NetworK Tumbler Museum Special. July 2016
by Glen and Stephen Thistlewood
Glen & Stephen Thistlewood and Christina Katsikas
Joint Curators of
Bob Smith’s Carnival Glass Tumbler Museum
Joint Curators of
Bob Smith’s Carnival Glass Tumbler Museum
Bob Smith of Boston, USA, is a dedicated researcher and specialist collector of Carnival Glass tumblers. Bob has spent decades building the finest collection of Carnival Glass tumblers in the entire world. His spectacularly diverse and comprehensive collection covers over a century of production, representing every country that made Carnival Glass.
Bob's collection is meticulously identified and documented – Classic, Late and Contemporary; common and rare; all colours imaginable!
We’ve often said that Carnival Glass is like a window on the world. It reflects history, art & design, technology and so much more, across the years and the continents. It also reflects endeavour and dedication – and never more so than in the case of Bob who has assembled his amazing and unique collection over a lifetime of devoted collecting.
Bob's collection is meticulously identified and documented – Classic, Late and Contemporary; common and rare; all colours imaginable!
We’ve often said that Carnival Glass is like a window on the world. It reflects history, art & design, technology and so much more, across the years and the continents. It also reflects endeavour and dedication – and never more so than in the case of Bob who has assembled his amazing and unique collection over a lifetime of devoted collecting.
Left to right: Bouquet, Persian blue, Fenton; Ground Cherries, blue, Northwood; Big Butterfly, green, US Glass; Fir Cones, blue, Riihimaki.
Bob’s world-class tumbler collection deserves to be seen, to be experienced and to be available all around the world, free from the confines of a “bricks and mortar” museum. We are delighted and honoured that Bob bequeathed his tumbler collection to Glen and that he was delighted to know that we were to be the curators of Bob Smith's Carnival Glass Tumbler Museum. It will be launched as an online “virtual” museum, presented and hosted by two complementary websites - our own extremely popular Carnival Glass Worldwide website, and the Carnival Glass Showcase website.
It is a tremendously exciting venture, freely sharing a mountain of knowledge about Carnival Glass tumblers to everyone, everywhere. This will be a major work – one that, when complete, will captivate and educate glass collectors across the globe in perpetuity. Join us as we build it! And it’s all thanks to the dedication, the hard work, the generosity and the far-sightedness of dear Bob Smith. Watch our Carnival Facebook page for progress updates:
|