Cut From a Different Clarity: A Conversation with J. Hill’s Standard.
- T
- Jun 7
- 6 min read
Some brands make objects. J. Hill’s Standard makes trouble - the good kind. The kind that starts with a whisper of rebellion, a flash of light through cut crystal, and ends with someone saying, “Where did you get this glass - and can I have one too?”
Named for John Hill, a mysterious 18th-century figure who vanished from Irish shores but left behind a formula of such exquisite brilliance it might as well have been a love letter to lead crystal, the brand doesn’t just honour heritage - it toys with it. Hill’s “Standard” was never about sameness - it was a provocation. A wink. A dare across centuries. What if craftsmanship could be a little unruly? What if a whiskey tumbler could be an oracle?
J. Hill’s Standard lives in that delightful tension - between legacy and invention, ritual and rupture. Their pieces are less objects, more odes: to landscape, to memory, to the stubborn joy of making things the slow way, the right way. They look like they’ve emerged from a collaboration between an ancient guild and an alien design council - part monastic relic, part Martian glassware.
And then there’s the pour. That glorious moment when whiskey meets cut crystal and suddenly becomes more than drink - it becomes performance. In a J. Hill’s Standard vessel, a dram isn’t just consumed - it is contemplated, flirted with. The crystal’s high refractive index catches the light like gossip in a quiet bar, turning gold into flame. Each curve and cut is not merely aesthetic - it’s a stage for your senses. You’ll nose it, sip it, and feel slightly more profound than you actually are. That’s the power of a good glass - it lends your whisky a little gravitas, and your hand a little theatre.
And behind it all, there’s Anike Tyrrell - co-founder, conductor of collaborations, and alchemist-in-chief. In this rare conversation, she lifts the veil on a process that’s equal parts precision and poetry. We talk about the ghosts in the glass, the landscapes that shape their lines, and the architectural whispers hiding in every cut. Expect reflections - literal and metaphorical.
So pour yourself something with character -and make it a double. Because this isn’t just an interview. It’s a journey through form, fire, and the beautifully stubborn art of making things that last.
1. Your brand name honours the enigmatic John Hill, a pioneer who left Ireland but whose formula - his 'Standard' - remained. How does this tension between permanence and departure continue to inform your creative ethos today?
Anike: The skill of blowing glass is thought to originate around the 1st century AD and in many ways, not much has changed as regards blowing a bubble of air into hot glass and forming a functional piece. John Hill came to Ireland in the late 1700’s bringing his knowledge of compounding lead crystal and his band of skilled craftsmen. He was an innovator in his time and we are committed not just to honouring the tradition but pushing the boundaries of making through experimentation and curiosity as to the possible.
2. Much of your work feels like a dialogue between time periods - the ancient and the avant-garde, the ritual and the revolution. When crafting an object, how do you negotiate between what is inherited and what is invented?
Anike: We allow the form to dictate the method. It is always a negotiation between the desirable and the possible. The material speaks its limitations.
3. Collaboration is clearly at the heart of J. Hill’s Standard. From Martino Gamper to Scholten & Baijings, your pieces feel like creative encounters translated into glass. How do you choose your collaborators, and what defines a successful design symbiosis for you?
Anike: We had determined at the outset that we would not be derivative in our designs. So much of what is available from traditional crystal makers has a very particular look. That started us looking at industrial and product designers who were working in other fields and known for their original and contemporary approach. We made a short list and hounded them until they caved in and agreed to work with us :-) The most successful collaborations result from long (sometimes years) long conversations and a genuine mutual respect and understanding of what is important to each.
4. Your collections often seem to speak in architectural language - cuts and curves like vaulted ceilings, tensioned frames, and fluid contours. How consciously does architecture influence your design process, especially in pieces like Secant?
Anike: It is not a conscious reference. Although we work with Nigel Peake whose training is as an architect, the pieces are informed more by landscape, by light and shadow and the building up of texture. These, of course, are also things which inform so much architectural language.
5. In a world obsessed with speed and replication, your work insists on slowness and singularity. How do you see your role - as craftspeople and designers - in shaping a counterculture to mass production?
Anike: The world generally is waking up to the idea that we are overburdening it with stuff and beginning the long process of simplification. The slow movement began with food and is moving through fashion and craft. The industrial revolution made it possible to make large numbers of things fast and furiously with division of process between workers as fine tuned as possible in order to increase efficiency of production. We are very committed to the role of counter cultural movement making good things slowly and with skill and if you dig one out of the ground in 500 years it will still speak its beauty and quality.
Josiah Wedgewood said it best in 1787: "...a competition for Cheapness, and not for Excellence of Workmanship, is the most frequent and certain Cause of the rapid Decay and entire Destruction of Arts and Manufactures. The Desire of selling much in a little Time,
without respect to the Taste and Quality of the Goods, leads Manufacturers and Merchants to ruin the Reputation of the Articles which they manufacture and deal in... All Works of Art must bear a Price in Proportion to the Skill, the Taste, the Time, the Experience, and the risk attending the Invention and Execution of them."
6. The Lilium series, created with Joseph Walsh, evokes a kind of wild grace - geometric restraint giving way to lyrical freedom. How do you technically and emotionally approach translating such contradictions into glass?
Anike: The major challenge in making this piece was largely technical. The glass was cast into the wood forms and as glass will tend to shrink to a degree during the casting process, getting the individual pieces to fit the wood structure was very difficult indeed. We worked with the wonder that is Australian glass artist, Richard Whitely, in Corning Museum of Glass on these as they were super challenging. The end result is very beautiful though.
7. Your bespoke collaborations - especially with distillers like JJ Corry - suggest an affinity for ritual and rarity. What is it about fine whiskey and crystal that seems to echo one another so deeply?
Anike: The crystal has a great refractive index and amplifies the beauty of colour that is a natural part of a fine whiskey.
This can be increased with the right cutting technique as you see here:
8. Rattan, discovered in ancient tombs and later revived in American craftsmanship, reappears in your Cane Cut work as a motif in glass. What drew you to this historical material, and how do you translate tactile tradition into visual form?
Anike: This particular cut is very difficult to do by hand as it involves the precise intersection of many cuts. It was developed as a bespoke piece for a client who wanted to echo the rattan furniture of a particular space. The cutting process lends itself so well to the translation of tactility. Particularly if unpolished as it remains very vital to the touch.
9. J. Hill’s Standard straddles art and utility: your glasses are meant to be lived with, not just admired. How do you design for everyday ritual while maintaining a sense of reverence and sculptural presence?
Anike: Form and function are equally important for us. It is vital that the pieces demand to be used every day - not stored in a cabinet, and that the tactility and form make the pieces an everyday pleasure to return to.
10. Ireland - its craft traditions, landscapes, and storied glassmaking past - runs like a quiet current through your work. How does place continue to shape the soul of what you create?
Anike: I’m glad you see that. This small island has a powerfully pagan spirit - wild, untamed, in love with words and expression. A day on the mountains, or lost in the wood offers the eye many forms, colours and textures to store away and reference. The land enters your bloodstream and emerges in every expression of ours.
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Words and questions by AW.
Answers by Anike Tyrrell.
Photos courtesy of J. Hill's Standard and @_gabrielgabriel__
