Topic: I Just Might Become Hooked On Murano Glass

[wrightoutlook]

My three sisters are fond of going to stores like T. J. Maxx and A. J. Wright here in the States. They love looking for unique things in the Home Decor and Housewares Departments. I've never been in either store.

Yesterday, I was in a local T.J. Maxx with one of my sisters and was amazed at the junk that's made in the world. However, as I'm sure some of you know, piled amidst all the junk are very interesting things and a lot of bargain prices on out-dated, passe, or last year's items.

I was stunned to see this Murano vase sitting on a Clearance shelf. I'm a paperweight collector and the few paperweights in the store were nothings, but the fact that this decorative Murano vase was sitting there marked down from $19.99 to $15.00 stunned me. Frankly, had I seen it when it was $19.99, I would have bought it then. The $15 I paid was such an incredible price.

So, I bought it yesterday. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. It's 14 and 1/2 inches high and 5 inches wide at the top. It's attractive enough to deserve having, but it's so big.

I also ended up buying Villeroy and Boch drinking/scotch and soda glasses. Four of them had red flash coloring and one was gold flash. The price per glass was $2.99.

My sisters told me that stores like T.J. Maxx constantly change their inventory and if items don't sell after a while, they get marked down even further. I have no idea what the original price of the Murano vase was, but I couldn't resist it. There were also some incredibly beautiful Spanish and Czech glass items of varying kinds and sizes and colors.

Now I'm hooked on the place. Here are images of the vase; full side view, label view and detail, and top view.

http://i10.tinypic.com/2iitmk5.jpg
http://i9.tinypic.com/4d7e6pt.jpg
http://i10.tinypic.com/2h8a4jb.jpg

[bidda]

Wrightoutlook,
I'm happy to see that you've found a piece you like as a price you were comfortable with. That's always a good thing. It's a pretty vase and might increase in value if the artist becomes well-known and/or admired.
When you see "Murano" glass on Ebay it's often the result of an uninformed, overly optimistic or dishonest seller's desire to cash in on the collector value of VINTAGE Murano glass... less frequently it's a piece that was actually made on the island of Murano during the 60's or earlier and I think that gets us all a little excited  Most of the pieces that reach the higher sale prices are the Vintage pieces by well known artists. The ones you'll find at TJ Maxx and similar stores are new productions and don't yet have that kind of collector value but, I think pretty is pretty and if you like it and the price is right, you should buy it. It may not be a great piece for resale right away but if you like it then you shouldn't mind holding on to it for a while
I hope your growing affection for Murano glass will inspire you to continue learning about the artists, techniques and qualities that make this glass so special. You might want to invest in a couple of books to help familiarize yourself. A couple of my favorites are Leslie Pina's "Fifties Glass" and Judith Miller's "20th Century Glass". It can be a lot of fun to uncover the history and mysteries within the world of art glass collecting.

Bidda