SUSAN A. FORD MISSISSIPPI Studio ART GLASS VASE

Updated August 8, 2026

AVAILABLE for SHIPPING or LOCAL PICKUP > Signed Susan A. Ford hand blown studio art glass vase standing 6" tall and measuring approximately 3" × 2-1/8" overall. The signature is follow by 73 or 78, indicating production in 1973 or 1978. Weighing a substantial 1 pound despite the compact dimensions, the vase is formed in a completely freeform, modernistic design with no attempt at conventional symmetry. The sculptural vessel is worked in a subdued sea blue to ice blue glass, with an elongated narrow body, compressed sides and an irregularly modeled profile. The asymmetrical mouth, shifting planes and softly altered contours preserve the immediacy of the glass blowing process, allowing the form to change noticeably according to the viewing angle. Rather than functioning merely as a traditional flower vase, the piece belongs to the late 20th century studio glass movement, where the vessel became an independent work of sculpture and the marks of hand forming were intentionally retained. The underside is signed SUSAN A. FORD, identifying the work of noted Mississippi glass artist Susan Ford Robertson. She began blowing glass in 1974 after studying at Mississippi University for Women and the influential Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. Ford later established a studio in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1984 and became an important figure within the state’s developing studio glass community. Ford served as an artist in residence at Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica, the Mississippi Crafts Center in Ridgeland and Leroy Percy State Park near Hollandale. Her work entered public and private collections including the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Old Capitol Museum, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museum of the South. Her influence extended beyond the objects produced under her own name. Jackson glass artist Elizabeth Robinson later recalled learning from Susan Ford while working within the Pearl River Glass Studio environment during the 1980s, placing Ford among the artists who helped transmit glass blowing knowledge and technique within Mississippi’s comparatively small studio glass community. The vase reflects the experimental character of early American studio glass, emphasizing molten movement, asymmetry, mass and optical color rather than factory regularity. The cool sea and ice blue coloration, compressed profile and spontaneous freeform construction produce a restrained but distinctly sculptural example of Mississippi made contemporary art glass.

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