Topic: Pressed? vase or cut? vase

[Anne]

This has me a little puzzled. I think it's a pressed glass vase (rather than cut glass)  - it's fairly thin, but the pattern is nice and crisp. Stands approx 6 inches tall. No makers markings at all - does anyone have any suggestions as to maker or age please?

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[Leni]

Looks cut to me, but I always need to touch  :roll:

[paradisetrader]

I bought a vase which I knew was cut in order to tell the difference. I quickly realised that most of what I had thought was cut, wasn't.

However this one looks like cutting on a molded blank.
Are the cuts sharp to the touch ?
Compare with what look like cuts on a known molded piece.
Is the piece a good weight ?

If that is the case then you may be looking for two makers: glasshouse and cutting shop. You will be lucky to find out either but someone may be able to give some idea of age.

[Anne]

Looking at it again it is crisp and looks like cut glass but the glass itself is nowhere near as thick as other cut glass I have seen, which is what puzzles me. I have a few bits of cut glass and they are proportionally much heavier than this vase is.

[paradisetrader]

I believe that cuttng is usually done on heavy lead crystal becuase of it's "softness" and therefore ease of cutting, but that may not always be the case.

What about to the touch, Anne ?
You don't mention it !
Touch is forgotten by many when assessing glass but Terry constantly lectures me about that. Bernard and the other experts here will say the same I'm sure.
 
Also are there any "rainbow" effect to the "cuts" ?

[Anne]

On 2nd thoughts, I think it is cut glass rather than pressed glass. It feels like my other cut glass but is not as heavy. It's the lightness and thin-ness of it that puzzled me more than anything.

On close inspection one of the vertical cuts to the side of the horizontal "ladder" cuts is slightly shorter than all the others, and none of them are 100% vertical - all have a very slight lean to one side! The scallops around the top edge vary slightly in shape and size as well.

What is also curious is that the glass is not uniform in thickness all the way round - it varies from 5mm - 7 mm at the base and 2mm - 3 mm at the top.

Almost forgot to answer the last bit Peter - no rainbow effects at all.

[Connie]

It is hard to tell without actually handling the piece myself.  I think it is both pressed and cut.  The blank was a pressed glass vase which was further embellished by cutting.

Examine the mitered areas under a loupe. If it is cut you will see tiny striations or lines.  You can also tell the difference between old steel cutting and modern machine cutting.  With old steel or iron cutting the striations will be uneven and irregular or not visible at all depending of the level of polishing during the finish.  If it was done with modern high speed diamond machine cutting tools the striations will be very uniform, long parallel lines.

[Adam]

It is certainly not pressed.  It is blown (the variation in wall thickness confirms that).  Whether it is mould or off-hand blown I can't tell, but I don't think it really matters as the resultant blank has obviously been cut anyway.

Adam D.

[glasswizard]

I agree with Peter and Connie. It has always been to my knowledge that later in the cut glass era as its called, to cut costs blanks were made thinner and the cutting was polished using acid rather than manually. I have run into a few pieces like this and quality is not as good but it is still classified as cut glass. Terry

[Anne]

A belated thank you to everyone who responded. Don't know how I managed to miss saying that!  :oops: