In the Words of the Artists

First, reminiscences from Chalet Maestri Giulio Gatto and Bruno Panizzon and Chalet artist Gianfranco Guarnieri during a Cornwall studio shot and interviews for my book “The Shapes & Colours of Chalet Glass” (published 2011). And second, Chalet artist Roberto De Marchi shares during a ‘Chalet Talk with Paolo’ for the ‘50 Shades of Chalet’ group on Saturday, September 19, 2020.

Cornwall, 2010. Left to right: artist Gianfranco Guarnieri, Maestro Giulio Gatto and Maestro Bruno Panizzon. Gianfranco passed away in 2013.

Gianfranco, Giulio and Bruno were asked: “What was it like to work at Chalet?”

-The best and most exciting years were when Chalet started to get popular. These times were filled with good energy.

 Gianfranco, Giulio and Bruno were asked: “What were Sergio, Luigi, Angelo, Luigi, Sid and Gary like?”

 -Sergio was very quiet, and Luigi was happy-go-lucky. They were all about the glass. Angelo was the salesman. He and Sid Heyse were all about the business. Gary Diagle lived in Montreal and didn’t come to Cornwall very often.

 Gianfranco, Giulio and Bruno were asked: “Did you work together?”

-We worked in teams. But each artist also had their own way of working with the glass. Some were better with one style while others were better with another.

 Gianfranco, Giulio and Bruno were asked: “Who usually did what?”

-Luigi produced many of the intricate baskets, bowls and long arm stretch centerpieces, as well as many of the cranberry in crystal while Sergio concentrated on the Canadiana Cranberry and End of Day lines. Pagnin also loved to work vases. No one liked those faces! Giovanni (Nane) Bottaro worked with the bombonniere. So did Roberto De Marchi. Bruno was skilled with animals and baskets, Giovanni Voltalina also specialized in crafting the animal figurines, Gianfranco (Franco) was very experienced in the “long arm” stretch centerpieces and working with cranberry and Giulio especially loved to make fruit and the rare heavy vases and wine bottles but did a lot of work on the cranberry, End of Day and Opal with Gold Flecking lines too. Antonio Tedesco was responsible for the “molleria” work – polishing and grinding the bases. As well, he did most of the grinding and etching bases, stickering pieces and inventory marking. He would also sometimes blow glass when a team needed more help. Francesco Pagnin, Sergio’s son, was learning the art so he moved from team to team and all the departments at Chalet to gain experience.

Seated from left to right: Maestro Bruno Panizzon, Maestro Giulio Gatto, Gianfranco Guarnieri and standing Antonio Tedesco. Photo courtesy of Danielle Gatto.

Paolo De Marchi (left) with his father, Chalet artist, Roberto De Marchi, January, 2021. Photo courtesy of Paolo De Marchi.

Roberto was asked: “Which of the artists that you worked with did you also know from Murano?”

-Giovanni Voltalina, Otello Fuga, Gian Paolo Bastianello, Tony Tedesco. Author’s note - the Italian community in Cornwall outside of Chalet was extremely close knit. The artists and their families not only worked together but socialized on a constant and consistent basis. Gianfranco Guarnieri’s wife, Vivian, in fact was Paolo and his brother’s babysitter.

 Roberto was asked: “You worked at Lorraine, Chalet and Rossi. How were the companies the same? How were they different?”

-Chalet and Lorraine were more alike. They were factories. They did big numbers, lots of different pieces and big pieces. Rossi was smaller – fewer artists, smaller numbers and no big pieces. The pieces were also less elaborate. There were a lot of fruit, bomboniere and small vases.

 Roberto was asked: “How did a Maestro direct his team?”

-a Maestro was told what pieces he and his team were to produce on his shift beforehand by Sergio Pagnin /Luigi Tedesco. He then gathered his team, generally of 3, and told them.

-I worked mostly with Giovanni, who did the big animals – the clear ones. And Giulio (Maestro Gatto) who did a lot of the cranberry and vases.

-we might be concentrating on just one style of piece or it could be more – that depended on the production schedule that was strictly determined by orders and inventory. The artists and Maestri had zero input in that.  It was hard work and expected output was high. For example, if a team was working on bomboniere, each could and would be expected to produce 100 pieces during their shift. So, one team would put out 300 bomboniere that day alone.

-the teams knew the production pieces very well but if it was a special order or a “one off” and they did not work it – they would know nothing about it – e.g., the paperweights and the mushroom figurines as well. Some of the Maestri might know a little more but not always. Chalet was a secretive place – like Murano.

-the teams usually stayed the same – except for the helpers They changed constantly as they came to and left Chalet very frequently and were moved around as they had to learn.

Here is an example of a rare, non-production bomboniere. In Roberto’s opinion, when he was shown pictures of this piece, he felt it was most likely done by a Chalet helper – a learning exercise. It is quite primitive and not perfect in appearance. Roberto thinks it was a probable “special order/one off” as that happened frequently at Chalet for larger party orders. Bomboniere were given to guests at special celebrations.

  Roberto was asked: “When did a Maestro decide, “Not good glass?”

-if the glass was not “right”, it was usually because it was too gritty – filled with tiny particles and even small stones. This obviously caused inferior glass – filled with air bubbles, inclusions and we could not work it properly. If it had to be scrapped, an entire day’s production could be lost. 

 -Sergio and Luigi inspected all the glass after the annealing process (cooling) was completed. It was they, and only they, who decided whether a piece was deemed a second. They were very exacting.

 -the factory had 2 showrooms. One was tinier and pretty basic. That is where the seconds and “end of line” pieces were sold.

 Roberto was asked: “What was your favorite piece to work?”

-the big animals – especially the elephants. They were done at Chalet, Rossi and Saint. Zotique. They took 3 people to make and the largest size (12”) weighed over 10 lbs. You had to work fast and as a team and the animal was done in 3 stages – the body was done first, then returned to the oven, the head and ears were attached and returned to the oven and finally the legs were attached. It was hard and had to be done very quickly.

Photo courtesy of 50 Shades member and Cornwall collector Matthew LeDrew.

-I also liked the bomboniere. And Christmas trees. The bomboniere could be done by 1 artist but the trees took the team. Their production was started in September.

This is a Chalet Christmas tree that Roberto, Giovanni Voltalina and Giulio Gatto made as a team – Roberto creating the ball base, Giovanni the body and Maestro Gatto finishing with the crystal casing and pulls. Antonio (Tony) Tedesco then ground and polished the base. It remains in the possession of the De Marchi family.

Swan bomboniere with irradato finish made by Roberto De Marchi.

Roberto was asked: “Did Luigi and Sergio work the floor daily?”

Yes. They did not start as early as we did – they liked their espresso but they worked hard and they had the vision. They were also the ‘faces of Chalet’ for all the tours. There was pretty much a regualr flow of tourists and visitors in the factory and showrooms. Angelo Tedesco was on the road, selling, constantly.

 Roberto was asked: “In your opinion, who is the best artist that you have worked with?”

-Luigi and Sergio were very good teachers and mentors. Luigi was the best artist.

A piece by Chalet Maestro Luigi Tedesco - one of the company owners. Loaned to the 2010 exhibit by his brother Chalet artist Antonio Tedesco. Not a Chalet production piece but one that Luigi created for himself

Roberto was asked to: “Describe your fellow artists.”

-They were mostly easy to work with. They were opinionated – we could argue anything for hours. We could be pig headed. We had healthy egos. Giulio Gatto was very dedicated. Bruno Panizzon was a lovely man. Luigi was pretty easy going. Giovanni Voltalina was my best friend and I still have coffee with Irma and Tony Tedesco every week. Gianfranco was very relaxed and his wife was very sharp. She babysat most of our kids. It was a close community.

 Roberto was asked to: “Describe the working conditions.”

-It was very hard. Most people did not stay long. At Chalet, it was dark and very hot. The factory was in the old cotton mills so there were few windows and they were high up. It was over 40 C degrees and high humidity. The ovens were 900 degrees. It was dangerous – you had to be very careful not to hurt or get hurt near the “glory hole” (oven) as the factory was not that big for all the ovens and artists. “Work was work” and there was no socializing unless you were at lunch. At Rossi, it was a bit different. There were also 3 furnaces but they were not as large. There were more windows, more room and it was lighter. The windows had bars – no glass as the heat from the ovens would blow them out.

 Roberto was asked: “Are you surprised by the enduring appeal of the art glass?”

-Yes. So many questions too.

Chalet artists Giovanni Voltalina (left ), Antonio Tedesco (immediately to the right of Giovanni Voltalina), Gianfranco Guarnieri, (middle right), Roberto De Marchi (head lowered) and Maestro Bruno Panizzon at the opening reception of “The Art & Artisans of Chalet Glass” exhibit, Cornwall, Ontario, 2010. Roberto and Giovanni were lifelong friends and worked together for years at Chalet, at Rossi in Cornwall and Niagara Falls, in Toronto, in Quebec and in Merrickville. They not only worked at the same locations but usually on the same glass blowing team. Maestro Voltalina passed away in 2018.

From Paolo De Marchi. Paolo is the son of Chalet artist Roberto De Marchi and worked with his father at Rossi Artistic Glass for 2 summers as a teenager.

Paolo was asked: “What did you do at Rossi?”

-I worked at Rossi for 2 summers when I was 15 and 16. I was the “knife man”. I had to cut a piece away from the pontil at its base so the artist could look at it and finish it. I had to balance it on the knife and not drop into the oven or the floor – and that did happen.

 Paolo was asked: “Why did you decide not to pursue glass blowing further?”

- At that age, I had no interest in the job. It was exhausting, brutal work. I not only saw my father come home caked in white dried perspiration and sometime with burns but I had experienced the heat for myself. When I see the studios and factories on T.V. today – they are “luxury.” But I do now have regrets as it is in my blood.

 Paolo was asked: “As a collector and as an artist’s son, how do you think collectors, in general, have it right? What do you find frustrating when seeing their comments etc.?”

-I love that the glass is kept alive by the collectors and the 50 Shades group in particular. I like that we have tried hard to get back some of the history and put a face to the artists .I love all the questions and that I have found a way to really relate to my father.  I find the misinformation and jumping to conclusions frustrating. There are “experts” with theories and opinions but no proof or context or reasoning for those opinions and theories. I find that the very fact that so much information has been lost, not recorded and unlikely to ever be salvaged or come to light a tragedy. We have no idea of how much we do not know – of the history, of the pieces and what went on at Chalet day to day. I find it really frustrating that the glass, all Ontario glass, is not represented at the ROM and do not understand why. I sometimes find the harping on value and prices frustrating. And I wish that collectors better understood that what you see on T.V. is not how it was so do not base your ideas of then on today.

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