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Author Topic: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!  (Read 2107 times)

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Offline valjk

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Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« on: November 10, 2012, 02:34:23 AM »
Hi, Another glass object which is wearing out my eyes as I search in vain through internet images.  This came in a small job lot several years ago and I've only just found out that it might be a hyacinth vase, something I didn't even know existed until joining this forum!  It is large, 21cm high by 9.5 cm diameter, with the top section exactly matching the bottom part.  I haven't been able to find a bulb vase which is quite as straight and cylindrical, most seem to have a curve or flair to them.  The base has old wear scratches (not as noticeable as in the photo) and circular striations (good word?), with a small circle in the middle which might be a smoothed pontil mark.  I've tried to show it in the photo but it's hard to capture it.  There are also very slight variations in the surface of the vase, so I think it was probably blown.  The colour is somewhere between the very dark of two of the photos and the clear green of the flash photo; I would say it was a dark bottle green.  The top is rather large for a hyacinth, maybe an amaryllis would be suitable although that might become top-heavy when in flower!  There are stains from past usage.
Any thoughts as to age?  If it is actually quite old (I live in hope) then probably a maker would be out of the question, but if more recent then maybe that is a possibility.
Any input welcome! 
Thanks in advance, Valerie

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Offline Ivo

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2012, 08:03:54 AM »
Hiya - your vase is definitely not suited for a bulb as the cup does not support the bulb which would keel over. These flat cups are usually for a wide candle and most probably from the seventies.

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Offline ju1i3

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2012, 09:02:10 AM »
Hyacinth bulbs don't need a cup for support. They need somewhere to sit firmly but not support to keep them from falling over (unless your flower gets very top heavy and then the cup isn't going to help). I've never seen a hyacinth vase cup that is the right size and shape to hold a bulb that tight, esp as bulbs vary in size. 

Valerie I don't think your vase is a bulb vase as it's too tall (would get too top heavy) and not one I've seen before. I don't think it's that old (20th century). Reminds me of Scandinavian designs but I'm no expert on this type of vase.

Julie

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Offline Paul S.

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2012, 10:29:43 AM »
According to Patricia Coccoris' criteria for bulb vases, at 21 cm. this one would still fall within the accepted height range - but would agree it's almost certainly not in view of the parallel sides of both the body and collar.         It seems that bulb vases need some form of bulbous (sorry about the pun) body - which presumably gives stability to the vase and more room for the expanding roots.
Having said all that, this one does give a passing nod to the FJT 'Brutus' design (although not hexagonal), which WERE sold as vases although not bulb vases.           So could be a candle holder, or dodgy flower vase. :)

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Offline Ivo

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2012, 10:33:51 AM »
You must have wondered by now why it is that all hyacinth vases have a cup?

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Offline Paul S.

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2012, 11:59:59 AM »
Ivo's point (I think) is that on a purpose made bulb vase, the 'cup' does not have a flat bottom (as with candle holders), but instead has a depression in which the bulb sits (to match a little the curvature of the bulb)  -  thus helping to provide some stability.         Also on this one the neck appears perhaps a little too constricted and might impede growth of the roots, but it's the cylinder shape that kills it as a bulb vase, and the candle holder is almost certainly the best suggestion, especially with the parallel sides to the collar which would provide grip.
It's attractive though, and would look good as decoration (with a shortish candle).

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Offline Ivo

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2012, 12:36:52 PM »
The cylindrical shape has no real function or disadvantage. The fact that bulb vases tend to be bulbous or wide bottomed is for stability. As soon as you draw a hyacinth in bloom you may find the flower itself weighs almost a pound - hence the need for stability. The bulb has a root disc of approx 3-4 cm diameter (1.1/2") and as soon as the roots develop they firmly wedge themselves into the neck. The roots then grow downward and fill the vase regardless of its shape.

A candle holder is also filled with water for stability and has the additional advantage that it can be used as an extinguisher when things go pear shaped. The cylinder fitted well in the 1970s interior - so many companies made those. And in the brighter season it would double as a flower vase.

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Offline valjk

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2012, 12:01:53 AM »
Thanks to everyone for their input.  I see now that the top part should ideally be cup-shaped for a hyacinth vase, and I've been looking at lots of images of vases intended for bulbs in the hope of being able to spot one should I ever come across one at a car boot etc.  I think now my vase was intended to be either simply ornamental or as a candle holder, and I will confine my web searches to "vase" and "candle holder"; I am surprised that I haven't yet found a similar cylindrical glass object depicted anywhere, maybe it was an unsuccessful design!  (But I like it, and someone has used it in the past for either flowers or a bulb, as evidenced by the dirty watermarks.)  The colour is very sombre for the 1970's, although I have seen a 1970's Danish squat-shaped candle holder in a dull green.  I like the idea of a candle holder doubling as a fire quencher, I wonder if anyone ever resorted to using the water inside their holder for that purpose?  In the meantime I shall enjoy it as an object, and try out a hyacinth bulb when I can find one, a bit late for this year but maybe next year.
Thanks to all,
Valerie

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Offline Paul S.

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Re: Hyacinth vase? Age? Help please!
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2012, 09:04:41 AM »
ebay is probably the best place to see real bulb vases - or, of course, Patricia's book ;) ;)

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