By Steve Orme
Glass-blowing is a dying craft that is expected to disappear in the next ten years. But one Derbyshire company is leading the way in ensuring that the unique artistry will continue well into the future.
Lumsdale Glass is a traditional glass-blowing studio in the delightful Lumsdale Valley, just above Matlock. Jonathan Abbott has been running the company since April 2023 when he took over from his mentor Anthony Wassell.
The firm’s products which include vases, baubles, tumblers, paperweights and tableware are in big demand – not just in Derbyshire but even for some of the biggest Hollywood films.
Despite that 39-year-old Jonathan who is a vastly experienced glass-blower feels there are many more skills he would like to perfect.
“There are so many different areas of glass-blowing I want to move into. I really want to go into wine glasses, stemware and goblets. There’s probably another few years’ worth of practice and learning before I can get to where I want to be.
“We’ve got loads of ideas – different procedures and ways of applying colour and pattern to glass which I’ve never tried because at the moment I don’t really have the time.”
Help is at hand: even though Anthony Wassall has retired, he will return to the business once a week to pass on his stemware skills.
Jonathan has always been interested in traditional skills and crafts. He went to Liverpool where he studied for a higher national diploma in fine art.
His tutors could see that he was hands-on and pointed him towards a scholarship in Bulgaria. “I went there for two or three months and did Bulgarian traditional skills and crafts. When I came back I knew that was what I wanted to do,” says Jonathan.
He set up a dry-stone walling business with an old school friend which they ran for about eight years. Then another friend told him his dad, Anthony Wassall who was a glass-blower, was looking for an assistant to help him two days a week.
“I was just handing Anthony tools so that he could be more efficient. Instead of making 20 wine glasses in a day he could make 30.”
A few months later Anthony saw Jonathan in a supermarket and asked him if he wanted a winter job.
Walling in the winter is horrible, so I came on board and never left,” Jonathan explains.
“I’d be in here practising every single bit of spare time – that was before I had kids and had spare time.
“When I first came in I knew nothing. But I was watching Anthony and realised it was a skill which was absolutely incredible. I just wanted to be able to do it and rise to the challenge of making mistakes, burning yourself and smashing things.
“It’s an art and it’s a practical art. That’s my main interest. There’s a massive art to producing something but there’s also a function to what you’re making as well.
“I’m very lucky. This is a job I love. I don’t worry about coming in to work. We’re just about to go into the Christmas period which is completely manic and I need to plan my time to get it all done. I’ve got two boys, one’s nearly nine and the other’s six, so I’m juggling family life as well as keeping the business running. But I enjoy what I do.”
The technique of glass-blowing has remained unchanged for centuries. The only difference now is furnaces and kilns are much more efficient which ensures a cleaner environment.
About 95% of the materials Jonathan uses are recycled and come from Devon-based Dartington Crystal, the only remaining factory-scale producer in the country.
According to Jonathan, Lumsdale Glass gets a variety of commissions: “Someone will come in and say they want a vase for a wedding. We’ve recently made some drinking glasses for a lady who’s a bit short-sighted. We made some dark, bold colours which stand out so she’s not going to knock them over.
“We get maybe a couple a year where mum and dad have gone away, the kids have stayed at home and had a party. You get a phone call saying ‘we’ve broken this bit of glass and we need it reproducing and they’re back home tomorrow!’ I always enjoy that. I remember being in that situation myself.”
As well as taking commissions and selling his creations in his shop, Jonathan makes lighting products which are on display at Wirksworth showroom Curiosa. The company’s founder and designer Esther Patterson worked closely with Anthony Wassell and Jonathan had no hesitation in continuing the partnership.
“Esther is the main reason I’m a glass-blower. I’d still be out in the fields putting stones on top of each other if it wasn’t for her.”
When Curiosa was approached by the producers of the Barbie movie – the highest-grossing film of 2023 – it led to Jonathan’s lights being seen in the Barbie Dreamhouse at the start of the picture.
Then Jonathan was contacted by the producers of a film which should be released next year, the big-screen version of Hamnet. This is Maggie O’Farrell’s fictional story about the life of William Shakespeare and his wife after the death of their 11-year-old son. She is known as Agnes, not Anne Hathaway.
“Agnes was into apothecary. We made quite a lot of medicine bottles which went onto the film set. They’re all wonky. You spend years practising glass-blowing and getting it symmetrical and then they come in and say ‘we want it a little bit different.’ But it was great fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the film because I’ve just read the book and really enjoyed it.”
Glass-blowing is becoming harder to learn as some universities have stopped courses which have become expensive to run due to massive gas bills and overheads. But the art is continuing in Derbyshire.
Jonathan is passing on his skills to Rosie Perrett. She joined the company after graduating from De Montfort University in Leicester where she specialised in glass as part of a design crafts degree.
“When I’m in the office,” says Jonathan, “I get Rosie to sit in the chair and practise. It doesn’t really matter what she makes – it’s just about handling the glass, mastering different bits and slowly getting better. She’s very good because she’ll do all the stuff I know I’ll never get around to doing.”
Fancy a go yourself? Lumsdale Glass offers experiences where anyone over 16 can try glass-blowing.
“I give them an introduction and will make something to show them what they’re going to be doing. I’m not claiming that I can teach anyone glass-blowing in two hours but we get them involved with as much of it as possible every step of the way. I’m standing with them the whole time to make sure they don’t hurt themselves and that there’s a product at the end of it.
“The furnace operates at 1,000 degrees Centigrade, so you’ve got to make people feel relaxed so they can enjoy it.”
In the run-up to Christmas Lumsdale Glass will be holding an open studio with live glass-blowing demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday, 7 and 8 December. They will be given by Jonathan, Rosie and Thomas Petit, a glass-blower from Belper who occasionally rents Jonathan’s studio.
“Those are the days when I get to experiment, have a go at doing some sort of technique that we’ve never really tried before. It doesn’t matter if it goes wrong.
“We’ll have lots more glass for sale and the whole point of the weekend is getting people to come in and have a look around.”
So take a trip to Lumsdale Glass. Jonathan and Rosie will put sparkle into your life, and it’s clear the business is everything it’s cracked up to be.
