Ivo,
Thank you for your compliments on my photography, though I know I've still much to learn about the "art" of it.
Would a cameo still be considered one layer if the second color is, itself, multi-layered? The reddish pink floral pattern on this vase is cut at two to three levels in some areas so I'm a bit confused by that. Is "one layer" the same thing as "two color"? There are a couple of "leaves" on the vase that are cut in one layer but, most are at least two (not counting the ground) as are the flowers.
I know this "Yall" you speak of... rotten "expletive deleted", that. *grrr* This signature is certainly not that one. The "G" is nearly closed at the top with a curl at the bottom that crosses the, likewise curled at the left, "underline". The "a" has a squared top. The first "l" has a top stem to the left as does the second (though it's slightly higher and harder to see). Finally, the "e" is of the backward 3 variety with an accent mark as opposed to textbook lowercase and in no way resembles a "y" and there's no "tip".
I've looked at photos of, literally, thousands of chinese and romanian "galle-signed" pieces and have not seen any of several elements that this vase contains. For instance, the fact that it's got a ground and polished pontil, there appears to be carving or wheel marks especially near the lip of the piece, the base glass appears to have a somewhat mottled look similar to what I believe is called martele, the lip of the vase curls outward at the sides as I've never seen in a "tube-shaped" vase that's attributed to a reproduction and, lastly, it's diminutive stature. One rarely sees a repro that stands less than 15 cm tall, let alone under 10cm. Also, the pattern and color is one that I've seen repeated in a few different pieces of varying size and shape that are "positively" attributed to Emile Galle and NOT on Ebay
In my vast review of every picture of Galle or supposed Galle that I have found online I've found only two that look nearly identical. One was upon the site of a high-end auction house (James D Julia) and the other was Mike Weedon's Antiques site.
...oops. Sorry for droning on like that :oops: I do find this subject very interesting and love learning more about the markers of quality glass regardless of it's maker.
Thanks to everyone who's already replied,
Bidda
Hi Bidda, welcome on board & good to see that you have mastered the art of photography, resizing and hosting without a single hiccup.
Your vase is a single layer Cameo of recent production and is most likely of Chinese provenance. The signature (do I see "Yall" ?) used on these is loosely based on one of the hundreds of variants of Gallé signatures. The other major source of cameo glass "in the style of" Gallé is Romania, where many different signatures are used, sometimes preceded by the word "tip".
These used to be looked upon with outrage as forgeries with intent to defraud; genuine Gallé cameo vases would be in the region of 1,000 - 10,000 US$, while these modern lookalikes are valued at a few dozen US. Few people nowadays are familiar with the real Gallé glass - which is only found in hushed auction rooms in France and well lit museum vitrines... Still a nice example of the technique!