Restoring a masterpiece

TIFFIN — In 1893, Toledo's Libbey Glass displayed a 4-foot brilliant-cut glass vase at the World's Fair in Chicago. While it was on display, it's possible the beautiful piece was viewed by people such as Thomas Edison, Milton Hershey, Nikola Tesla, Marshall Field, President Grover Cleveland, Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull as well as thousands of others who attended the fair that year from around the world. Today, the vase is in Tiffin being restored by Aidan Scully, owner of Hawkes Crystal and one of the few master glass cutters in the United States. Scully, an Ireland native, is replacing the center piece of the three-part vase. The upper portion screws into the base, but the third piece in the center "has been lost for decades," he said. A United States collector, who prefers to remain anonymous, purchased the antique piece at auction in two pieces. The vase is one of two ever created. "There were no machines used," he said. "It was hand-blown. And the cutting itself is just incredible." After researching the piece, Scully said the collector learned there was a third piece and decided to commission the making of a replacement to return the vase to original condition. When he started looking for someone with the skills to make it, Scully said he was recommended by another brilliant glass cutter he worked with a few years ago at the Corning Glass Museum, Corning, New York. "I'm not one to back down from a challenge," he said. Scully said the collector, "an art lover of brilliant glass," traveled to Tiffin to deliver the vase in person. "The minute he brought it in the door I was shocked," he said. It was much larger than he had imagined. Using an 1893 photo of the piece when it was on display at the world's fair, the collector hired a glass blower to make a 24% lead crystal piece as close as possible to the size and shape of the missing piece. It's Scully's job top take that piece of blown glass, make it fit properly onto the original bottom piece and cut the glass to match the rest of the vase. "I need to get this missing piece complete from the original picture," he said. "All the intricate little cutting details have to be correct. The hardest part is cutting in the foundation of the design. Then the detail will come in after that. "I've got to be exactly right when I cross my main cuts," he said. "This is where the math comes in and I have to be perfect." Scully said he's been working on the project on and off for a few months and plans to be finished by the end April. So far, he has the foundation of the design finished, and he'll work next on matching the decorative portion to the original. After the cutting is complete, Scully said he and Aaron Gooding, a Tiffin native who works with him as a glass cutter as well, will polish the glass to add shine. "We'll hand-polish it the way it was done 100 years ago," Scully said. "The master polisher (Gooding) will do it right here. He's got a lot more patience than me with the polishing." After the piece is complete, the vase is to be displayed at the Hawkes Crystal downtown Tiffin gallery, 207 S. Washington St., for a couple of weeks before it is sent to the Toledo Museum of Art for authentication. Museum's experts will make sure the vase is an authentic 1800s piece and provide the appropriate documentation. It then will be returned to the owner. Scully said he finds it ironic that Hawkes Crystal is completing the vase because Hawkes and Libbey were competitors in the 1800s, although Libbey Glass no longer creates such works. Scully said he has kept the Hawkes name alive by naming his store after the original. "When we bought Crystal Traditions, the Hawkes name came with it," he said. "Hawkes Crystal is world-renowned in the glass industry." Scully said he doesn't make reproductions of old-time Hawkes Crystal but makes his own designs in his own style. He sometimes incorporates Hawkes styles into his work such as sculptures, decorative windows and one-of-a-kind pieces. Sometimes he gets calls to repair antique Hawkes pieces. But this is the first time he has worked with a piece so old and so large. "It's cool that it's being recreated here in Tiffin, Ohio," Scully said. "The completion of a masterpiece."