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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Scandinavian Glass => Topic started by: Pinkspoons on August 18, 2009, 01:38:30 PM

Title: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 18, 2009, 01:38:30 PM
An unusually-shaped decanter with random bubbles and some carbonised black inclusions (predominantly visible in the hollow stopper). The bubbles in the bulbous neck are extended and the slightly uneven rim shows a few light tooling marks.

355mm tall, 90mm diameter. Finished with a polished pontil and a well-polished stopper.

I know a few of the Swedish glassworks produced this type of glass (amongst others - both old and brand new), but my research has taken me nowhere thus far.

I missed out on a set of seemingly matching glasses:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330350405830&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT

Does either design ring any bells?

Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 18, 2009, 01:39:09 PM
Additional images:

Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: obscurities on August 18, 2009, 01:45:27 PM
I don't have any idea who it is by, but I really like it...  a shame on the glasses...  gives you something to look for.....   :thup:

Craig
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: glassobsessed on August 18, 2009, 04:59:00 PM
Nice decanter, wonderful stopper, shape reminded me of Kaj Franck.

The underbidder on those glasses needs more roughage in his/her diet. ;D

Apologies if that was you Nic, we have all done it at sometime......


John
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 18, 2009, 05:05:46 PM
Yup - I was the underbidder on the glasses!

Unfortunately I'd had a few big purchases that sucked up most of my spare pennies - so consequently my highest bit was a bit of a low-ball.  ::) But, as Craig says, it gives me something to look out for!
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: Pip on August 18, 2009, 05:27:02 PM
Yikes!  The decanter and matching glasses were on my watch list - I'd fully intended to bid but, as usual, got caught up doing something else and missed them (thankfully, otherwise we'd all have been bidding against each other).

Initially I was thinking the glasses had a very Boda/Hoglund look to them but after much searching about I failed to find any designs of his the same shape.  So basically I don't know - but I did have a good search about for info when I first saw the eBay listings.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 18, 2009, 05:43:53 PM
*phew*

Someone said the 'H' word before me! I also thought Höglund when I first saw them but, likewise, couldn't find anything particularly similar after a good couple of hours searching my books, here, and whatever Google coughed up.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: Ivo on August 18, 2009, 05:50:40 PM
colour, bubbles, bottom finish and shape all seem to cry out Högund - so I would not be bothered by absence of sigs or book attributions before concluding that this is most likely a Höglund piece. 
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Swedish?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 18, 2009, 07:04:56 PM
Thanks, Ivo!  :)

Could someone boot this thread over to Scandinavian and give the title a tweaking? Hopefully it'll catch the eye of someone with knowledge of a signed or labeled example just to cement the Höglund attribution.

Much appreciated.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 19, 2009, 08:06:18 AM
I sent the photos to a friend in sunny California who collects Swedish glass - he said he's not seen the exact same decanter before, but that he does have both very similar examples with different forms and the same drinking glasses, all with signatures and/or original Boda labels still attached.

He said that the designs dated to c.1957-1960. Would this be about right?

Really wish I'd pushed the boat out on the glasses now. But... win some / lose some.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Ivo on August 19, 2009, 10:47:34 AM
He said that the designs dated to c.1957-1960. Would this be about right?

that was my understanding, too.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Daniel S on August 19, 2009, 12:43:50 PM
IMO not Hoglund.
Ofcourse I could have missed it, but I have 3-400 pieces from hoglund, several productions catalogues, i have worked at Boda, and see Hoglund pieces daily, this is a piece that I have never seen unfortunately.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Ivo on August 19, 2009, 01:15:54 PM
IMO not Hoglund.
Ofcourse I could have missed it, but I have 3-400 pieces from hoglund, several productions catalogues, i have worked at Boda, and see Hoglund pieces daily, this is a piece that I have never seen unfortunately.

So nobody better placed to write the book than you! When can we look forward to it?
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Daniel S on August 19, 2009, 01:18:04 PM
its actually on its way together with Leslie P.

PS. I will never claim to be an expert in the field. All I say is only my opinion.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: obscurities on August 19, 2009, 01:45:05 PM
Really wish I'd pushed the boat out on the glasses now. But... win some / lose some.

That is what I love about hindsight....  It is always 20/20

Just think of the feeling of joy and accomplishment you will feel when you finally find the glasses in about 18 years.   ::)   :thup:

Personally, on a side note...  I have never understood a seller that would split up a "matching" (their word) set. They manage to stay together and complete for 50 years, and then someone decides to send them on their separate ways.   :huh:  :spls: :huh:

My guess is that with the pieces together it would have brought more than the sum of the parts.....

Craig
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 19, 2009, 03:44:18 PM
IMO not Hoglund.
Ofcourse I could have missed it, but I have 3-400 pieces from hoglund, several productions catalogues, i have worked at Boda, and see Hoglund pieces daily, this is a piece that I have never seen unfortunately.

Curious that my Californian friend has very similar signed examples - but then I suppose a lot of companies were producing terribly similar forms. So it seems attribution is back in the air, although a lot of the decanter's quirks do seem to indicate a Höglund or at least 'inpsired by-' design.

That said, my collection of Lütken glass has, over the years, extended to probably more than 1,000 pieces and still I'm constantly surprised by obscure or overlooked designs that emerge on the secondary market!

Craig - I used to be the same, loathing to break sets up, but recently I've found that some sets are impossible to sell together and have taken to breaking them up into individual glasses. The only line I draw is if they come in their original box - then come hell or high water, they get marketed as a complete set.

Needless to say, I have an attic full of boxed sets of glasses.  ::)
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: obscurities on August 19, 2009, 04:00:00 PM
I can understand selling broken apart if an attempt has been made to keep together.....   seems many sellers though, just split them up and run with it.....

Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Ivo on August 19, 2009, 04:26:38 PM
I suppose a lot of companies were producing terribly similar forms.

Not so many - not the rustic type in high quality which was pioneered by Höglund.  Maastricht, Leerdam, Lynngaard and Holmegaard jump to mind - but it is obviously none of those.  I don't really know how you can say no to an attribution unless you have a positive alternative....
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Daniel S on August 19, 2009, 05:09:40 PM
here are some pics of stuff that are similar. All by EH.

But IMO that doesnt make all brown glass EH.

The yellow stopper is something that I have never seen on any EH design.

Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 19, 2009, 07:06:28 PM
Some great photos there, and some great pieces. Thanks for sharing.

RE: the stopper. It is actually the same colour as the glass used in the decanter. If I peer through the top of the decanter the base, where the glass is lightest, it is an exact match for the stopper in colour - it appears more yellow in my images because they're lit from behind with very strong lighting.

The decanter is cased in a pale amber over the top of the darker bubbled glass, and the stopper seems to be made up entirely of this outer colour (or, most likely, has a clear glass core). The colours and overall gradiated effect are present in some of the items in your second grouping.

Not that I'm saying this is concrete proof of anything!
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pip on August 20, 2009, 02:12:13 PM
But IMO that doesnt make all brown glass EH.

Of course not - however, a certain toffee coloured glass with irregular bubbles and carbonised inclusions (didn't EH bung the odd potato in the pot to cause his particular style of bubble?) on an item with firepolished rims and a chunky simplistic design could well be.
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 20, 2009, 02:17:50 PM
Oops, was just composing an answer to that point myself!  :D

But IMO that doesnt make all brown glass EH.

Sorry, I missed this bit last night.

I don't think the 'likely Höglund' attributions given are solely because of the glass colour. It's a combination of disparate elements that on their own wouldn't necessarily point towards Höglund but that together may do - including, yes, the colour, but also the gradiated effect, the strong naive form, the bubbles (along with the carbonised inclusions), the manner and quality of the finish, and the general similarity to documented Höglund designs (cylindrical mould-blown form with long hand-worked neck).
Title: Re: Tall bubbly Yellow/Amber Decanter, Possibly Höglund ?
Post by: Pinkspoons on August 26, 2009, 12:21:29 PM
Just spotted this auction for a similarly-shaped decanter, clearly from the same stable as mine:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120312978224

Unfortunately their (mis)attribution is of no use - but the listing does at least illustrate another shape from the series, whoever made it!