Topic: Frosted candlestick - can anyone recognise the signature please?

[LarryB]

This very large candlestick (22cm tall, 575g) is in frosted pearl and clear amber glass on a frosted peach base with applied gilt highlights. The bowl which holds the candle is  shaped like a candle which has melted down one side. The glass trails resemble molten wax and are suspended in mid-air, quite separate from the body, and hence very delicate. The base has an engraved signature - unusually, this is on the top (i.e. visible) side of the base, not hidden underneath it. The signature is extremely faint, and engraved against a matching background, so its difficult to photograph it clearly. Anyway, if anyone can identify the signature, I'd be a very happy bunny. Thanks, Larry.

[David E]

If it is a first name it looks like 'Ian' or 'Jan', but the last squiggle is not very identifiable.

[LarryB]

Good evening, David, Thanks for your suggestion. I've been hung up on "Jan", but of course "Ian" is equally possible. This is one of these flamboyantly stylised signatures which are identified by its shape, rather than by its letters....which begs the question "why bother signing it if no-one can read it?" I'll keep trying, and keep you posted. Regards, L.

[Ekimp]

Bit late but it’s ‘Jon Art’ (Romania). Can’t find much on Jon Art but there are others very similar signed ‘Ion Tamaian’ and apparently Ion is Romanian for John - same person maybe?

[Anne]

Ioan Tămâian possibly? He has a website showing similar candlesticks here https://tamaian.com/galerie/produse-utilitare/sfesnice. Ioan's bio page is here https://tamaian.com/artistul-tamaian - apparently his father was also a glassmaker.

This also adds weight to Jon Art and Ioan Tămâian being the same person: https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/29103731-ioan-tamaian-glass-object-glass

For those on Facebook he also has a Facebook page with more fab photos. https://www.facebook.com/tamaian.ro/

[Ekimp]

Yes, he seems to be the same chap, thanks for posting those links. I bought a bit in the charity shop this week. It has an image on the side that looks like an abstract Kandinsky painting from the 1920s so didn’t know what to make of it - luckily I persevered with the signature that appeared on cleaning