Topic: Art nouveau uranium glass vase found buried in a yard

[ho2cultcha]

i can't believe a friend found this piece in perfect condition buried in leaves and soil in a backyard in my neighborhood!  it's 12" tall and thin, beautifully made.  appears to be blown into a mold and fire-polished.  i can't find a mark or signature on it, but it looks similar to some Stevens and Williams pieces from the turn of the 20th century.  The form reminds me of Ruskin pottery from that same time - the high, sharp shoulder and hollow base.  Oakland was a hotspot for the arts around 1900-1915, when i think this was made. i'm wondering if maybe it wasn't made by someone around here, but i haven't found any info about glass artists around here at that time.

thanks for any info you might be able to provide.

[antiquerose123]

Hi ho2cultcha -- WELCOME !! 

Beautiful piece of glass and amazing Story.  I am sure there will be someone to help you as not everyone is on everyday.  Amazing where all of us who love Glass meet!!

Again Welcome !!

[ho2cultcha]

  thank you antiquerose123!  i hope someone can help me. it is a very beautiful piece and i sure hope to find something about who made it and when.  a very unusual find in a backyard here in the barrio!

[ho2cultcha]

i forgot to post a pic of the base.  here it is now.

[Lustrousstone]

My guess would be that it is American; a lot of American companies made jadeite, often in uranium glass. Here might be a good place to look but at all colours of vase http://chataboutdg.com/gallery/ You could also ask on the forum http://chataboutdg.com/forums/

I suspect it is factory production rather than studio production though. When you say fire polished I'm assuming you mean the rim rather than the body...

[ho2cultcha]

the whole piece has been very finely fire polished, i think.  it's 12" tall and full of thousands of small bubbles and it is perfectly finished and has wide variaion in thickness.

[Lustrousstone]

Glass isn't fire polished per se unless it to smooth the pontil mark off (this hasn't got one) or to smooth the rim off.

[ho2cultcha]

or to remove all signs of a mold. this piece has no signs whatsoever of a mold, besides the lack of a pontil.

[ho2cultcha]

the reason why i mention the bubbles is that there are no open bubbles on the surface, ddespite thousands under the surface, is that is why i think this was fire polished over the entire surface.

[Lustrousstone]

Something like this is just rotated in the mould before it is opened. Manual blowing doesn't create the same mould seams as automatic blowing