This Mdina art glass piece SOLD through the iNVISeDGE website for $395 in 2018.
Background Info and Provenance
A SIGNED art glass vase from the studios of MDINA GLASS in MALTA weighing a huge 2.84 kg! This piece is signed Mdina 1979. Base markings with the date are much harder to find and any Mdina piece made before 1982 is harder to get again. According to Mark Hill’s book on Mdina Glass, “the classic forms designed by Michael Harris such as fish vases, signed pieces and larger, complex pieces are the most desirable and sought-after.” (p.50) This piece weighs a huge 2.84 kg- it’s the heaviest Mdina piece I’ve ever come across in Australia and in fact is one of the heaviest art-glass pieces I’ve ever sold. This is also a classic (and highly complex) form. (Called the fish vase but also commonly known as the axe vase for obvious reasons). This vase was designed by Michael Harris (the founder of Mdina Glass) in the late 60’s. 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 he was able to lure other artists to Malta with technical skills similar to his (but it’s a ’79 piece so still early Mdina). These vases are much harder to find and consequently more collectable. In Australia this is the first of its kind I’ve seen (I had it bought in from Europe). Because this piece is so heavy, it cost me over AU$100 just to get it into Australia.
This piece has an incredible free-flow of yellows, ambers and browns. It was inspired by the rocky cliffs that surround the shoreline of Malta.
Upon close inspection it’s obvious all Mdina pieces are made by artist hands and not pumped out of a factory by the thousands. Mdina Glass has etched an enviable place for itself in the history of international art-glass. This place will only become stronger in coming years. (In fact, it’s becoming stronger as I write- values have increased noticeably in the last 7 years.) The distinctive hand-made quality of Mdina and its affinity with the natural environment is always finding new fans which means this piece is not only stunning but also a very strong investment. Above all though the real beauty of these HAND-MADE pieces is having an opportunity to bring creative life-energy into your home.
Mdina glass will outlive us all and continue to tell stories after modern décor made by machines has ended up as landfill. There are very few better ways to invest in your home and reduce your carbon footprint.
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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.
We accept DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT. We send photographic ID of the store owner (Michael Grealy) to all customers at the point of sale, along with media articles about iNVISeDGE with photos of Michael Grealy in them (most of these articles are about 10 years old). Your payment will be paid into an Australian ANZ bank account under the name Michael Grealy (or iNVISeDGE). Please read our ebay feedback spanning more than 15 years for irrefutable proof of our online trading history and reputation. Ebay feedback can ONLY be left by LEGITIMATE PAYING customers! Additionally please be aware that in Australia ALL consumers are protected BY LAW if the goods or services they buy are not as described. (But this should be of no concern- in our first 15 years of trading we have over 1150 positive ebay feedback comments and ZERO negative feedback comments.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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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