here is a pic of the base on the more modern hanky vase. it is ground flat but not polished also i have what looks like a letter rack with a label which reads LAVORAZIONE Arte Murano MADE IN ITALY with the same type of base, ground but not polished, to me they look very similar so unless the chinese made letter racks with labels or maybe they got hold of the letter rack from italy and later ground the base? Who Knows. lol