Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests > Glass Paperweights
A new weight, but I'm baffled as to maker - any ideas?
torontoglass:
I just don't like the dealers who keep calling Chinese weights Murano. What does one do with them? I was at the big Toronto Antique Mall the other day (some former dealers at lamented long gone Harbourfront Antique Center) and two dealers insisted that Chinese paperweights were Italian, when to any discerning eyes they were Chinese. It infuriates me. Perhaps one or two Chinese weights belong in any collection (I have none, preferring to spend my short Canadian Dollars on more quality paperweights), but this falsification riles me. Why do dealers do this?
I will add that one dealer did have a contemporary Baccarat that was nice, but he wanted far too much for it - $535. Worth about $300.
Leni:
--- Quote from: "torontoglass" ---I just don't like the dealers who keep calling Chinese weights Murano.
--- End quote ---
I have to say, I think this appears to happen more in the US than in the UK. :roll: It does sometimes seem as if every unidentified weight is labeled 'Murano' on ebay.com! :shock:
Do you think it's all due to deliberate falsification, or is a lot of it just ignorance? Perhaps once the mistake (or falsification) has been made by a few, other people just think 'Murano' when they see this style of weight, and continue to perpetuate the error? :?
Frank:
It usually means "I don't know, but I have to give it an attribution and Murano makes these glass balls with coloured spots in so..."
KevinH:
Regarding the "Chinese sold as Murano", there is another very good reason for some of the misattributions. Many examples have appeared over the years with a sticky generic "Murano" label.
So, if somebody sees examples of those and they have a very similar, but unlabelled item, it's quite reasonable that, without any evidence to the contrary, they would believe them to be Murano.
I corresponded with an American eBay seller a few years ago who had listed several such weights with a Murano sticker. I sent copies of images from a Chinese trade catalogue which showed the same type of weights and one in fact (with a "double overlay" finish) was absolutely identical, but missing the original Chinese wooden base. It was said that those weights were sourced via a German dealer.
But Frank's point is also valid - it's often a case of giving something a name based on just a broad similarity to something seen elsewhere.
Frank:
There is the eBay effect too. Someone who does all their research on eBay will inevitably get skewed results. Also when they go to a site, such as mine, see the same shape as their piece but do not bother to look for a match on technique! See Holmgaard Monart is it thread elsewhere. :?
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