For Yass glass artist Peter Crisp, another crowning glory

Back in 2006, internationally acclaimed glass artist Peter Crisp OAM made what he calls a “home delivery” to Clarence House in London, the then home of Charles, the Prince of Wales.

“It was such a great honour at the time,” Peter, who lives and works on the family sheep property at Bowning in the Yass Valley, recalls, of presenting the Prince and Camilla with a set of glass tableware as a wedding present.

He had been commissioned by the Royal Australian Armoured Corps regiment to make the gift.

“The Prince asked me if the coloured glass in them were precious stones and I remember saying to him that his regiment was on a tight budget so they were glass. He thought that was very funny.”

Peter, whose work is sought-after around the world for its unique style and beauty, said he was thrilled to have been asked to make the gift for the couple.

Fast forward to 2024 when the (retired) Colonel of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, Major-General Craig Orme, spoke to Peter about making a coronation gift for the King when he visited Australia in October.

Nothing could be locked in because of the King’s health and whether he could make the long trip to Australia, that was until about eight weeks before the scheduled visit, when the word came through.

“At 8 am the Armoured Corps got the message from Buckingham Palace to get on with it. An hour later, Major-General Orme rang to see if I could produce a specially commissioned coronation piece for Their Majesties.

“I had to literally start off with a pencil and paper, did a preliminary drawing in pencil and progressed to an ink drawing, which was approved,” Peter said.

This time, he was told, the regiment had a bigger budget so precious stones could be used in the piece – with such jewels sourced widely from the top of Australia down, including sapphires.

But such processes rarely go smoothly, especially with such time constraints, Peter will attest. When some of the stones were held up during delivery, issues surfaced with the gold, and Peter found himself working on Plan B because he couldn’t put pearls in the kiln. But it was nothing his experience as a master craftsman – and three kiln firings of 27 hours – couldn’t fix.

“Yes, you could say it was a bit stressful,” he said. “I’d never done anything thing like this before in that sort of time.”

The coronation piece is a 36-centimetre size plate made from vitrified glass so it looks like rock crystal with gold and platinum, sapphires, rubies and garnets.

But the coronation piece was not the only jewel presented to the King. The box it was placed in, created by Lake George craftsman Scott Mitchell, was itself a work of art, Peter said.

It was made from Huon pine that had been struck by lightning, and Fiddleback blackwood timber, both believed to be more than 3000 years old. The legs of the box were created from ancient Lake George Red River Gum. The box features the Royal Cypher, Armoured Corps badges, and Australia’s floral emblems, including the wattle.

The plate sits inside a bag made from the last worsted superfine Merino wool milled at Macquarie textiles in Albury and woven by Jennifer Robertson of Canberra. It’s secured inside by Merino wool felted pieces by Queanbeyan artist Alice Leda Pettirosso.

“It was a wonderful project to work on,” Peter said, “especially being able to work with these other artisans.

“And all from a sheep property outside of Yass,” he joked.

The original artwork for the coronation piece is on exhibition at the Crisp Galleries, Hume Highway, Bowning, every weekend from 10 am to 4 pm until February 2025.