About Us: How did our business happen?

Viv and Pete became friends with Glen Rossiter when he was DJing in a Christchurch in 2002. At that stage Glen had several hundred pieces he'd collected over about 6 years. Viv's always been a good buyer, so thought she'd find Glen a $2 piece of glass in a garage sale or church fair to add to his collection - something he would find was in fact a treasure. She found that there was no quality art glass to be found in junk shops and garage sales. Pete and Viv then went to Sydney for a kidless weekend, met an Italian woman named Gianna at a flea market, and bought two pieces of vintage glass off her. They found they didn't want to give it to Glen, and these pieces are still in their collection (and not for sale). Here's one of them, a Murano ashtray.

Pete and Viv's collecting progressed from there. In 2004 they started trading on Trade Me, the New Zealand auction site. Gianna eventually became our Sydney spotter and no longer sells in the markets. We became a real business, rather than a hobby, on 1 November 2004.  Glen (who with 450 pieces has one of the biggest collections of mid-century glass in Australasia) gave up his day job and worked with us for a couple of years before moving on in an amicable parting of the ways.

How did our business happen?
Identifying Murano glass
Glass made for mundane purposes can be beautiful
Shipping glass - cost and safety
This is us