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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: bOBA on October 09, 2012, 12:23:37 PM

Title: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 09, 2012, 12:23:37 PM
Hello All,

any comments on this charming piece will be appreciated. It is 13cm by 13cm, a heavy, probably lead crystal, jardiniere-vase. It has a polished lense decor to the front and deep vertical ribs at the back. A fellow GMB member has suggested possibly German, as much as possibly Czech, an option I have considered too. Oliva and Zahour made some lead crystal jardinieres, that were pressed then cut... but that is not to say other contemporary makers in other countries also did not do pieces in this general style. The base is consistent with quality manufacture, polished flat with some wear..........  otherwise unmarked. General condition etc. suggests to me it is possibly 20-40 years old. I cannot currently find a definite source for this piece, does anyone recognise it?

Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: Anik R on October 09, 2012, 02:31:31 PM
Since you invited 'any comments' and not necessarily anything constructive, I just wanted to say beautiful photos of a very interesting piece. I'd lean towards Czech or German as well (though I can add that Polish glass designer Lucjan Gajos also created items with lenses.)  I hope someone will be able to help you out with it.
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 09, 2012, 03:05:15 PM
Thank you for the Polish tip Anik. It is a fascinating piece, I too hope it will have an attribution eventually. Ivo mentioned a few quality factory names, when replying to me via email and said that his small list was not exhaustive but that most cut glass factories of this type usually signed their work. In the list was Rogaska, from Slovenia, a new name for me, I may contact them, but I do not know if they issued unsigned pieces.... Such a distinctive piece ought to have an attribution really! I have contacted Moser but as I suspect it may be lead crystal, I doubt it is their piece, but their historian may recognise it from elsewhere. A guy I know linked to Sypka Czech glass auctions suggested possibly, maybe Moser or Novy Bor, but he, like me had not seen this pattern. This is what makes me wonder if it is not CZ but elsewhere ..... still uncertain, but a thing of quality, wherever it is from!

Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: flying free on October 09, 2012, 10:19:58 PM
that's beautiful - very elegant.  I have no idea I'm afraid but I like it. 
m
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: rocco on October 10, 2012, 03:38:11 PM
Beautiful vase, and my first thought was Czech, too.

Another avenue to explore: Austria :)
Riedel did some pieces with line cutting >> Link (https://picasaweb.google.com/exat53/Riedel#5527067750692720722)
And here is a vase in an almost identical shape (but different decoration) >> Link (http://www.glaskilian.de/Vase-SIGNUM-Riedel-1993.508+B6YmFja1BJRD01MDgmcHJvZHVjdElEPTQ0ODMmcGlkX3Byb2R1Y3Q9NTA4JmRldGFpbD0_.0.html)

But their pieces are usually clearly marked...

Michael
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 10, 2012, 04:32:37 PM
Thank you for your comment M.

The search continues... As expected, Moser said no, as this is lead crystal.....

Thx Michael, Riedel is an interesting suggestion.  The Riedel piece you refer to has some definite similarities. From ten minutes googling, it appears the company has changed lately into one only producing stemware, decanters and glasses. It still may be worth me contacting them as Riedel seems plausible. Acid etch marks could be removed during repairs. Or, if the piece left the factory unofficially, it may have been unmarked.. (I have a Stuart crystal Jasper Conran bowl that was left unmarked because I bought it as a second from the factory shop some years ago). The Riedel angle seems worth looking into a bit more... so thx!


Robert (bOBA)

 


Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 11, 2012, 12:41:30 PM

"the vase on the Photo is not from Riedel.
Our Products are all marked with a stamp RIEDEL( machine-made) or Riedel  (hand-made)
Best regards,

Riedel Glas Shop" Actually sent from Austria too.

Hmmmmm. Not a lot further down the track, but I appreciate Riedel commenting so quickly. It is great when factories make an effort to help collectors. I was fairly sure the Riedel vase shown by Rocco may have been a close relative of the one in this thread....


Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: rocco on October 11, 2012, 01:21:13 PM
Well, the fact that it is unmarked does make Riedel less probable (but not impossible): the collector from the artglassleiden website has several unsigned pieces which are definately Riedel glass from the 1960s-80s >> Link (http://www.artglassleiden.nl/archives/category/collectie/1945-1980/duitsland-1945-1980-collectie/riedel) (I have got some of them in my collection with mark)
Especially >> this marked vase (http://www.artglassleiden.nl/archives/18945) has similarities to yours...

Michael
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 11, 2012, 03:09:34 PM
Thanks Michael, I agree your evidence is quite good. I need a full match eventually and I am sort of 70 per cent convinced (and have no real confidence in any alternative attribution). One small issue is the size of my piece, it really has the dimensions of a cd case 13cm by 13cm sort of size, a bit different from most of the Riedels but design-wise, the features you note are very close to the pattern. Thanks for trying to help out with this, I am hopeful of a full attribution eventually! Do you know the name of the designer for the 1980 rounded Riedel vase or the 1994 rounded one shown earlier in the thread? I like the website too of the guy who owns the 1980 piece. He has some nice Czech pieces too, though needed some Beranek reorganisation, a really nice collectors' site...


Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: rocco on October 11, 2012, 03:50:57 PM
That website shows some great glass (especially the German collection, but also the Czech). There are quite a few misattributions, though...

I had a look in Leslie Jackson's book, and apart from a few outside designers in the early 1960s (Joe Colombo, Ernst Fuchs, Gabriele Zangerl, Ambrogio Pozzi) the only designer for Riedel mentioned there is Claus Josef Riedel, head of the company and chief designer from the late 1950s onwards. I love his 1960s "modern" pieces >> Link to my collection (https://picasaweb.google.com/107330317087089352634/Riedel?authkey=Gv1sRgCIXyxO2jtPq8cQ)

He was joined as a designer by his son Georg Josef Riedel in the late 1970s: Leslie Jackson: "One of Georg's first designs was Magic, a deeply cut fluted vase (1976). He has since created a series of cut lead crystal vessels and sculptures, including the Specturm candlesticks (1988-91), whose geometric forms highlight the prismatic qualities of the glass..." Sorry, that's all I could find.
So if your vase is Riedel, the son seems more likely.

Michael
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 16, 2012, 08:13:11 AM
Thanks for your comments Michael. This piece has hit the wall as far as attributions currently go I think, beyond being possibly Riedel. The small size and lack of acid etch, prevent a 100 per cent attribution currently...... Thanks for your help in this area, hopefully time will bring a full match forward........


Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: NMott on October 16, 2012, 11:18:24 AM
I would have thought it was Rogaska. I have a cut glass candle holder with a label "Design Studio. Hand Made Rogaska Yugoslavia" without that label I'd never have known who made it - a lot of their stuff doesn't seem to be googleable.

You can see my piece here: http://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t5375-rogaska-crystal#73404


Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 16, 2012, 05:00:07 PM
Thx for the tip. Rogaska seems plausible, I will try contacting them about it,

Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 18, 2012, 06:10:49 PM
A further update from Riedel that is of some interest!

"Having checked with my colleagues in Austria they have advised that this piece was never in our assortment.  It was a sample that has more than likely been bought in one of our factory shops."

It appears that Riedel are saying it was made by them, which seems quite encouraging, re. attribution, how interesting!


RObert (bOBA)
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: Anik R on October 19, 2012, 03:56:51 AM
I think them saying "more than likely" is more than just 'encouraging' -- unless another one of these crops up, I'd say you've got an attribution.
Title: Re: mystery postwar cut glass jardiniere
Post by: bOBA on October 19, 2012, 12:01:25 PM
Thx Anik, I am now treating this as a firm attribution.

Thx too, to all contributors, especially to Michael from Austria for putting the emphasis rightly on Riedel!

Robert (bOBA)