Topic: Gold cased in clear 'teardrop' vase - ID = Strathearn

[Leni]

This one was standing right beside one with a Whitefriars label, but is sadly the wrong size and shape for WF    Anyone any idea?  It's 10 inches (26cm) tall. 

[Gilead]

Hi Leni.
          Sorry cant help with the ID but while looking though ebay tonight, i came across this Murano sommerso art glass which said it was Solifleur vase number (370057802993) looks a little like your's, red and yellow cased in clear?

Do not know if it will help.
                                  Steve

[Leni]

Thanks, Steve

Both Caithness and Murano have been suggested to me.  I think Murano may be a strong possibility, so perhaps this thread should be moved to the Murano board?  (Although I doubt it will be possible to get a more specific ID  )

[Lustrousstone]

Is it flattened? And is the outer casing clear or pale blue? The amber doesn't look like quite the right colour for Caithness to me

[Leni]

It is slightly flattened, Christine.  And the outer casing is clear.  I thought the amber was a bit too dark for Caithness myself. 

[Ivo]

I believe this one is Strathearn. I have the brown cased in clear variety (the colour is a bit vague in this foto) , and an identical one in clear glass with Strathearn sticker.

[Leni]

Thanks, Ivo.  I hadn't thought of Strathearn!   

I wondered if the way the neck is finished gives any guidance as to a maker?  Maybe it's a common way of finishing, but I noticed that there's a double cut edge - sort of chamfered, if that's the right term.  Here's a pic of the neck in closeup.   

[Ivo]

I've seen this vase many times over when I did the grand charity shop tour of Scotland in May - and they all have the same finish. I just got the clear one because it has a sticker, and serves to identify the brown one. But I do not think you can take a rim and say "typical so-and-so"....

[Leni]

Thanks for clarifying that for me, Ivo     

I was just wondering if there was a sort of 'grading' by which you can at least tell the quality of a piece of glass, if not the maker.  As in, "fire-polished = good quality, 'chamfered' = moderately good, plain cut = mass produced"  or something like that - although maybe not so simplistic.  Would that be on the right track, or am I completely missing the point?    

[Ivo]

The finish depends on the product - it is more a technical than a quality choice. A thickwalled piece like this could be finished with pliers to get a rounded feel to the neck - and in that case it will also have a pontil mark. For the sake of economic production the glassmaker can decide to forego that operation, and finish it by grinding the top smooth. It does away with the onerous operation of taking it over on a pontil rod and a secondary (expensive) glassmaker operation; instead the piece is cracked off and annealed. In a later operation the neck is ground smooth by a low paid minion. There you have the option of leaving a straight edge which is prone to chipping (you may have noticed it is almost impossible to find an unchipped piece of cut glass - especially panel cut), or chamfer the edges which really is no big deal if you have the proper equipment. I think fire polishing is more of an issue in thinwalled items. And as always, if the glass makers did not finish the rim off properly - i.e. coursely ground instead of polished (use your nail for testing), do not buy it.