Topic: Please help with two lovely pink ewers

[Bernard C]

Recently acquired:

Click thumbnail image to enlarge

Height 14¼" (36cm), 15¼" (39cm).   Weight 1lb 15oz (878g), 2lb (910g).   No pontil scar.   Body opalescent cased in ruby then clear crystal.   Stem, foot and handle opalescent.   Stem and handle 8-rib.    Slight wear to the edge of the foot.

Any ideas on attribution and dating?   Note that I have 1920s Walsh in stock with similar stems and feet, but I am not expecting them to be that old.   They took some cleaning, so they weren't made yesterday.

Bernard C.  

[chuggy]

I may be totally wrong here Bernard, but my gut instinct is that they are not Murano. Whilst the body shape of the ewers certainly has a Venetian look, the bases don't seem right for Murano though I would probably have felt otherwise had the ewers sat flat at the bottom of the bodies. As they are I would look elsewhere for their origins.
Paul

[Glasshound]

they both look Italian to me..  just putting in my two cents!  

[Bernard C]

Paul & Blair — Thanks, your opinions are appreciated.

I will see what they make of them today at Woking.

... any other views?

Bernard C.  

[heartofglass]

Definitely Murano.
I have seen similar items with Murano labels, they date from the 50s-60s.
I have 2 ewers like this, without the footed bases, & also a blue 2-handled urn vase in this style.
These items are typically a pastel pink or blue with applied handles/feet in opal.
They are found in many sizes, in shapes like ewers, urns, stemmed comports,over-sized goblets,etc.
Not sure of the exact maker though;however, I also have 2 stemmed, footed vases in a similar style in opalescent & vaseline with original gold labels reading "Veritable Opaline de Murano".
Hope this helps!

[Bernard C]

... I also have 2 stemmed, footed vases in a similar style in opalescent & vaseline with original gold labels reading "Veritable Opaline de Murano"...

Marinka — thanks, great information.   It also seems to cover Paul's concerns about the stems and feet.

Unfortunately the two dealers that I know are reliable on post-war Murano were not at Woking yesterday, so no useful opinion emerged on these two ewers, despite displaying them prominently on the top shelf of a stand in our pink section.   You could see them from the opposite corner of the hall.

Any more opinions?   Book / website references?

Bernard C.  

[Ivo]

Any more opinions?

Sure Bernard not lacking in opinions here.

1960s Murano production (Nason)  is 90% likely, the other 10% is reserved for the possibility that they are from one of the Empoli works.  I have several of these in blue & pink & white with opal feet, some have stickers pointing at Italy and some do not.
Similar items have been made at Valérysthal in the 1950s 1960s too, but I cannot remember opal feet - that seems to be a Murano thing.

[Bernard C]

Ivo — Thanks.   Excuse my supplementary questions, but my Haanstra is buried in the estate car under stock and standfittings.

Is Nason the same as Nason & Moretti?   Is Empoli the glassmaking region in Tuscany not too far from Rome?

Bernard C.  

[Ivo]

That would be Vincenzo Nason & Cie. (VNC) - but I'm not attempting an attribution, it was just a hint.
Empoli is the centre of glassmaking near Firenze (there are lots of glass factories in Poggibonsi, Colle Val d'Elsa, San Giovanni Valdarno etc. )

[Bernard C]

Thanks, Ivo, and apologies.   I should not have wasted your time by failing to look it up in the book first.  :oops:

Bernard C.