BEN EDOLS ZANFIRICO BOTTLE 2009

I bought this bottle from the Object Gallery here in Sydney in 2009. When I bought it I could not take it home straight away because it had been booked into a photo session with Australian Vogue magazine.

The bottle is signed by Ben Edols ’09 on the base. I think the Italians would call it ‘vetro a canne di zanfirico alternate’.

Ben Edols is part of a well known Australian glass partnership: Edols & Elliott. They have been working in partnership since their first joint exhibition at the de Vera Gallery, San Francisco in 1993.

But in 2009 Ben Edols started to produce a series of pieces that showcase his abilities as a glass-blower and reflect his interest in the techniques of the Murano masters. He combines striking colours in objects that are both decorative and functional. His attention to detail results in the finest glass pieces.

“Benjamin Edols has been blowing glass since 1987. He received his BA from Sydney College of the Arts and went on to successfully complete a postgraduate diploma at Canberra School of Art in 1992. Since that time Ben has travelled to work alongside colleagues in America, Italy and Japan. Ben has given glassblowing workshops at Pilchuck Glass School, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, Toyama Institute of Glass Art, Niijima Glass Centre, The Jam Factory and Sydney College of the Arts.”
http://www.edolselliott.com/bio.html

“This series of work revolves around a technique called cane work. Cane working is an intricate technique using thin rods of coloured glass. Ben groups these rods together and rolls them up on the end of a glass blowing pipe. He then melts them together and manipulates the hot glass to achieve coloured stripes through the vessel. This is a technique used by the original masters of glass, the Venetains. Ben is greatly influenced by these amazingingly complex glass blowing techniques. He is considered to have mastered them and is regarded as one of Australia's most skilled glass blowers.”
http://www.arthive.com.au/products/glass-beach-ball-sphere-by-ben-edols.html