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Author Topic: Richardson's Green vase = Unlikely!  (Read 6225 times)

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Offline paradisetrader

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Richardson's Green vase = Unlikely!
« Reply #10 on: August 30, 2005, 08:59:45 PM »
Wouldn't the pattern of wear round the neck suggest a good age ?
Or are you, Ivo and Kev, suggesting that it might be early C20 ?
Or does this kind of gold decor wear off quite easily ?
Wouldn't it have been fired on ?

I notice also that the pattern of the gilding is irregular, with gaps on the body and without any discernable symmetry. Would this be "right" for Italian ? Might not the Victorians have been as guilty of gilding the lilly as the Italians ?

Richardson certainly did opaline according to great glass. http://www.great-glass.co.uk/library/lib2ae.htm
The examples you point us to Terry are somewhat lighter ...I'm wondering if your vase is actaully lighter than it appears in your photo ? The background looks a little grey / pink ...should it be white ?

The decor on the guilded piece 7107 is very different ...er sparser and symmetrical ...so maybe Ivo is right (as usual) !!

Just some thoughts.......
Peter
Pete

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Offline KevinH

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Richardson's Green vase = Unlikely!
« Reply #11 on: August 30, 2005, 10:16:26 PM »
Hopefully, when I get back from Kew Gardens tomorrow (Chihuly Glass, Magnificent Plants and 31 degrees of Celcius type heat apparently :shock: ) I will post some photos of a Richardson's vase I have which is opal coloured opaline (or "vitrified") and is overall decorated in what I would call typically Victorian patterns. It might not prove anything but could be interesting to compare with Terry's example. Mine is marked "Richardson's Stourbridge" to the base, which was just one variation of their marks.

And Leni - yes, I am sure you will "get this glass business". In fact, you already have, but just in the wrong order now and then. (A bit like the joke that a famous British comedian once made with an equally famous British composer ... When the composer said the comedian was not playing the right notes for the melody, the comedian replied, "Ohhhh yes I am, they are the right notes, just in a different order"  :D ).
KevinH

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Offline glasswizard

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Richardson's Green vase = Unlikely!
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2005, 09:37:24 AM »
To answer a couple of questions first. KevH, I do not detect any ridge line at the shoulder, it flows smoothly.  Peter, granted 7107 is very much lighter, but 7120 I would say is the exact same color as mine. I am sure the color of my pic is off a bit, not that good at pic taking yet.
The gilding is very thin although I detect a difference even there. The rings at the top and the bottom have a matt finish while the vining leaves are a bright gold.
Having addded all that now I must just say I hope you all have a wonderful time a Kew. While ooogling and ahhhhhhing over Chihuly just think of me working  :cry: And I sure hope someone takes pics!!!!! Terry

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Offline Frank

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Richardson's Green vase = Unlikely!
« Reply #13 on: August 31, 2005, 07:54:43 PM »
There is no reason for fired enamels not to wear off, the firing bonds to the glass, not fuses. Obviously fired enamels are much harder wearing than cold but still subject to wearing off, particularly gold!!! Which is a fairly soft finish.

Stuart Strathearn marks were sandblasted, not etched, very lightly onto the glass base and have also been known to wear away!

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Offline KevinH

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Richardson's Green vase = Unlikely!
« Reply #14 on: September 01, 2005, 11:50:18 PM »
It took a little longer than I first said, but here's the images I promised:

Full view: http://tinypic.com/bi5tw4.jpg
This shows a somewhat different shape to Terry's vase but illustrates a gentle, smooth form of the neck out of the body, which is also seen, for example, in items 6868 and 7107 (and also 7256 & 7412) in the Great Glass site (as linked earlier by Peter). It also shows how an overall gilded decoration can still manage to be "quiet" in its presentation.

This vase is 10 inch high, 3 3/16 inch diameter at the rim, 3 5/16 inch diameter at the widest body point, 2 7/16 inch diameter at the foot and has a good thickness at 3/16 inch. It weighs in at almost 1lb 7oz (650g).

Part of Decoration: http://tinypic.com/bi5wtj.jpg
This is a part of the body decortaion and, having checked the literature, I understand this to be Rococo Revival (or was that in reference to the style and shape of the piece??), which ties in with the fashion of mid-19th century. Again, the Great Glass 6868 & 7107 vases show the similar style. Although I cannot make out the actual decorative features on Terry's vase, it does not seem to be anything like those I would expect for a Richardsons' 19th century piece. But ... I have only seen what I have seen and that is mostly what is shown in the books!

Top part: http://tinypic.com/bi5web.jpg
Underside of Foot: http://tinypic.com/bi5wn5.jpg
Both the Rim and Foot have age-rubbed gilding, which is in keeping with a 19th century item. The rubbed gilding of Terry's vase seems to me to be less severe. But the main thing I notice when studying Terry's pic in enlargement is that the gilding looks to be "burnished", which suggests a much later production.

Mark to Underside of Foot: http://tinypic.com/bi5wza.jpg
This is shown for interest. It is one of the known Richardson marks - and has a "P" code which, according to Hajdamach in "British Glass", had not been identified in terms of its meaning.

Going back to the comparison of green colours with the Great Glass 7107, I am reasonably sure that these are completely different and that it is not just an effect of the photography or computer screens etc.

So in summary, although I can see 19th century style and features in Terry's vase, on closer examination I don't think it is. It's the intensity of the green and the very full decorative elements (whatever they are in detail) that are the main points that cause me to change my mind.
KevinH

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