A new exhibition aims to help visitors to Perth gain an insight into an industry that once made the city’s name around the world.
Venetian and Bohemian glass are names to conjure with, but Scotland artisan glass shares a long and distinguished history.
The industry began as an offshoot of the making of writing inks, with glass containers replacing stoneware bottles.
Gradually, however, Perth became more famous for its high-quality decorative and domestic glassware.
Local art glass and paperweights, in fact, became so valuable that auction houses had to be on their guard against fakes.
The factories are now gone though Caithness Glass lives on in Crieff but their products remain an important part of the city’s heritage.
Now Perth Museum and Art Gallery aims to help visitors take a completely fresh look at its extensive collection of glassware.
Entitled Dazzle: a glossary of glass, the exhibition opens on Tuesday and brings together some of the very finest examples of locally-made artisan glass.
They will include important works from the Monart, Vasart, Strathearn and Caithness studios, as well as contemporary Scottish art pieces.
The exhibition hopes to celebrate both Perth’s glass tradition and with the addition of some examples of the museum’s rarely-seen collection of historic Venetian glass demonstrate how locally-produced glassware can be viewed within the European context.
It will also feature, for the first time, a small selection of Caithness Glass from the recent donation of the Graham Cooley Collection.
This important and extensive private collection of more than 300 pieces was generously gifted to Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
It comprises works from all the company’s principal designers and is the most comprehensive collection of Caithness Glass now in public ownership.
“It gives me great pleasure that Caithness Glass and their designers and engravers will get the kind of public exposure they richly deserve through Dazzle,” said Mr Cooley, a respected collector of 20th Century glass and a researcher and lecturer in the fields of glass and furniture. This is a fantastic opportunity for their work to really shine.”
He added: “I was absolutely delighted to gift my collection to Perth Museum and Art Gallery. It seemed very fitting to do so, as it brings these pieces back to their rightful place.”
Perth Museum and Art Gallery is open between 10am and 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and admission to Dazzle is free.