Some objects are designed to be glanced at, while others, like Asprey’s new cameo glass created with Jonathan Harris, demand time. You notice the way colour shifts in the light, how a petal seems to float beneath the surface, and how hours of carving and cutting have been distilled into something deceptively effortless.
Asprey is one of those quintessentially British houses whose history is so vast, it practically defines luxury. Founded in 1781, the London-based institution began life as a silk printing business before evolving into the maker of world-class jewellery, fine art objects and leather goods. It champions excellence, relying on a deep heritage and meticulous craftsmanship to ensure that every piece is genuinely built to become an heirloom.
Harris, one of Britain’s most respected contemporary glass artists, has spent four decades refining the technique of cameo carving. The process is slow, almost stubbornly so: each vase or bowl is mouth-blown, layered with enamel, then meticulously carved back with diamond-point drills until its relief patterns emerge.
The latest chapter is the Mediterranean Collection, an exclusive collaboration with Asprey that draws directly from the flora of the region. The Mediterranean Hibiscus Vase, limited to just 15 editions, captures the lush hibiscus, oleander and rock roses that edge the coastline. Its counterpart, the Mediterranean Lily Vase, also a 15-piece edition, translates the lily, lupin, myrtle and olive leaves into glass, layering enamel shades that glow as if lit from within. It takes around 70 hours to create one vase and each piece is unique, engraved with its number, signed by Harris, and marked with Asprey branding, with a hidden ‘JH’ tucked into the design for collectors in the know.
Alongside these are pieces inspired by English coastal waters: lead-free glass vases and bowls hand-carved with minute details of sea creatures, rockpools and plant life. The carving itself – achieved with contemporary techniques and diamond tools – creates a relief you can feel as much as see. In some designs, gold leaf flickers between enamel layers.
The collaboration also extends to the Asia Four Seasons and Four Seasons collections, where each vase tells a story through the flora of the year. The Summer Vase brings bellflowers, irises and hydrangeas into bloom on crystalline glass, while the Spring Vase captures the English countryside’s reawakening with carved dandelions, cherry blossoms and even buzzing bumblebees. The Winter Vase, on the other hand, pictures the vibrant essence of the English winter countryside with its dark and smoky hues, while the Autumn Vase features the leaves and acorns of one of the most familiar of British trees, the mighty oak, along with the ladybird. Both series combine traditional cup-casing with contemporary cameo carving, their rich layers of transparent colour painstakingly engraved to create intricate reliefs on both interior and exterior.
Each work is signed and dated, marking it as both a future heirloom and an artistic experiment. As Harris himself notes, his cameo glass for Asprey represents “a bridge between tradition and modernity” – a statement true not only in philosophy but in the physical, arduous process.
Asprey, with its long history of championing exceptional craftsmanship, is doing something genuinely clever here: showing us that a 19th-century technique can still feel like the most thrilling thing in the room.
Discover the Asprey x Jonathan Harris collections here.
still life photography. Candice Lake
words. Gennaro Costanzo
