Northumberland exhibition shows 150 glass ships in bottles

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A collection of 150 glass ships in bottles has been - carefully - placed around an old stately home chapel as part of an exhibition.

They are part of a project by glass artist and researcher Dr Ayako Tani.

Vessels of Memory aims to document the skills and experience of glassworkers. Dr Tani said is was "vitally important" to preserve the tradition.

The bottles are among a number of pieces on show at Cheeseburn Sculpture Gardens in Northumberland.

Sunderland has a glass-making tradition dating back to Anglo-Saxon monks making stained-glass windows.

As heavy industry declined in the 1970s, redundant scientific or industrial glassblowers turned increasingly to making ships in bottles.

By the 1990s tens of thousands of these were being made and exported.

Dr Tani has learned how to make glass ships in bottles herself, in order to preserve the skills and create a new series of artworks, she said.

Other pieces on show include work by young artists bidding to become the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year.

The winning artist will receive mentoring and £6,500 to produce their idea, which will be installed at Cheeseburn next year.