Mdina Glass

Mdina Glass is Malta’s oldest glassblowing workshop, founded in 1968 when two British craftsmen, Eric Dobson and Michael Harris, came to the island to start the first artistic glass production in Malta. The furnaces were first lit in June 1968 inside a former RAF hangar in Ta’ Qali, where the workshop still operates today.

From the beginning, Mdina Glass became a symbol of a new craft for Malta. The first vases, bowls and paperweights quickly became popular with tourists and were soon exported abroad. In the 1970s, a young trainee named Joseph Said joined the team, later becoming head craftsman and, in 1985, the owner of the company.

Under Said’s direction, Mdina Glass grew from a small studio into a family-run enterprise. He expanded production, modernised equipment and introduced new techniques that had never been used in Malta before. This made it possible to create not only traditional vases but also figurines, plates, clocks, candleholders and home décor pieces.

In the early 2000s, Joseph’s children — Nevise, Olivia, Pamela and Alan Said — joined the business. They broadened the range with lighting, decorative sculptures, kitchen accessories, soap dispensers and holders for scented candles.

The main Mdina Glass workshop and flagship store are located in Ta’ Qali, just a few minutes from Mdina. Here you can watch the artisans at work and buy freshly made glass pieces. If you wish, you can also book a workshop and learn different glassmaking techniques.

The brand also has boutiques just inside the Mdina city gates and in the centre of Valletta.