Hi Marcus, I too have often wondered about this design, having seen it offered for sale in the past. I always assumed it was a later design, though the swirls on the body do seem a little reminiscent of the bodies of the dragons on the dragon charger. Certainly I have never seen an example which I felt to be pre war.
Could I ask you to elaborate regarding your comments on the polishing of the base of the item. I have handled a number of larger Barolac vases, mostly opal examples believed to be pre-war (some signed, some not). I would not have described the bases of these as mirror polished. The footrims, though polished are still sometimes slighty matt, such as in this example I was recently watching on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Art-Deco-Opalescent-Art-Glass-Vase-Verlys-Type-Koi_W0QQitemZ7415954618QQIt's sometimes difficult to determine what the original finish was, however, as these items do, due to their weight, tend to accumulate wear very quickly. Does the mirror polish only apply to items which have not been matted/ satinized? Certainly from what I remeber, the polished finish was not as bright as on contemporay pieces by Verlys, for example.
Unfortunately I don't have any photo's of the bases of my pieces for comparison as they are currently being stored at my parent's house. I will review them next time I visit & examine the bases to see if i can find out anything. I have some vases which both I and Siegmar believe to be prte-war but unfortunately I don't remember exactly how the bases are finished; if I find anything which might be of help as a reference for dating pieces, I will add it.
Unfortunately again, I don't yet have an example of the vase in question all I can say is that I don't recall seeing any catalogue references for the design other than Jo's post. Certainly it lacks the naturalistic style of most Barolac, though having said that, given the variety of designs being made by many companies during that period, that observation could be misleading.
Steven