I recently visited The Club at The Ivy and was impressed with the collection of British Contemporary Artists and amongst these was some of the work of Anthony Stern. I worked for Anthony for some time and I was reminded that his glass works were displayed in this great establishment. Anthony has an interesting and loyal clientele who often visited the workshop in Avro House in Battersea.

Anthony was born in Cambridge and it was while he was at University here that he first started making films and was well known for this work with Pink Floyd. This led to a fascination with light and colour and he completed an MA at The Royal College of Art in Glass Design. Anthony has an impressive list of glass collectors The Queen, Elton John, The Saudi Royal Family, V&A Museum, Barclays Bank, Morgan Stanley, Nomura Group, Sir Derek Jacobi to name but a few. He adapts his art to an array of both the functional and decorative  objects including  lighting projects which lend themselves well to his style of glasswares. These included an impressive centre piece in the Jigsaw Store in The Duke of York development in Chelsea. He has also completed bespoke lightings at Osborne and Little in the Kings Road Showroom as well as for restaurants and private homes. He also designed a range of lighting for Emily Todhunter.

Anthony is always versatile and creative adapting this great art form to everyday use. I remember Chris Corbin visiting to commission beautiful glassware for his restaurants which would enhance his support of contemporary British artists. Anthony always has a wonderful selection of handblown glasses, champagne goblets and vessels for serving wine. He has an impressive collection of bowls and vases too which often caught the eye of contemporary designers. Kelly Hoppen commissioned Anthony to design pieces for her shop but also for restaurant schemes such as her project for Gary Rhodes in Marble Arch where Anthony provided imposing large theatrical vases as well as other beautiful hand made glass objects.

Another of Anthony’s trademarks are his seascapes. These are either panels of coloured glass or blown into a more traditional vase shape with colour and movement woven into the glass and look particularly effective when lit from within or behind. In this vein Anthony also designed a table for a contemporary chalet interior which had a large table top glass panel which was lit from underneath to impact all its glory and create a true conversation piece. His showroom and workshop is in Avro House in Battersea and I recommend a visit. Avro House, Havelock Terrace.