The glass wedding dress at the University of Sheffield

By Grace Parnell
BBC Sheffield & South Yorkshire

Professor Turner's second wife was a glass artist. Her wedding outfit was made of glass fibre

At the top of a University of Sheffield building is a dedicated museum of glass, containing all sorts of fascinating artefacts - including a glass fibre wedding dress.

In pictures: Turner Glass Museum

The Turner Glass Museum pays homage to a professor of physical chemistry who worked at the University in the 1900s.

Professor W.E.S. Turner established the centre for scientific research in glass technology after he recognised during World War I that there was a shortfall in the manufacturing capabilities of glass.

The Department of Glass Technology, now the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is in the Sir Robert Hadfield Building on Portobello Street in Sheffield.

See a map

Green glass doorstops form part of the collection, alongside rare ruby and Bohemian glass

Glass-making combines the disciplines of physics and chemistry, but Professor Turner didn't confine himself to the academic and scientific side of the material - he also visited glassblowers' studios to study the art and aesthetics of the craft.

Turner acted as a consultant solving glass manufacturing problems for companies all over the world, and was often given a piece of glass as a gift. His personal collection of beautiful pieces of glass forms the base of the museum.

He wanted his students to be surrounded by the aesthetic qualities of the material they were studying, and the Turner Glass Museum is still used as the common room and social space for lecturers and students.

Jim Smedley, superintendent of the museum, says that the museum is the social heart of the dept's activities: "One of Turner's biggest achievements was that he wanted everyone working in glass to share the knowledge. As far as I know, this collection as a museum in a university is unique."

The museum is a bright, bustling place high up in the building. There's a café, plenty of beautiful pieces of glass, and a roof garden which overlooks the city.

Everything in the Turner collection is decorative but also technical in its manufacture, showing the skill and training of the artist.

Objects on show

The collection includes green glass doorstops, a contemporary engraved window, rare pieces of ruby and Bohemian glass and a small glass bird.

Close-up of Turner's wife's glass fibre wedding dress, dating from 1943

A glass mosaic shows a map of important glassmaking centres across the world. It was commissioned by Professor Turner and his children, in memory of his first wife who died in 1938.

But the most unusual object in the Turner Glass Collection is a glass wedding dress belonging to the professor's second wife. It's smooth to the touch and a beautiful shade of blue which changes colour according to the light.

In 1943, Professor Turner married Helen Nairn Monro, a leading glass artist and engraver in Edinburgh. She established the Department of Glass Design at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1950s.

As a mark of respect for the esteem held for both Professor Turner and Helen Monro, a Scottish company called Glass Fibres Ltd of Glasgow made her wedding dress, hat, shoes and handbag out of glass fibre.

According to Jim Smedley who runs the Turner Glass Museum, the dress would have been enormously expensive to manufacture and very heavy to wear. The glass fibres in one of the shoe heels cracked on the Turners' wedding day, which must have been very painful for the bride.

New acquisitions

Paradiso by Peter Layton of London Glassblowing Studio is one of the most recent acquisitions

New acquisitions to the Turner Glass Collection are rare. Pieces usually cost thousands of pounds and are funded by the University or by the National Art Collection Fund but because of their cost, opportunities for new pieces don't come along often.

The museum's criteria for new acquisitions states that they must be from a renowned European contemporary glass artist, they must demonstrate technical expertise, and they must be a financial asset to the collection.

There are currently three contemporary pieces of glass art waiting to go on show at the museum.

Sprinbok by Bruce Marks is inspired by a South African antelope

The first is Paradiso by Peter Layton of the London Glassblowing Studio. This is a hollow pebble-shaped glass vase which represents a coral reef. It is made with amber glass; unusual for the Turner Collection which consists mostly of colourless glass.

The second piece is Springbok, a horned vase made by Bruce Marks, a South African artist who works with Peter Layton at the London Glassblowing Studio. The traditionally-shaped body of the vase is opaque white, with two brown horn-shaped twists on each side representing the South African antelope, a Springbok.

Discord by Denis Mann is a glass panel engraved with two hands hovering over a piano keyboard

The third is a beautiful piece of blue glass called Discord by a Scottish artist, Denis Mann, which demonstrates a great deal of skill and expertise.

Denis Mann studied under Professor Turner's second wife, Helen Monro Turner, at the Edinburgh College of Art where he developed an affinity for copper wheel engraving. A clear glass panel is covered with a layer of blue glass, engraved with what looks like an X-Ray of two hands hovering over a piano keyboard in a position which would produce a discord.

All three pieces have technical features in their manufacture which show the skill and training of the artist. They will be on display at the museum from Autumn 2010.

Visit

The Turner Museum of Glass is free and open to the public every day except Bank Holidays, from 9am-4pm. It can be found on E Floor of the University of Sheffield's Sir Robert Hadfield Building on Portobello Road, Sheffield.

For more information about the collection, email Jim Smedley .

In pictures: Turner Glass Museum

A glass mosaic map shows important glass-making centres throughout the world and was made in memory of Professor Turner's first wife who died in 1938.