John Lotton Morning Glory & Vine Vase (1995)

John Lotton's 1995 Cobalt / Turquoise / Green Leaf Morning Glory Vase is a special piece to appreciate. We have seen few Morning Glory pieces, which combined with the leaf pattern suggest that this is unique in his experimentation with new floral ideas. It has an inner liner of what some would call "Heliotrope" — an unusual dark lavender color.

John is the youngest son of Charles and Mary Lotton and his father inspired him to begin creating beautiful glass as a youth. He began making pendants at age 11, and made his first paperweight at the age of 12. In the mid-80's, according to the authors of Lotton Glass: The Legacy, John "... wanted to create unique works and free-form sculptures. His first favored style was Milk Glass Leaves with Aurene Vines. His works — displaying a masterful use of colors — were avidly sought by collectors."

Following an auto accident in 1994 that prevented John from fulfilling his vision of making larger glass creations, he focused upon smaller pieces. Lotton developed an incredible sense of color combinations, but stymied by physical limitations in creating larger pieces, he ultimately became a successful real estate developer. John told the authors of The Legacy book that he regrets selling any of the 1-inch by 1-inch miniatures that were made after his 1994 accident.

That said, this piece is unusually large for this period, and it is cased in a crystal layer, adding to its weight.

According to the "Legacy" book, p. 187, "... all of the pieces John made at the peak of his career were sold at the Lotton Gallery on Michigan Avenue in Chicago — including a half a dozen pieces made in a 6 to 8 month period about 2 to 2 1/2 years before he quit blowing. They featured 10 or 11 types of flowers or designs that each took four to six hours to create. Given the heft of this vase, it's possible that it was begun prior to the accident and only completed in 1995.

The piece is about 7 inches tall and 6 inches wide. It weighs about 4 lbs.