The Harris Dynasty

Michael Harris (1933- 1994) studied` glass design during the 1950's at Stourbridge College of Art and at the Royal College of Art (RCA).In 1962 he was appointed Tutor in Industrial Glass at the RCA, where he taught for the next six years, setting up hot-glass facilities there in 1967. Leaving Sam Herman to take his place, he moved to Malta, where with Eric Dobson he established the Mdina Glassworks in 1969. Along with Vicente and Ettore Boffo, glassblowers from the Whitefriars factory, he trained local apprentices, making striking and richly coloured glass.


The designs and colours used were very distinctive, including axe and fish vases, winged-stem chalices and tall narrow bottles in blue/green, blue/gold and amethyst/gold. Michael Harris left Mdina Glass in 1972 to set-up the Isle of Wight Glass works near Ventnor. Some of the shapes used in the 1970's at Isle of Wight were similar to those developed at Mdina but are distinguished by the fact that they are more finely blown. Early colourways include Tortoiseshell, Seawood and Aurene, with Azurene from 1979 using gold and silver leaf. When Michael Harris died in1994 his widow Elizabeth and their two sons Timothy and Jonathan carried on the tradition of glass design at the factory. Today Timothy and Elizabeth Harris continue to design and produce high quality art glass whilst Jonathan has set up his own innovative studio in Ironbridge, Shropshire.






In this landmark book, the fascinating story behind one of the most influential, and until now largely ignored, glassmakers of the late 20thC will be revealed for the first time. An important forerunner of the international studio glass movement, Michael Harris was the founding and creative drive behind both Mdina Glass from 1968-72 and Isle of Wight Studio Glass from 1972 until his untimely death in 1994...

You can order this new book direct from the author / publisher, Mark Hill.