T H E
P R O D U C E R S
L O N D O N
WORDS
SARAH WARWICK
PHOTOS
ROBERT HALL, ESTER SEGARRA
Christmas can often mean cheap
throwaway decorations, but not at one
London design studio
Forever blowing
baubles
bermondsey’s come
a long way since the days of Oliver Twist,
when Dickens described it as “reeking” from the leather-
working factories. Over the past 150 years, the city’s industry
has died off and now the arches of former tanneries are
home to trendy eateries and boutiques. But even in this newly
gentrified borough just south of the Thames, there’s one
company that’s still flying the flag for local craftsmanship, even
if its fires are used, not for tanning hides, but for working glass.
“Design studios have become the new industry,”
says Peter Layton, whose work over the past 40 years
– for everyone from the National Gallery to the Kuwaiti
government – has earned him the nickname ‘the grand old
man of glass’. Much like a certain chap in Lapland, Layton’s
kept pretty busy this time of year. The furnaces at London
Glassblowing, his studio-cum-boutique, glow into the night
as he and his team prepare the ornaments that (not literally,
thankfully) slide off the shelves.
“They’ve been very popular,” the artist says of his hand-
blown baubles. This is hardly surprising given that, “they’re
small versions of big pieces that would cost five or 10 times
as much and nearly as much work goes in”. From £125 (€148)
each, these orbs aren’t cheap, but Layton sees them as an
enduring alternative to the throwaway culture of the
consumerist Christmas. “Every season in the Czech Republic
they make 5,000 new types of bauble,” he says. “You can buy
them for £2.50. Ours are heirlooms. Made to last.”
It’s even possible these decorations will be around longer
than London Glassblowing. Thanks to some “scary”
overheads, Layton concedes sadly that glassblowing is a
dying art. “There’s a rumour,” he says, “that, in the not too
distant future, there will be no handmade glass except
somewhere like China, where costs are lower.” Unlike those
smelly tanneries, this would be a sore loss for London indeed.
Visit London Glassblowing’s open day on 7 December.
londonglassblowing.co.uk
GLASS ART
01
Peter Layton at work
02
One of Layton’s
collaborations
with Bruno Romanelli
and Wrightson & Platt
03
Layton’s ‘heirloom’
Christmas baubles
03
01
01
02
03
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R E G U L A R S
