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Author Topic: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956  (Read 3904 times)

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Offline obscurities

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Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« on: October 06, 2017, 07:57:42 PM »
I may have posted these here years ago, but could not find the thread. At anytime prior, they would have been posted as unknown production. I have searched for many years, with suggestions that they were by Yamato in Japan and designed by Russel Wright as part of the Theme Formal line. It has also been suggested they could be Scandinavian, but an unknown source.

I recently finally identified these solidly and they turned out to be extremely rare..... hence the difficulty identifying them.

These are glasses by Morgantown, and designed by the classic American designer George Nelson. Nelson apparently did very little dinnerware, and finding these is extremely difficult. They were produced in 1956, and precede Them Formal by Russell Wright by about 6 years. I was also informed by another collector that the Morgantown glass these were produced with would have been lead crystal with a lead content of around 15%.

After finding an attribution, I contacted Wright Auctions in Chicago, who specialize in Mid Century design, to have it confirmed. The president of the company responded by saying that he had to confirm them to be George Nelson before responding to me, as their auction house had never seen an example in about 20 years of doing mid century offerings. 

There is apparently one other shape in the grouping, that I do not have.  I have hung on to these for over 13 years after finding them, as I had a gut feeling they were "something".  They turned out to be about as rare as chicken's teeth....  :-)

I thought the members here might like to see them. They stand 4.25, 4.75, and 5.75 inches in height. I have 5 of each shape.
I have been told that glass is my mistress......

Offline rocco

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Re: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2017, 06:42:00 AM »
Wow, what a great outcome after so many years :)
And they are really beautiful... (I do love midcentury design AND opalescent glass)

Michael

Offline Paul S.

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Re: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2017, 08:51:25 AM »
I admire your persistence and not giving up the search - have to admit that over the years, when something has defeated me for a substantial period of time, I've almost always given the item away in frustration  -  so well done. :)

Offline flying free

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Re: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2017, 04:50:40 PM »
Fantastic result and thank you for sharing your news.
They are very beautiful.  Have you used them at all?

m

Offline obscurities

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Re: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2017, 04:55:05 PM »
I have not, I was always nervous about breaking one, and now that I have been given an estimate of value by the auction house, I would not even consider it....   :-)
I have been told that glass is my mistress......

Offline Lustrousstone

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Re: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2017, 07:45:15 PM »
Oldglassman would say you should. He uses all the treasures that pass through his hands at least once, no matter how old or valuable.

Offline Paul S.

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Re: Opalescent glasses - George Nelson for Morgantown in 1956
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2017, 08:02:28 PM »
Peter does indeed - but to be fair to Peter, Christine, that is to miss the point that he can probably replace a Kit-Cat or Newcastle baluster a little easier than we might. :)           In all my years of collecting glass, don't think I ever had a mishap with a drinking glass - probably because I never used them.            However careful we are, accidents do happen, and it would break my heart, whether they came easily or not, to be responsible for the demise of something that old. :)

 

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