2.95 for a signature on delivery. . . INSURANCE against being lost or broken in transit up to the value of $200 is included in the estimates above. If your vase is cheaper or more expensive than $200 this will effect your postage fee slightly. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A BOXING FEE of $3.00 is included in the fee above to cover the cost of searching for and storing used packing materials. With the millions of cardboard boxes that end up as landfill every year we don’t believe in supporting the manufacture of boxes for post. Instead of buying new boxes and packing materials and passing this cost onto our customers we spend considerable time sourcing used boxes and then fashioning boxes to fit each item. We do the same for bubble-wrap and foam pieces. This requires a large investment of time, energy, ingenuity, organization and storage space- it is much easier and cheaper to buy new packing materials but I can’t justify taking the easy way out when so much packing material ends up polluting our earth. Our $3.00 charge does little to pay for the time (and storage) needed do this and to pack your item (there is also the time needed to get your package to the post office). This is something we’re happy to do for our customers and the environment. We appreciate your support in this area.
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On occasions a DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT can be made at the time of collection. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On occasions CASH payment when you collect your item may also be available. Confirm prior to purchase if you need this. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other payment methods are available but problematic and may incur additional fees. Tell us prior to purchase if you are unable to feel 100% confident with our trading history and payment methods so we can negotiate something else with you.
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