Design: The glass menagerie

Liberty and the Crafts Council are offering you the chance to win pounds 1250-worth of glass and crafts by choosing the winner of the 1998 Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts

THE FOURTH annual Jerwood Prize has hit the spot this year by choosing studio glass. Collector-investors are discovering glass in the same way that, over the past decade, they have been discovering studio ceramics. The latest in studio glass is cast glass; none of the eight finalists - all established makers - has a reputation as a blower.

Who will win the pounds 15,000 prize, to be announced on 15 September? The Prime Minister has already made a choice: he selected the work of Jerwood finalists Tessa Clegg, Anna Dickinson and David Reekie for display at the G8 Summit in Birmingham in June. And the National Glass Council's inaugural exhibition features the work of finalists Tessa Clegg, Keith Cummings, Diana Hobson, Keiko Mukaide and David Reekie.

The judges are different every year, but a pattern has emerged: in the last two years, the winners were both young artists whose reputations had recently taken off. Innovative - and safe. This year's judges consist of three museum curators and two university teachers - an apparent bias towards academics. But among them is Zora Palova, renowned Czechoslovakian maker of stunning giant glass installations, recently head-hunted as Professor of Glass at Sunderland University.

Ladbroke Racing, which successfully predicted Eglin as joint favourite at 3-1 in 1996, is offering odds on the Jerwood, last bets Saturday 12 September. Here is my Jerwood Prize form book, in alphabetical order:

1. Galia Amsel, 31. Exquisite serpentine shapes expressing rhythm and balance. Commissions: Ulster Museum and V&A. (Ladbrokes 6-1).

2. Lise Autogena, 34. Accomplished geometric and biological forms. Lead artist on the Birmingham Town Hall Millennium Project. (Ladbrokes 6-1).

3. Tessa Clegg, 52. Colourful minimal forms using hidden space, light and shadow. Commisioned in the past year alone by the Corning Glass Museum, New York, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, Ernsting Foundation, Coesfeld- Lette, Germany, and the V&A. (Ladbrokes 3-1).

4. Keith Cummings, 58. Quirky marine-life forms in scintillating green and blue. Professor of Glass Studies at Wolverhampton University, where one of the judges is Dean of the School of Art and Design. (Ladbrokes 3-1).

5. Anna Dickinson, 37. Ceramic-like shapes with unusual textures. Exhibition in Basel, guest of honour at the Aperto Vetro in Venice, 1996, solo show in Japan, 1993. Commissions: French and Japanese museums, the V&A. (Ladbrokes 5-2 favourite).

6. Diana Hobson, 55. Glowing minimalist shapes in pate de verre combined with stone, earth and objets trouves. Solo show at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Castle. (Ladbrokes 8-1).

7. Keiko Mukaide, 44, born in Tokyo, now based in Edinburgh. Contemplative installations expressing earth, water, rock and light. Exhibitions in France, Holland (Braggiotti Gallery, Amsterdam) and Manchester City Gallery. (Ladbrokes 3-1).

8. David Reekie, 51. Humorous figures with social comment. Bought by the V&A. (Ladbrokes 5-1)

Work by the Eight Finalists for the 1998 Jerwood Prize

1`Cascade of Glass' by Keiko Mukaide

2`Glass Bowl' by Anna Dickinson

3`Untitled' by Diana Hobson

4`Serpentine Shape' by Galia Amsel

5`Minimal Form' by Tessa Clegg

6`Tallis' by Keith Cummings

7`Untitled' by Lise Autogena

8`Living in Confined Spaces II' by David Reekie