Topic: pink and white snail

[curvature]

Hi,

I've just bought a very pretty art glass snail from a private collector, and I'm interested to find out more about it.  The guy I bought it from said he'd bought it several years ago from someone else and doesn't know its history.
 
I've done searches on the net and can't find similar images of snails, or of the sticker on it's back, although there is a similar one in the labels 101 gallery, but with different wording.

I've attached an image from the seller, but I can take more if you want to see detail.

http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/99/83909699_full.jpg

This sticker says 'ARTE VENEZIANA GRAN CANAL' around the top, and 'MADE IN MURANO ITALY' in the middle.

So my main questions:

is it likely to be a real Murano?

if it is Murano, should I leave the sticker on, or is it ok to remove generic ones like this?

is there a special name for this style of glasswork technique?  In person it almost looks like it's made of translucent milky jelly or ice, and it's very striking with light shining through it.  It's almost a surprise to touch it and find that it's not wet or slimy.

I mainly bought it because I think it's beautiful, but I don't want to tell people I have a Murano piece if I don't really - if it is just a pretty thing that someone has put a sticker on, I'd like to remove the sticker.

The writing on the bottom is a bit hard to make out even in person, but it looks to me like it says:

Murano
ht. quality

I did a pencil rubbing and it looks like it might just as easily say 'bt. quality' or 'lot2 quality' or 'W. gratini' or 'L. gratigi" and I'm not having much luck working it out definitively.  I'm not expeciting it to be made by a master but it would be nice to know who did make it if anyone recognises the signature or style.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to building my collection, and I'm really pleased to have stumbled across this forum!

Thanks   

Moderator: Linked images changed from display to links

[TxSilver]

It is a beautiful snail and it does look like Murano. Definitely leave the sticker on! Glass from around the world looks very similar, so once the label is off there is often no way of knowing where the glass comes from.

Snails are very popular with glass people. Yours is one of the nicer ones I have seen. It has a simple elegance that is very appearling. You made a good purchase.

[soledivo]

i would be really chuffed if that was in my collection, its a beauty,

love to know which maker it came from

[TxSilver]

It is made from a type of glass known in Murano as opalino. Both the pink and white are apparently opalino. Maybe you can take a picture of the signature and someone will be able to help with it.

[curvature]

Thanks for that, although I've looked up opaline and I don't think that this is what it's made of, based on the description of it.  There's no irridescence or pearly effect in it.

I think maybe it's 'alabastro' or something like that?

Mind you, some people seem to interchange the terms, and I couldn't find any good definitions for the difference between them.  I'm pretty new to this stuff so it's probably something else completely.

[Lustrousstone]

Opalino, doesn't have iridescence or a pearly effect, neither does opaline glass. The word doesn't seem to derive from the qualities of opals

[TxSilver]

Christine is right. White opalescent glass is milky, instead of opaque. Colored opalino is translucent. I thought that your snail looked translucent, but after looking again, you may be right about it being alabastro. Is the glass opaque when you hold it to light?

[Ivo]

Watch out for misnomers and mistranslations. The Italian Opalino is a colour cased lattimo, while opaline translates as Albastro. Both have the same semi-opaque quality - only opalino is composed of 2 colours (one milk, one colour), albastro is one single semi transparent colour.  Confused? Wait until you see Toso's satinated version in black & while or in lemon & milk!

[TxSilver]

In the USA, we are probably influenced by what Leslie Pina wrote. In her book on Archimede Seguso, she defined alabastro as "an opaque glass made to resemble alabaster stone. Seguso often combined white alabastro with a color." She defines opalino as "translucent milky glass in white or color."

I have a few pieces of Archimede Seguso alabastro around me right now. I've been buying some pieces since the prices have been low. One thing that strikes me about it is that it has the appearance that you might be able to see through it, but you can't. Not even at the edges.

[TxSilver]

...I have a few pieces of Archimede Seguso alabastro around me right now. I've been buying some pieces since the prices have been low. One thing that strikes me about it is that it has the appearance that you might be able to see through it, but you can't. Not even at the edges.

Well, I better add an exception. I just washed my A Seguso alabastro bearded collie. The crimped cane hair on the mouth is translucent. I guess because it is thin enough to let light through.