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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Murano & Italy Glass => Topic started by: Baked_Beans on January 23, 2011, 09:15:43 AM

Title: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: Baked_Beans on January 23, 2011, 09:15:43 AM
I was looking through the Glass Zoo (fantastic by the way !) and came across Franco Moretti . I have had this bird sitting by the bath for ages . When I first bought it I recognised the shape but couldn't remember who made them. I couldn't make out the signature either ....certainly doesn't look like Franco Moretti !! The bird measures 7.5 inches from tip of tail to tip of beak and has a clear, polished base . Thanks for having a look !  

https://sites.google.com/site/muranozoo/birds-by-moretti
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: TxSilver on January 23, 2011, 02:28:25 PM
BB, your bird is Elio Raffaeli. This is a standard form, and many glassmakers made birds that were shaped like this. I can't tell one from the other without looking at a signature. Some of these type birds were made for Oggetti and don't have another signature. I've wondered who made the unsigned Oggetti birds -- maybe many people?

Your bird would look great in the zoo. If you would like it in there, just email me a picture and your full name and I'll put it in there. Also the size of the bird. (Beg, beg, beg)
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: Baked_Beans on January 23, 2011, 04:16:54 PM
Thanks very much Anita ! That is a result ! I've sent a pic for the zoo, great !! I will look forward to visiting him there !

Do you have any idea when it would have been made or is that an impossible question to answer ?

 :cheers:
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: tam bam on January 23, 2011, 04:59:46 PM
Hi,

Anita is very correct.  The signature is Elio's.  Your bird is gorgeous. :girlcheer:  Here are my Franco Moretti birds that are similar to your Raffaeli bird.  

http://www.fossilfly.com/Forums/album.php?albumid=21&pictureid=373

tam bam

Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: Baked_Beans on January 23, 2011, 05:32:21 PM
Thanks very much Tam Bam !

These are the birds I spotted whilst visiting the zoo this morning ! So who came up with this design in the first place ? It's almost a generic Murano Island bird is it not  ? How intriguing  !
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: Baked_Beans on January 23, 2011, 09:22:36 PM
Wooopee Blue Bird has made it to the zoo !! :hug:

https://sites.google.com/site/muranozoo/birds-6

Thanks Anita !
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: tam bam on January 24, 2011, 07:02:23 PM
Hi Mike,

I would say these types of birds are made by many, many makers.  I even came across one that is in clear glass made by Livio Seguso for Gral Glasshutte in Germany.  The design has been copied by many glass makers.  I love your blue bird (I am partial to blue for some reason).  Mine are kind of hard to see because I was using an old camera at the time.  I will try & post a better picture tonight.  Mine are dark green at the head and neck and then the green becomes a lighter green towards the end of the birds.  I have enjoyed my birds for about 3 years now.  I hope you are enjoying yours.  Elio is a very famous Murano glass artist.   :sun:

tam bam
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: tam bam on January 25, 2011, 01:54:11 AM
Here's another photo I have on my hard drive of the Moretti birds.

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz23/TamiPietras12/PICT0008.jpg

tam bam
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: Baked_Beans on January 25, 2011, 04:52:25 AM
Thanks Tam Bam,

Your birds are lovely !

Your last photo gives a much better indication of the colouring and as Anita said they are all very difficult to tell apart from each other ! With Blue Bird the light from the head sometimes reflects off the clear glass in the tail region and makes it look even more tropical .

I've been looking at some of Elio's work on the internet...superb !

I have really enjoyed your Moretti collection in the zoo , and I love the expression on the owl's face...and those eyes ! Ha !
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: tam bam on January 25, 2011, 04:04:46 PM
Thanks so very much, Mike.  I recently found out Franco Moretti made beads so he used murrines in his work at times to make pieces more interesting (such as animal eyes & on sides of some of his bottles).  When he uses his murrines for eyes at least it doesn't make the animal look crazy like some of the Galliano Ferro animal eyes.   I appreciate your compliments.  From what I have seen you have a nice collection also.  

I am rather partial to Elio's work, but I have yet to own one of his pieces.  Did you see the Raffeali cat on RubyLane?  It is an outstanding example.  I love the way it changes color.  

http://www.rubylane.com/item/506482-100-2368/Murano-ARS-Art-Glass-Sculpture

tam bam

 
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: Baked_Beans on January 25, 2011, 06:44:06 PM
Thanks Tam Bam , I missed the cat , how cute ! How does he change colour !?

I guess I'm not really a collector and have only become really interested in glass recently (in the past 5 years or so). My real interest lies in Whitefriars glass but I also love outrageously flamboyant Murano as well ! It is all the detective work and researching that I like most of all , that's why I need so much help here and at Whitefriars.com because sadly my knowledge is lacking  !!  I will try to email you some photos of Bluebird from here if it is possible  !  ;) Cheers, Mike.

   


Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: TxSilver on January 25, 2011, 07:30:59 PM
I just noticed that both Mike's and Tami's birds are big ones -- both 7.5" or bigger. If anyone sees any of the small ones of this form that have company labels or signatures, let me know... that is, if you don't want to buy them yourself. Then you can always send a picture for the zoo. There are some that will just have an Oggetti mark. I'm not sure who makes all of these. Maybe Livio Seguso or perhaps several people. The ones with Oggetti marks won't be any good unless they can be attributed. Oggetti is just an import company located in Florida. It buys from several people.

I saw a Livio Seguso sculpture on eBay a couple of days back that had a mother bird shaped like this feeding her chick in the nest. I was tempted to buy, but the pale coloring wasn't to my liking. It might have looked better in hand... I don't know.
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: tam bam on January 25, 2011, 09:51:07 PM
Will do, Anita.  Is this the Livio Seguso piece you were referring to?  http://cgi.ebay.com/MURANO-LIVIO-SEGUSO-2-BIRDS-BRANCH-ITALIAN-ART-GLASS-/300516723509?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f8314b35

@ Mike - the pictures on Rubylane show the cat as being an orange-like color and then under a different light the cat's color changes to green.  I thought it was a pretty nice effect.  Does anyone know what kind of glass it is?  Just out of curiosity.

tam bam
Title: Re: Is this a Franco Moretti bird or a copy by someone else , signed, but who ?
Post by: TxSilver on January 25, 2011, 11:53:31 PM
That's the Livio Seguso bird I was talking about, Tami. The pictures make it hard to see. It seems to be very interesting. I looked more carefully, and what I thought was a chick was just a second bird. They're just looking at each other. I thought one was a chick.