Topic: Stuart Glass Vase Ludwig Kny?

[JoSte]

Hi, new member here & first post 

We would be grateful of any help in confirming or how to obtain proof that a Crystal Cut Vase we've acquired was by the well known Ludwig Kny at Stuart. We found the same vase advertised for sale at an auction that occurred a couple of years ago that stipulates it was by Ludwig from the 1930s and we have the exact same one. It is quite heavy and the deep cut glass is very well detailed.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Regards

Ste

[Paul S.]

hi - welcome to the GMB

Your vase may well be a Kny pattern - it has the square foot with border mitres that do occur on some of his designs, but regret unable to see the main cut pattern clearly enough for this to help  -  the background in your picture is too busy and prevents the design from being seen clearly.

Clear glass is notoriously difficult to photograph such that detail can be seen easily, but using a dark uniform background will help -  a large sheet of black/charcoal or dark grey paper or linen, for example, would be suitable.

Stuart's output during the C20 was prodigious to say the least, and regrettably here on the GMB we don't have access to their main archive of patterns/designs - and we have recourse to a very limited amount of Kny's cut designs.         Much of his original work has been reproduced commonly and over a long period of time, so there's a chance we might be able to find a book or Board archive to substantiate your vase as one of his, but it will help enormously if you can photograph again so that we can see the overall design more clearly.              Can't guarantee that we will find this to be one of his, but will try.

Unfortunately, auction house can be unreliable, at times, so it pays to be cautious.              If possible will you also let us know please the extent of wear on the underside of your vase  -  thanks

[JoSte]

Thanks for the information. I've attached another couple of photo's that might help (taken them with a black background) plus additional information on the piece, Stuart England is engraved in the corner of the base and it's very heavy and the glass is quite thick with a deep cut design. The base is typical of Ludwig Kny looking at other works of his.

Any information or help would be very much appreciated.

[keith]

Is the vase actually signed 'Stuart' ? it reminds me of work by Irene Stevens and Luxton.

[Paul S.]

I'd agree with Keith re his suggestion of John Luxton  -  thanks for the improved pix  -  and now probably fairly safe to say not Ludwig Kny, because..............    the cut pattern is too simplistic for Kny, and agrees with much of Luxton's 1950's work when he seems to have been very keen on circles and ovals combined with plenty of long perpendicular thin mitres.                 
Irene Stevens designed for Webb Corbett mid C20 I think, so this wouldn't be hers, but as Keith says there is a 1950s flavour about the design.

Stuart backstamps are unreliable for dating - some of then overlapping by many years it seems.    Of course if you had a Registration No. accompanying the factory backstamp then we could check that against the GMB archive and say when the design originated, but would seem this vase without an Rd. No.
However, the square mitred foot is reminiscent of Stuart's 1930s designs, so easy to be confused.

I've looked at a lot of Luxton designs, but nothing matching this exactly, although a few not too dissimilar.          Shame you can't now go back to the auction house and ask them for the source of their 'Stuart' provenance  -  or perhaps you can?

[JoSte]

Hi all, thanks for the responses. The vase is engraved with Stuart in the corner on the base and the word England underneath, it is very small and difficult to see. We looked at the possibility of Luxton but unable to identify anything close to it but other works by Kny look very similar to ours so is confusing and frustrating.

We received a book at Christmas which has a Kny piece in it, the crystal cut and base look the same as our vase but obviously still in a quandary over this.   

The auction house are not able to provide any additional information, we already tried that, we only paid £10 for it

[Paul S.]

having also once been new to all this, I too made vast leaps of attribution based on single examples, in the early days, and come unstuck - it's easily done.
Kny's work is more complex, usually, than the design on your vase.................   in the early days with Stuart his trademark, frequently, was the v-grooved outline on oval eye-shaped leaves which appear on many of his floral designs, and there's a deco look often to his patterns.
With Stuart, identification isn't helped due to the truly vast quantity of different designs they produced, and when so many designs were kept in production for a very long time - personally I'm happy to say this is probably John Luxton, and almost certainly not Kny.           If the auction house attributed this particular pattern to Kny, and now are unable to offer provenance, I'd be less than happy with their confidence.

On the Board's archive we have a lot of Stuart cut designs - have a look some time.

[brucebanner]

I have had this really well made dish hanging around for a while, looking at the vase  it must be by Stuart but it's not signed, the outer rim cuts have been left unpolished and look frosted, it looks unfinished.

It's 3 3/4 inches in height and 5 inches in diameter across the rim.

What does the mark look like, have a look at these in the link, regards Chris.

http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/marks-s.htm