You might think that after writing the articles about Steven Lundberg and Orient and Flume that I would consider the last of the top three American Art Glass Studios, Charles Lotton in Crete Illinois. Although Lotton glass is very collectible, the studio I have chosen to write about is quite unfamiliar to most, even to the collectors who specialize in paperweights from the 1970 – 1990 time period. Many paperweight collectors are not familiar with the Intaglio Levay Glass Studio that was once located in a defunct schoolhouse in Alton, Illinois, only a few hundred miles from Charles Lotton. There is a wealth of information about this studio, some factual and some very “bizarre” as many from the midwest would say. It is a story filled with some mystery and innuendo collected second hand by me. Much of this information has been digested by me and regurgitated with my own spin or take on the events. That is to say that the conclusions are my own.
Intaglio Glass Studios (and a few other names) was the brainchild of Gary Levi. His history is both interesting and controversial depending on who you talk to but not in question is the exquisite “cypriote”, Tiffany style, iridescent paperweights that he marketed. The most interesting features of the work are the shapes and colors of the creations. Although Gary’s studio was never truly “discovered” as an art glass paperweight collector I consider the glass paperweights to be exceptional although it can and has been said that his business acumen was dismal, but that was not for lack of effort.
Gary Levi was born in 1945 and by the age of 10 realized he wanted to be in the merchandising business. Gary’s original family name was Levay which is Hungarian. An ancestor changed the name from Levay to Levi in the late 1800s. In 1964 Gary Levi was employed as a railroad clerk and became interested in antiques. I met Gary Levi on a hot summer day at an estate auction in the Quincy, Illinois area. I was in my mid 20’s at the time, an avid but with limited funds, Victorian furniture enthusiast. I was serving in the military and home on leave visiting my parents who were both collectors of fine antiques. As usual for us going to huge farm auctions and estate sales in the Midwest was an all day affair where you could visit with neighbors, old acquaintances and get caught up on all the latest gossip. Lunch was always served and usually homemade. My mother who grew up on a farm in the area, knew all of the families, so when their estates were liquidated she knew just about what the inventory for auction would be and which sales had the nicest pieces. Getting stupendous “finds” on the cheap were common. I remember buying a small signed Tiffany vase for 50 cents.
At this particular estate sale, Gary came to the auction near the end of the day when the furniture was being sold. He was a short but stout man in his mid to late thirties, auburn red hair, freckles and although he didn’t have a commanding presence he no doubt was very sure of himself and it showed in how he conducted his business. There was a very large assortment of antique furniture and Gary bought most of it at what I considered to be very high prices. My mother, always the teacher, explained to me that Gary Levi would buy furniture, load it into his large, white, horse trailer and haul it to the west coast to sell to dealers for a profit. It was obvious to me that those few who just wanted this piece or that for their home and from this estate were pretty put out with the price run up by Gary and especially disappointed that they didn’t get that piece they had their heart set on. This kind of business by Gary would in my opinion later damage his business reputation. Even today I find that many who knew Gary or of Gary are critical of his business transactions and how he managed his business. He was aggressive and most likely had a Type A personality.
Little did I know at that time that Gary’s true love was art glass. Or even that he would later become a glass artisan or that he was a successful glass distributor. In my research I had found information that he had opened his first store in 1966. I am not sure if that was an antique store or a glass store but it is noted that he started selling fine quality giftware, limited editions through a mail order business. His idea was to provide a quality product to glass dealers at reasonable prices. Gary was in contact with different glass companies and would request that a certain amount of an item be made (limited editions), then he would wholesale that glass to dealers. The deal became more profitable when the glass companies agreed to prepackage the limited editions and ship directly to the dealer (drop shipping). Gary was a distributor for many of the major glass companies. So you can see that really he had a good thing going at a period when mail order was big business and drop shipping as well as personal branding was virtually unheard of. His operation was based in the midwest around Edwardsville Il. I have found quite a number of advertisements in the newspapers for his Gift glass in the small towns surrounding Edwardsville.
Gary Levi had a long connection with the Fenton Art Glass company that began in the 1970’s. This eventually led to his buying of Fenton cullet when his glass studio needed glass to make their own glass creations. This is not an unusual arrangement. Many glass studio artist purchase cullet from major glass companies to use in their own creations rather than making glass from scratch. Gary had Fenton make several runs of carnival glass for his company. The unique aspect of this arrangement being that the colors used were not a part of Fenton’s regular line. Fenton, Westmoreland, Imperial, Crescent Glass and L.E. Smith all pressed glass for Gary Levi and his Limited Edition Glass mail order business. Most of this glass was signed by the glass company but only a few had a Levay logo pressed into it or otherwise marked as Levay Glass (branding). Some of the pieces of carnival glass were made by Westmoreland as well. Most of the art glass pieces were made by Imperial. The newer items 1980 – 1990 were signed and also numbered. So you will still find art glass pieces not signed but marketed by Levay. I often see these pieces advertised as experimental pieces made by Levay but they were not made by his glass studio really. This causes some confusion and doubt in my mind on just whether or not Gary Levi ever handled any “hot” glass. Did he personally handle and make these paperweights I have collected? It is a good question and hard to answer.
There also seems to be some speculation about whether or not Levay had purchased glass molds from Westmoreland Glass. Westmoreland stopped producing glass in 1984 and closed their doors. Are these molds in the old Alton schoolhouse where Gary had his glass operations until the mid 1990’s?
I think it is important to mention that there were probably many who felt that Gary Levi was a usurper of the collectible glass from the well-known glass houses he dealt with. As a collector and talking with many collectors, being taken with a reproduction, fake or fantasy piece is always a concern. An example would be Nippon. Nipponears are very loyal to the items they collect. In the 1970’s there were many knockoffs or fakes imported from China that actually had Nippon clearly stamped on them. This caused much confusion and consternation among Nippon collectors and to this day I get emails from people who ask me. “Is this a real piece of Nippon”? Or a better example is the Galle reproductions made in China that clearly mimic the beautiful lamps and glass works made by Emil Galle in the 1920s. They even have the exact Galle signature carved into them. This has definitely depressed the prices of even original Galle glass. However, with any repro or fantasy piece, if you have ever owned an original and held it in your hands the fantasy pieces become easier to recognize. Now put yourself in the genre of being a Fenton glass collector in the 1980s. You buy a beautiful piece of art glass that has the Fenton logo on it only to find out it also has this ugly frog looking logo on it. What is that anyway? Must be a manufacturing defect! Nope, it was marketed by Levay Distributing also known as the Intaglio Levay Glass Company. If you are a collector of any original period items I know you understand what I am saying. Remember that this is before anybody was doing personal branding that today is an everyday occurrence, think generic drugs etc. All of that is personal branding and huge in the business arena today. Gary was certainly ahead of the power curve and of his time in marketing and manufacturing collectible glass. Was he a marketing guru, a glass maker, both or none of the above? The failure or success of his glass studio tells at least part of the real story.
In 1984 Gary Levi stopped having Limited Edition carnival glass made under the name of Levay. I believe his base was in Alton Il. There is a short article in Glass Review, November 1984, p. 32 that notes the Victorian Art Glass Company and states that it is a subsidiary of the Levay Distributing Company and so the confusing and often criticized business saga of Gary Levi’s Intaglio Levay Glass begins. An ad in the February 1985 issue of Glass Review also states that Gary Levi started making his own glass on October 11, 1984. This date coincides with the purchase of some glass making machinery by Gary and I am sure is when he registered his glass studio as a business. At this time I believe he his business location was in Alton on Wood River. It wasn’t until 1990 that he purchased an old schoolhouse in Alton Il to use for his operations. Known locally as the Milton Schoolhouse, the building itself has quite a reputation including even ghost that haunt the property. I came across an article in the Alton newspaper stating that in November 1991 Gary Levi actually purchased the Milton Schoolhouse and was building a new 10000 square foot receiving warehouse for his distributing operation. The schoolhouse was listed as having 50000 square feet. I think you will agree that is a substantial size property for glass making and marketing. The article also noted that Levay had approximately 100 employees and five glass artisans or makers. I wish I could tell you who those five were but at this time I don’t know. One might have been Susan Carr. In other articles I had seen some hiring ads. Gary was looking for employees for assembly and the ad states that they did gluing of glass pieces together.
Gary Levi had many registered business names and he wore many hats. The only question is was one of those hats “a hands on glass maker?” It was in 1990 that Gary purchased from a Michael Ladd a business called Intaglio Designs Ltd. The business agreement was quite involved and complicated. The purchase price is public knowledge and registered at $277,983.18. In addition, Michael Ladd became an employee as a Vice President of the new company with a three year contract, a salary and five years of payments from Levay. The contract basically lasted from 1991 to 1997. The purchase involved 490 shares of privately held stock by Levay. Gary also had investors and I have seen a copy of a document where at least one investor put up $100,000.00. That is a lot of zero’s for the 1980s. I am sure there were many others of less denominations. The company never went public it was all private stock. Any person who has owned a business understands the impact investors can have on your business. Although investors are not normally involved with the daily operations of the business they certainly have the power to decide how profits are spent and losses are handled. It is obvious to me that Gary was advancing to the next level in the early 1990’s in his business operation so it must have been quite profitable to be able to fund those kind of numbers.
My own personal history of collecting paperweights became intermingled with Gary Levi when I received a beautiful and very unusual art glass paperweight as a birthday gift given to me from my wife. It was my fortieth birthday. At the time and for many years we did not know who the maker of this beautiful paperweight was although it did have a stylized mark pressed on the base. It wasn’t until much later I learned that it came from the Levay studio and I was hooked. From that time on I have collected these unique paperweights marketed by this studio and have built a respectable collection. It was also at this time that I started researching and collecting information about Gary Levi and Levay.
The first of many. This paperweight is a pearlized white with iridescent cobalt threads across the top. Absolutely my wife’s favorite. Size is 3 1/4 inches and weight is 1 lb. 3.2 oz. Marked with the Intaglio Levay mark impressed into the glass in the concave base. Purchased in 1992 at June’s Antiques in Quincy IL., across from Baldwin Park on the downtown square.
I gave you the exact location because right next door to June’s Antiques was another antique store. Gary Levi’s Antique Furniture Store! It had been there for many years and although I had wandered around inside admiring the antique furniture I am sure I never saw any glass being displayed or sold!
In collecting Intaglio Levay paperweights I have come across many Levay art glass creations. To name a few, bowls, vases, oil lamps, glass orbs or witch balls and garden stones. I have found that often the sellers of these objects have no idea who made it or where it came from. Some confuse the paperweights with the garden stone glass decorations.
In addition to paperweights marked Levay there are paperweights marked Intaglio Anton which were also marketed by Levay Distributing. Susan Anton Carr was and is a glass designer and my understanding, was a designer for Gary Levi designing many of the creations that were made. She did a wonderful job! The color, creativity and styles for the period are second to none in my opinion. Were these beautiful paperweights made at Gary’s glass studio in Alton Il. specifically for Levay?
I have counted six different Levay markings on these paperweights. The markings can also help to date a paperweight, for instance a certain mark might indicate pre-Alton. Gary did market glass in Edwardsville, IL prior to the Alton studio and I believe I have a piece or two made after he abandoned the Alton studio. Below you will find a few that I have and what I believe is the date and place made:
A Levay Hanging Hearts paperweight signed on the bottom LV-132 probably made prior to the Intaglio name being registered.
The person I purchased this from did not know the name and when I told them it was made from Fenton cullet they said “Oh, I just love Fenton glass!” Hand signed Levay and dated 1985.
A very nice crackle glass paperweight marked Intaglio Anton. Designed by Susan Anton Carr.
Amazing Colors! The paperweight has the stylized Intaglio Levay mark on the base.
Marked with an imprinted LEVAY no other marks. Was this paperweight made by one of Gary’s five glass artisans at Alton?
Here is another Intaglio Anton weight.
A hollow paperweight with the Intaglio Levay stylelized logo.
Marked with the stylelized logo. I love the shapes and styles of these paperweights.
Small Intaglio Anton
Excellent MINT condition. Have you ever seen more beautiful paperweights? Hot stamped LEVAY, no other markings.
Same size and shape as the weight above but with a different marking. This one is Intaglio Anton.
One has pink threads and the other blue threads. The threads are iridescent. Both weights are marked Intaglio Anton.
A wonderful blue crackle glass weight marked Intaglio Anton.
Hand printed mark Levay, no date. Was this made after Gary locked the doors to his Alton property and walked away?
Each of these three paperweights have the stylized Levay mark on the base however I purchased them directly from Fenton. Did Fenton make these paperweights for Gary or were they just being a distributor for him? If they were selling for him then these were most likely made at the Alton Glass studio.
I don’t really collect the egg shaped weights but these two landed in my inventory. One is Intaglio Anton and the other is hand signed Levi 95.
This is a part of the collection I have that I term as “Cypriote glass. I can tell you that in my collection it is the most colorful section when displayed and draws many comments and conversations.
A few years ago I purchased a very nice paperweight made by Gibson and hallmarked as such. It wasn’t until I started researching Levay that I came across a sales ad that showed that particular style and color weight. Was Levay marketing for Gibson or did Intaglio Glass Ltd. purchase from Gibson a Levay branded product?
This is a Gibson PW most likely made from Fenton cullet as Gibson was known to purchase cullet from Fenton.
What I find interesting about this particular weight is that Levay marketed and sold this paperweight in the 1990’s.
I still have much more info on Levay and Gary Levi so I hope you will return to read the additional writing I will do on this article each week. I also have many more photos of Levay weights I have collected.
Some of the questions still to be answered:
Why did Levay Distributing close their doors all of a sudden in the mid 1990’S? Gary Levi locked the doors one day and never returned!
Did Gary Levi design these paperweights?
Was Gary a gaffer? Did he personally make glass paperweights or pay others to do the work for him?
Did Inatglio Levay declare bankruptcy?
Why did Gary let the distribution center (Milton Schoolhouse) stand locked and shuttered for more than 10 years full of antique/modern glass, paperweights and his antique furniture collection?
What is the status of the old Milton Schoolhouse today?
Why did Gary’s widow refuse to go to the abandoned Levay center (Milton Schoolhouse) after his death?
Was the reason for Gary’s glass business failure do to mismanagement, embezzlement and/or prolific employee theft?
That’s it for today. Be sure to check out what I am selling at my eBay store Kelekchens. To go there now place your cursor on my assistant (the duck) and click to enter. I will continue to research and work on this piece until I have it to my satisfaction before moving on. So…until next time “Happy Collecting” and remember “the best is yet to come”.
What is the status of the old Milton Schoolhouse today?
http://www.vivantproject.com/
Best regards – Wolf
Hello Wolf, The Milton Schoolhouse was purchased by an energetic young artist couple who are presently cleaning and refurbishing the buildings and grounds. They have a great website where they record their activities and also they sell Levay glass items found in the old factory on eBay and Etsy. They also maintain a Facebook page. Google Milton Schoolhouse, Alton IL and you will find them. Am amazing story! They are doing a wonderful service for their community at a time that it seems “urban decay” is the norm in American cities. Thanks for reading my post.
enjoyed all of your info as I just purchased an anton intaglio carnival paperweight and an intaglio vase to resell.
Great article. Ill fill in the blanks when I get a chance. I knew Gary and helped him at the school after everything collapsed. Not entirely his fault.
rg
Thanks for the feedback on my blog article about Levay Glass paperweights. I have heard from Susan Carr and she offered some insights. I am very interested in communicating with you as the info I have I pulled from research and I don’t really have very much first hand knowledge. I do find the story to be particularly interesting and it just seems to pull me in as though the story truly needs to be told. Any help you can give me I would gladly acknowledge your contibutions in my blog if you like or not. What ever you would like. Glad you found my blog site. Thanks so much and I look forward to communicating with you. Doug at Kelekchens blog.
P.S. My email address is : DDOUG316@aol.com
Thanks again
I have a piece of Levay glass that I would describe as pear shaped. It has a “cap” that looks as though it is glued on. It is a frosted white iridecent color. I am trying to find info about it and thought maybe you could help. It is stamped “LEVAY” on the bottom. Thanks!
I recently bought a paper weight at a local yard sale thinking it was a garden stone. Before placing it in my rock garden, I turned it over to find a “Levay” signature engraved on the bottom. It is clear swirl pattern with an irridescent finish. Thank you for the pictures you posted so I could confirm what I purchased from a quarter box. If you have any idea of the time period that he would have signed his art in this fashion, please let me know. Thank you!
It is my understanding that he got in trouble with the IRS and they are the ones who closed him. I know the current owners of the building and they are still finding art glass all over the building, including mant paper weights.Many of the more expensive items were found hidden in places almost no one goes, some say that they were hidden so the IRS would not find them. There are also many pieces of “Westmoreland” that he produced and sold as Westmoreland originals. The current owners are remodeling the schoolhouse into apartments (and doing a great job of it) and offering haunted tours of the building. Mr.Levay was have to supposedly died during the investigation, and everything of value was hidden so his widow may not have known what was there. The current owners are still sorting through the inventory.
Great article and good information. I recently purchased 2 paperweights that are signed/etched on the base “Intaglio”. One has “Levi” and the other has “Anton”. The date is 1993 and each has an edition number. They are almost identical except one is pink and the other is lavender. They are swirls of color with frothy bubbles and glitter. They look nothing like what I have found on the internet. They were originally purchased at a gift store in Knoxville, TN, Andrew Morton, where there was a “trunk showing”. There were some others available for purchase that had colored interiors surrounded by controlled bubbles and then encased in clear glass. Have you seen anything like these in you collecting or research?
Thanks for this great article on the Levay Glass Factory! On a trip to Ohio a couple of years ago, I purchased a blue spiral weight with this strange stamp on the base in St. Charles, IL, and no one could tell me the maker, but thanks to your pictures and some listings on eBay, I think I’ve found him! My weight has many more lines to the spiral and is less delicate than the two spiral weights pictured, but it’s got the odd stamp and the year 1995 etched above it.
Thanks for solving one of the many mysteries in my life. :-}
I had visited the old schoolhouse factory run by Gary Levi in 1993. Gary did indeed hand mold glass and blow glass. I made him do it while I was there as I joked with him being just the owner. He also pressed a piece on one of the old Westmoreland moulds in the old Westmoreland hand press which he purchased at auction. He only had one mold. A bowl. It was in a grape design which was done in carnival by Westmoreland. He was attempting to get others but I never believe he succeeded. Levay glass was not a part of Intaglio Studios. Levay had ceased by the time Intaglio started. Intaglio Glass Studio made items for Fenton along with recieving the cull. There was only a handful of workers employed by Gary. But he took on the Fenton work because he needed production work for the five or so workers he had and Intaglio glass did not have enough sales to warrant full time employment. Intaglio primarily did Fenton’s burmese handblown. It was labeled and sold as Fenton. Intaglio made the most money through its’ paperweights and not tablewares. It also specialized in glass eggs and did some cane work. The factory closed because of the cost to produce was too high. Same reason Fenton has now closed. To run a production glasshouse takes large amounts of heat from natural gas. Intaglio did not run a furnace around the clock every day of the year but still cost in the thousands of dollars per month.
Enjoyed and learned from all of your articles on paperweight artists. I too have been trying to find more information about Levay Glass Works and the role Susan Anton played in the items produced. I have a small brochure titled Levay Glass Works with a picture of Susan Anton on the front. Inside it lists her academic and artistic accomplishments. The address on the back for Levay Glass Works is 209 E. Vandalia St. Edwardsville, IL 62025. I probable have over 50 pieces with from Gary Levi, Susan Anton, or people who made pieces for Gary to sell. He did have his own web site about 4 years ago. If you send me your email address I will send you a copy of this item.
Just got a strange message from a man named Paul, who claims he is close friends with Doti — I knew her as Dodie and her eBay site was Giftimes. I am selling some items acquired from Gary, and in my listings I mention his death. This person named Paul says this is upsetting to Doti (?) and him. He says he aided in settling the estate and is a probate appraiser. I will try an contact Dodie and find out more. I believe the fact an artist has passed away is a fact worth mentioning and usually adds to the value of certain items. I do not want to cause anyone any pain. The message from this man named Paul asking me not to mention Gary Levi’s death in an eBay listing seems strange. Paul said Gary died 3 years ago.
Would like to get your email address. Have a very unusual paperweight you might be able to shed some light on.
Best Regards, SP
I have 2 paperweights one stamped LEVAY and also signed Anton 1985 CB6OL and the other signed Anton Lbw (?) 861320 they are just beautiful , I bought them in Pittsburgh years ago. They are swirled florals with bubbles, one pink and white, the other gold and white. …happy to hear that the craft will live one, one way or the other.
Thanks for this article regarding Levay, thanks for all these information. I have paperweight that has American Revolution Bicentennial 1776-1976 signed with G inside a shield and birds head, I wish if some would tell who’s the maker, is it Gibson or Gentile? or some one else.
Hello. Thanks for your inquiry on your paperweight. The G inside of a shield is most likely a John Gentile paperweight. Most Gibson PWs have the word Gibson hot stamped into the base of the weight. Thanks for reading my blog.
Thanks Kelekchens for the answer you are right, I actually did some research and find out that it was more likely Gentile than Gibson but I wasn’t sure. Thanks again
Hey Doug! This is Meredith from The Milton Schoolhouse- I think you’ve actually bought some of your pieces from us as we found them. I never knew you had a blog! Another fellow eBayer pointed us to you, and I’m so glad that they did.
At the time we bought the school, there were two very large kilns, a “glory hole”, and several cooling boxes still (partially) assembled in the warehouse. A local glass maker told us that he had sold pieces from the kilns after the factory had closed. However, there was a pallet of very high quality and brand new fire brick in the warehouse- it still had the invoice attached. So, if Mr. Levi had anticipated his factory closing, he was certainly still optimistic about expanding.
I wish I could have met the man. The last three years of my life have been so influenced by this mystery character- with only scraps of papers, puzzle pieces, and rumors from old factory workers and angry neighbors to put together. As for the factory’s closing, we did find this which gave us much better insight as to what happened: http://www.vivantproject.com/mr-levi-goes-to-war/
(The artist is actually Kevin DUNCAN- a really awesome cartoonist that live not far from the schoolhouse. I met him at the post office and he was pretty amused that we found this binder). After speaking with Kevin, it appears that before building the warehouse onto the school, Mr. Levi had received a verbal promise of some sort from the SBA association about a matching loan for his company’s expansion. From what I understand, the program was tiered: so Mr. Levi borrowed a significant sum of money (supposedly from family and The Bank of Edwardsville- but that first part may be a rumor) to add not only the warehouse but make improvements on the school itself- such as installing exiting lighting and track ceiling. Meanwhile, the administration of the SBA changed around and changed its mind, and decided not to grant Mr. Levi the matching funds…even though Mr. Levi had already “spent” them on the building.
Mr. Levi had the property assessed at an outrageous amount on its potential worth to borrow against in order to keep the cash flow for the factory running. When we purchased the building, the worth was assessed at nearly 1.5 million. Needless to say, the decaying structure was worth far less. Mr. Levi ran into general upkeep and safety/zoning problems- and meanwhile was having trouble paying the taxes on the property (which were now much higher than they needed to be). This led to numerous unscrupulous business partnerships and adventures, further bad feelings between Mr. Levi and the fire/safety inspectors, and eventually the factory closed. Mr. Levi still battled the debt financially, and the strain of the building took its toll on his health.
As a side note, we battled Mr. Levi’s reputation for poor quality workmanship and minimal care of the building up until this last year. The former Fire Chief, Mr. Bock, had so much bad blood against Mr. Levi that when he came to inspect the building the first year, he told us that “Anyone who owns this building isn’t worth risking my men for- I won’t come save you if this place starts to burn.” Yikes.
My husband, Joel, knew Mr. Levi during the period after the factory closed. It obvious by Mr. Levi’s journals that he had high ambitions for this building. I like to think our progress would have made him very proud.
And no, we are not putting apartments in the school. We have several spaces currently rented by a variety of small businesses- and business tenants are enough work as it is! I have no ambitions to be a residential landlord- no fixing toilets at one in the morning for this girl. 🙂
Oh! And I forgot to mention- he sold the Westmoreland molds before we acquired the building. We could’ve made a fortune off of them…..there were many, many people who came looking for them.