Glassblowing

We specialise in making replacement or replica chandelier parts in lead crystal as well as blowing glass tableware, ornaments and custom pieces that have been lost or damaged beyond repair.

As standard we blow 32% lead crystal and several times a year we melt and blow a batch of Dartington 24% lead crystal with a hint of grey. In addition we can blow a huge range of coloured glass by introducing coloured rods during the melting process, smaller piece will generally be cased glass (solid glass cased within clear glass using the 24% Dartington crystal) which creates a very similar finish to solid coloured glass. Larger projects can be produced in solid colour on request.

We melt upto 250kg of lead crystal per week, but we have a second smaller furnace in reserve if we need to melt a second colour.

Examples of items that can be blown at our glass house:

Replacement bowls, legs or feet for drinking glasses

Entire glasses to replace a missing glass from a set

Tableware items including decanters, stoppers, carafes and salt sellers

Glass items to fit existing silvers

Glass shades in a variety of sizes and shapes

Solid or hollow arms for chandelier and light fittings

Chandelier pans or bobeches, nozzles and stem pieces

Replacement dishes or bowls for light fittings

Replica Venetian chandelier and mirror parts

A large amount of skill, experience and judgement is used to create each piece of glass, but for replica pieces it is not always possible to produce exact matches, especially if the original was a moulded piece, however we do our best to work with you and ensure the best result possible is achieved.

If accuracy is required a mould can be made for some pieces, moulds can also be used to create details that cannot be added during the cutting stage like ribbing or rope twists on items like arms.

For all your glass blowing needs please contact us on 01795 830000 or email enquiries@wilkinson-ltd.com

For glass repairs please email repairs@wilkinson-ltd.com

Carl Nordbruch

In July 2020, Carl Nordbruch, our glassblower for over 20 years began blowing glass at Wilkinson's new glass house in Sittingbourne, Kent.

Born in 1971 on the Isle of Wight, UK, Carl is a graduate of the Royal College of Art .

Aged 16 Carl left school and with just one O Level. “I remember getting a call a few weeks afterleaving,” he recalls. ”It was the dole phoning to say they’d found me two possible jobs. One was working with a pest control company and the other was at a glass studio.”

What followed was a seven year apprenticeship at the internationally renowned Isle Of Wight Glass Studio in St Lawrence. “I worked with Peter Riley, he is an incredible craftsman and really taught me everything that I know. By the time I was 24 I was ready to move on and went to work at Wolverhampton University. I was a demonstrator, teaching glass blowing all day, every day, for two years before going to the Royal College to complete an MA in Ceramics and Glass. All through my MA I was making pieces of glass and selling them to support myself and my partner. I then went and worked for another studio in the area but unfortunately the owner went bust and everyone lost their jobs. My wife was nine months pregnant with our first child so we needed to think fast.”

It was at this point that Carl came full circle and decided to relocate his family and equipment back to the island. Here he and his wife set up an emergency studio in the barn in Colwell Bay, Freshwater.

That emergency studio ended up being a more permanent residence where Carl spent over 10 years blowing before he took up Wilkinson's offer to set up a more spacious and larger glasshouse in Kent.