Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is home to many beautiful glass treasures, including paperweights, sculpture, and Germanic drinking vessels. On from December 23rd through June 16th in the Museum’s Blue Gallery, Under The Sea: Marine Life in Glass, showcases fourteen works of art in which artists have found their muse in the flora and fauna of the world’s oceans. Works featuring fish, kelp, turtles, and water-loving birds by artists including Janet Kelman, Colin Richardson, Josh Simpson, Rick Ayotte, and factories such as Caithness and Perthshire will be on exhibit.
Did you know that the first paperweight Evangeline Bergstrom collected was an antique Baccarat from 1847? It was by chance that she found herself in an antiques show in Florida while satisfying her interest in stamp collecting. The paperweight reminded her of a weight that belonged to her grandmother more than fifty years prior. In fact, Mrs. Bergstrom didn’t start collecting paperweights until she was 63 years old! In this exhibition located in the Mabel R. McClanahan Memorial Study Gallery, take a journey into the past and examine antique French paperweights that Mrs. Bergstrom – or her contemporaries – would have collected. Learn about characteristic hallmarks of lampwork, millefiori and sulphide paperweights from the big three factories of St. Louis, Clichy and Baccarat as well as Pantin and St. Mande. Who knows what exciting discoveries you will make?
Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is home to more than 5,000 works of art in glass. This exhibition features works hand-curated by twelve members of the museum’s staff. Highlighting works from each of our four major collections, including Victorian Art Glass baskets, Germanic glass, Studio glass, and paperweights, there’s sure to be something to catch your fancy. On exhibit in the museum’s Mabel R. McClanahan Memorial Study Gallery.