Topic: Cut Glass Vase - early or a later copy? Irish, perhaps?

[cutglassfan]

Hello all,
Here is my latest find, a rather nice cut glass vase. Is it a celery vase? The style reminds me of late Georgian/early Victorian Anglo-Irish glass, particularly the castellated rim which a lot of people seem to associate with Waterford but I really don't know. Almost perfect condition, very little wear on the base and the colour seems quite pure so I'm thinking a 20th century homage to older glass but no signature or mark of any kind. The foot is surprisingly thin for such a substantial piece. I paid next to nothing for it so I'm quite pleased with it all the same. 
See what you think,
Jay

[Paul S.]

expect you're right Jay and my feeling is that this is from the C20  -   and it could probably be used for either purpose.

I'm not aware that a 'castellated' style of rim is indicative of Waterford especially - at least it doesn't seem to be something recognized by Phelps Warren as suggesting that factory.    This is noticeably different from a straightforward scalloped rim, which like the fan cut and saw tooth was a fairly common effect on much glass from that period.               
Suspect you're also right about the thinness of the foot implying a more modern date.
The radial cutting under the foot is a feature borrowed from the period you suggest, and occurs on table glass from much of the C19 and some way into the C20.
Don't know where you sourced this one, but we have to remember that there are a many  folk out there who spend a lot of time looking for older glass, and they usually know what to look for and where, leaving the likes of us with the copies.

Had this been 200 years old, and used as a vase or celery, then I'd be worried if I wasn't seeing considerably more wear, plus some damage to the high spots etc.
If you look at Phelps Warren, you will get an idea of styles, shapes and cutting of Irish and Anglo-Irish pieces from that period, and all you need to do then is find the stuff

Always useful to give the size/height if possible.

[cutglassfan]

Sorry! Yes, as soon as I pressed 'Post' I realised that I had not specified the size. It's about 8 inches tall. I got it from a general dealer with no particular interest in glass beyond the modern signed stuff but I'm sure he checked it out first in case it could be an early 'original'. I was expecting to see some sort of acid etched signature on the bottom of this when I turned it over as it looks relatively new and it's such good quality glass and crisp, sharp cutting so I was surprised not to find anything, which made me wonder if it's old but not very old, i.e. early 20th century, or an even later European copy, maybe? As with everything I buy, I bought it because I liked it and the price was just too good to pass up for a piece of this size and quality. I think it will look rather spectacular near a window when the sun finally comes back. 

[Paul S.]

prior to beginning of C20, very little glass is marked - marked in the sense of having an acid backstamp - and according to Mr. P. W. there are only 7 pieces of Waterford known to be marked, so probably unlikely you'll find one of those (the mark was impressed from a mould).
But as we've said there's far more unmarked cut material than marked, so law of averages says far more probable we get to find those, mostly.

If you are buying from a dealer/trader, then pound to a penny they won't make a mistake  -  not unknown - but very unlikely.   Don't know your location, but if you ever get up to London then try the glass gallery in the V. & A.  -  they have Anglo-Irish to die for, and well worth visiting.       Presumably other museums have similar, and good way to learn about glass, but they don't let you take them home

Would be good to hear from Roy and Chris if they have the time.

[cutglassfan]

Thanks Paul. Yes, I can see from the V&A website that they have a great collection but none of their Irish pieces have been photographed yet, which is rather annoying. I'm based near Cardiff but I do get up to London from time to time. Our National Museum here in Cardiff has no old glass, that I'm aware of, but it makes up for it with a rather good ceramics gallery including some superb Nantgarw porcelain. I get most of my glass finds from the internet (eBay), local flea/antiques markets and general antique (bordering on junk) shops - I rarely venture inside the plush ones as there's little chance of finding a sleeping gem in one of those, and the chase is 99% of the fun. The search goes on ...