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Building on the past: The pâtes-de-verre sculpture of Max Stewart

Brief Description

The article follows from an AHRC funded project into the glass processes of Amalric Walter (1870-1959) carried out by the authors at the University of Wolverhampton in 2005/6. The extensions to the findings of this project, which were both the subject of Dr Stewarts PhD, and their subsequent employment by Stewart in the production of a series of glass cast sculptural heads allows for the discussion and investigation of the impact of the original process-based project within a wider context.

Research Rationale

The article uses the documentation of his sculptural work by Dr Stewart as a case history in an account that follows the impact of the original research through a number of stages which permits the discussion of the multi-layered relationship between research and personal creativity. The distinct stages through which the technical information, gleaned from the 2005/6 project, has been developed through its extension within the PhD, and subsequently through its application in the production of a series of sculptures, illuminates a continuity which is rarely studied.

Strategies Undertaken

The article identifies and traces the interdependency of three distinct strands of research within Art & Design by reference to the study of Stewart’s creative and scientific development of glass colouring. These include the scientific model of hypothesis development, testing and modification of the original project, which yielded an accurate reproduction of Walter’s colours, recipes, and processes; the subsequent extension of the range of colours from 29 to currently over 200, their founding, and use within large scale kiln casting; and the development of the expressive use of this colour palette. This enquiry combined scientific and creative inquiry, which greatly contribute to the development of kiln-formed glass worldwide.