Portland Vase
On Wednesday 25th January 2012 it was announced that Terri was ready to start carving the Portland Vase. As with the Auldjo Jug carving would be executed on every Wednesday so that visitors could witness the work being undertaken.
Terri had plenty of reference materials with great close up pictures so all the figures etc., could be laid out on a panel/frieze. Terri had to resize all the images to fit and divided the vase and panel equally into six, matching each mark as she stuck the figures (cut out of plastic resist) onto the blank.
The excess white was first removed by sandblasting which took just short of five hours as the opal casing was quite thick, even though it had already been thinned out before the resist was attached.
The plastic resist is accurately applied to the blank.
Sandblasting removes the excess white glass not protected by the plastic resist.
Once sandblasted Terri could start on the carving. She use a high speed, air turbine, flexi drill (dentist drill). The water cools the vase as Terri was carving it and the dust and water collects in a bowl on the work bench. The drill is a very efficient and smooth piece of equipment even so the opal layer was in parts still too thick for comfort so was reduced using a sanding belt.
Ian discusses the work in progress with Terri.
With the carving progressing well Ian decided in April that the base of another unused cameo blank 10cm (4 inch) diameter should be used to replicate the base plaque that accompanies the original in the British Museum.
The Portland Vase took seven months of engraving to complete, but the whole project comprising of the three pieces and the base plaque took approximately eighteen months.
The 2012 Portland Vase carved by Terri-Louise Colledge. Image courtesy of Graham Dale, Stourbridge.
Upon its completion the vase was presented at a media event. When Terri was asked how it compared to her other work she replied “I dunno, I’ve never done figures before.“; quite remarkable and well deserving of Professor James Measell’s assessment that today “she is one of the best cameo engravers in the world.”
On 24th September 2013, a year after the unveiling of the Portland Vase and Auldjo Jug, Terri Colledge announced that she had completed the work on the amphora version of the Portland Vase.
The finished pieces are on display at the Stourbridge Glass Museum.
The completed pieces created by Terri-Louise Colledge under the 2012 Portland Vase Project. Image courtesy of Graham Dale, Stourbridge.