Topic: Derbyshire Lions or something else?

[Tigerchips]

I'm just checking to see if these amber coloured lions are Derbyshire or not.

They measure around 4.50 inches in length, 2.75 inches high and nearly 2 inches wide. I've been comparing this one with the larger versions as I've not seen any this small yet.

Notice that the lions tail appears on the left side of the lion rather than the right side. The front legs are longer and the ribs on the base are thicker.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10011/Picture_1371.jpg

The legs are not complete and the mane is much smaller.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10011/Picture_1372.jpg
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10011/Picture_1373.jpg
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10011/Picture_1374.jpg

No marks on the base
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10011/Picture_1370.jpg

So are they Derbyshire or something else?

Thanks, Tony.

[Lustrousstone]

Hi Tony
I think, note the think, that Greener made lions as well. That might be a starting point. I also think the Greener lions are not quite so well sculpted as the Derbyshire ones.

[Tigerchips]

Hi, thanks, I think your right, I found this while googling
Cloud Lion

I've just bought that book too, lol.

Interesting shape, when I showed them to the other volunteers they thought they were lids from something else. They both belong to my shop by the way.  

[mrvaselineglass]

another mystery!  At first I thought they were Summit Glass Co. (USA) which were made in a bajillion colors, but in doing a search, the ruffled edge is a bit different, and is 1/4 inch shorter than your example.  At least we eliminated one that it is not.  here is the first link i found, and the seller has lots in lots of colors:
http://stores.ebay.com/dotdority1932_SUMMIT-ART-GLASS_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ8QQftidZ2QQtZkm

[Tigerchips]

Interesting that the design is so similar, I presume the Summit Glass Co lions are fairly recent? The lion that I posted does not look new though.

[mrvaselineglass]

very new.  like, the last 10 years with steady production in a bajillion colors.

[Sid]

Hello:

Beyond the wild colours made by Summit, there are very distinctive differences between the Summit lions and the Greener? lions as mentioned by Dave.  They become very apparent when you get them side by side or even examine photos.  Some, but not all, of the Summit lions are signed with a V.

Sid

[Bernard C]

TC — I have always been unhappy about attributing these lions to Greener, and about their date.   As far as I know, there is no evidence of either, and they could easily be 1920s imports.    Their frequent chipped condition is, perhaps, more indicative of a toy box rather than of age.   The problem we have now is that everyone knows what you mean by a "Greener" lion.

I wonder if they are in one of the early books, like Manley or Lattimore?

I have wondered whether they might be from the same stable as the not quite Sowerby candlesticks, and the not quite Derbyshire "Spell" vases.

Bernard C.  

[Lustrousstone]

While on the pottery board I followed a link that led to this chappie and was struck by his resemblance to the glass lions, must have been quite the thing in the 1890s

[josordoni]

I'm pretty sure they were all based on Landseer's Lions for the base of Nelson's column - they were put in place in 1867, and were extremely famous at the time, so it would be expected that models of them would have been made in all sorts of media.

http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/misc/landseer3.html