Topic: Another ID

[Danny54]

Like I said I have a few
Story behind this, I bought several lots in an auction, they came in 4 boxes, the first two I open and looked at seemed suspicious to me because off the 10 total items, not one had any makers stickers on the, now these were deemed vintage, so I had read somewhere they didn't start affixing stickers until late 80's to early 90's

But now the suspicion has set in, now afraid to put these on my site as authentic Murano
I have 60 days to file for a refund thru Paypal under their terms.
I wrote to the auction house and to the auctioneer and let them know what concerns were, and they wrote back that I could return for refund, no admittance of guilt etc
I would hate to see them get these back and have someone else buy these thinking they are real.

Now.....these are all gorgeous, heavy with everything that a Murano piece should be, bubbles, slight flaws everything, and I could keep them and sell them as glass art, but never get the money back I spent.

So hopefully before I throw accusations out there, spend the money to ship these back, and down deep still not knowing if I have made a mistake, buy not keeping these....I didnt spend any more than 30-40 for each piece, and on some of the smaller pieces even much less 900.00 with shipping for 18 pieces.

So I will give this a while here, and see if there is any expert help here, and then make my move


Sorry for the ramble

[Paul S.]

Hi - sorry to hear of your potential problems.             Auction houses tend not to offer refunds/returns unless it can be shown beyond doubt that they have mis-described an item  -  they just don't work like that, and with them it's a case of caveat emptor.             So, the fact that they offered you a refund is tantamount to admitting they've not a clue as to the genuine attribution of what they're selling - assume you've not asked the house for provenance of their Murano attribution.
Without decipherable signatures, or labels, it's likely you will remain without proof of id, unless an identical item can be found elsewhere, and my very uneducated guess would be that labels on glass from Murano go back much further than you're suggesting - perhaps someone here is able to be specific as to a particular decade.

Unfortunately, your choice of words for your subject heading is unlikely to attract people who just might be able to contribute something of use -usually the subject heading should relate specifically to the type of glass you are discussing - the Mods. might be able to assist with amending the heading.

I hate to be picky after the event - and we all make mistakes, but if nothing else you've learned a valuable lesson with this purchase. Incidentally, since assume you didn't buy these in the flesh so to speak - were you not aware from auction pix that nothing was labelled? - though in view of your words  ..."heavy with everything that a Murano piece should be, bubbles, slight flaws everything"  -   do we understand that you have experience purchasing this type of glass?

Regret that this not my area, so apologies as unable to help remotely, and you may struggle with most or all of this for accurate id.    My very personal opinion is that you might be better to bite the bullet and grab the refund being offered, but let's see what others - perhaps better informed - might consider is your better option.

[Lustrousstone]

Sounds like you have bought from someone that assumes that all hotworked glass is Murano. It's not.

Labels have been on Murano glass since well before the 1980s. People take labels off their ornaments. Vintage is a term appled by auction sellers to anything that wasn't made last week, but possibly the week before...

You have signed items. Start with ID'ng those using helpful titles. I do suggest, however, that unless you find you have something special, you mght struggle to get your money back by reselling.

[Danny54]

Thanks for the replies
 As I have been reading through different articles, this auctioneer has been known to sell fake Murano.
I paid through Paypal, so I am protected, even though he said to send it back and he would refund the amount, I think I will be going thru Paypal's buyer protection and open a ticket when I am sure, just to have the backing from them, I have 60 days, on counterfeit and bogus goods.

One thing I did do was look at one of the signatures thru my phone camera, zoomed, and it does appear that on a piece or two that the sig is made on top of some of the small surface and wear scratches, this was suggested to me, so it certainly indicates to me that the sig was put on after this piece has been around.

I will attach a photo here
[Mod: The reference photos below are for the item in the thread: Murano piece and sig id Please do not add comments here about the reference item.]

Again thanks for all the help and will post some more pics up to hopefully maybe get some ID's