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intial bids:
April 20, 2001

Click on the image to enlarge	Lot 292 Monart Glass early twentieth-century bowl. Signed "Made in Scotland." Diameter 10 7/16"; Height 5 1/8". $400-600
Click on the image to enlarge	Lot 293 Vasart Glass early twentieth-century bowl. Etched signature Vasart. Diameter 10 1/2"; Height 2 1/4". $200-3500
Click on the image to enlarge	Lot 294 Monart Glass early twentieth-century bowl. Pontil sticker says, "Monart Ware, Moncrieff, Scotland." Diameter 12 1/4"; Height 3". $300-400

"Monart Glass was made at the Moncrieff glassworks in Scotland between 1924 and 1961, by Salvador Ysart, a Spanish glassworker, and his four sons. Salvador Ysart had worked at several French glassworks including the renowned Schneider company near Paris. He was recruited from France in 1915 to work on the British war effort in Scotland producing much-needed items like laboratory glass. After the war (in 1922) John Moncrieff recruited Salvador and his son Paul to make laboratory glass in his glassworks in Perth, Scotland. His other sons, Vincent, Augustine, and Antoine joined their father's team when they were old enough.

In 1923-24 Salvador made a beautiful vase using colours he had brought from France and Mrs. Isabel Moncrieff saw it and encouraged him to develop a range of art glass which they called Monart, combining the first part of Moncrieff with the second part of Ysart. Monart glass was a great success, and continued in production until 1939 when the Second World War disrupted glass production. It was 1947 before Monart production was re-started and then continued for another 14 years, but on a much smaller scale. The colours were then paler because it was difficult to obtain the bold pre-war colours and because fashion tastes had changed.

…Generally Monart glass is not signed, but it has a very distinctive pontil mark of a ground disc surrounded by a ground circle. There was a paper label attached to the ground pontil disc, but often these have been lost over the years. The glass itself was usually clear crystal glass which was blown to shape and then rolled over a pattern made up from specks of coloured enamels and sometimes also aventurine. The whole vase was then cased in clear crystal. Most Monart glass shapes were large vases, but they also made fruit bowls, small bowls with lids, bottles with stoppers, jugs and lamps." -The Glass Encyclopedia, Angela M. Bowey, 1999.