Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Animals & Figurines => Topic started by: Ekimp on February 21, 2018, 10:44:23 AM
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I bought this recently but have been unable to find any information about it. The closest examples that I have found are what are described as early Murano elephants. I thought it might have ‘Made in India’ on the bottom but there are no identifying markings...and it seems unlikely that it would have survived in one piece if shipped from India or Africa in someone’s suitcase. Could it be an English frigger?
It weighs just over 2.5kg and is approximately 275mm tall. There is a single fracture to the trunk that has been repaired with a globual of glass that is of the same colour. I wondered if the break may have happened as the glass cooled after manufacture, due to internal stresses.
The body is a red colour with clear glass legs and tusks. The trunk is drawn from the head. There are numerous small bubbles throughout the metal. The feet have been ground.
Any help appreciated, thanks.
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He looks as if he is made with recycled glass, so India, Africa, Spain, Mexico or Portugal could be options
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Thanks for your reply Lustrousstone,
I’ve tried to find similar from the countries you suggest (I assume you mention recycled glass due to bubbles?), one link leads to another, and ended up at something very similar on eBay in the USA. Looks to be the same size and style but with slightly different leg position and different colours. The head features look identical, as does the way the tail is applied - it would be hard to say that the two elephants did not come from the same source. The seller states his parents brought it back ‘many years ago’ from Murano. Hopefully this link will work, if interested:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUPER-RARE-Vntg-Glass-HM-AFRICAN-ELEPHANT-Figurine-HUGE-RIBBED-EARS-Murano-ITALY/142511952426?hash=item212e5fd22a:g:Qh0AAOxyXDhSgGdS
...so hopefully it is Murano.
Ps. The body is hollow.
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I'm of the opinion that seller is telling fairy tales. That really does not look like a Murano elephant. It looks Mexican or something similar (especially as the seller is in Nevada). It's just too crudely put together and again the glass looks recycled. The colours are also not the right shades for Murano glass.
The bubbles are not why I think the glass is recycled. Recycled clear glass is often that pale bluish and your elephant's body looks like brown recycled glass
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Thanks again, and for taking the time to look at the link. I’ve seen the antique Georgian glass stirrup cups on eBay that are actually t-lite holders from Habitat so don’t necessary believe everything I read.
You say ‘especially as the seller is in Nevada’. Well, I’m in the UK. If you infer that an item originates in Mexico as it is currently located in Nevada then you could equally well use the same logic to argue that as my elephant is in the UK, so it’s likely to be European! In fact, it would seem more likely that someone would import a heavy and awkward glass item from Murano to the USA than one from Mexico to Europe - a sombrero or bottle of tequila would be much easier.
It is useful to know the reasoning behind opinion, such as why something looks like recycled glass. The colours in my photographs aren’t very good and as i said, to me it actually looks a shade of red in real life. Any colour apparent in the clear glass is certainly not to be trusted. I am always cautious when it comes to colour in amateur photographs on the internet, especially Ebay and especially subtle shades in clear glass.
As for crudely put together, this maybe the case, but looking on the Murano Zoo and Murano Animal Collection websites, to my eye, quite a few of the attributed Murano elephants look at least as crudely put together.
I would be interested if anyone could point to a link or reference to similar looking elephants that are actually from Mexico.
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By the way, the Ebay seller linked to above has several other Murano items for sell in addition to the elephant. This suggests that he knows what he’s talking about (depending on how individuals feel about the other items).
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:)
Around the late '80s, small, independent shops were set up all over the uk specialising in Mexican recycled glass (and other Mexican craft and foodie things).
There was also a fashionable trend for drinking tequlia slammers at the time, so little shot glasses with cactus inside were very popular.
The glass was solid and quirky, but not terribly well made. And the clear was that blue colour. I've still got a set of stemmed goblets with amethyst bowls - all supposedly the same, but all completely different.
There is a lot of Mexican recycled glass in the uk. :)
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Thanks Sue, perhaps it is recycled glass and I don’t doubt that there is plenty of it in the uk. The trouble is, I have the thing in my hand and I’m comparing it to a Victorian tavern Rummer (with gadget mark) and also a more modern bright crystal glass. I can see the clear glass legs are more dull than the modern glass but can’t determine any noticeable difference with the Victorian glass, especially with reflections etc. I can’t see how anyone could say the shade of the clear glass legs shown in the photos indicate that the elephant is recycled when the photos don’t even show the true colour. I may need new eyes.
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:) Yup, colours can be difficult when using photography and then folk have different screen settings - and folk all see colours slightly differently too. Colour happens in your brain, it's nothing external, just something we make up for ourselves to represent that wavelength of light.
I suspect we're saying "Mexican recycled" because of the adding up of a number of different features together. One of those is the rather crude modelling and the way bits are attached - sort of jammed-on rather than worked-with.
I've just taken a pic of two of my goblets to show you.
The colour is amethyst, a deep browny one. It might look paler because they're a bit dusty, they've been in a cupboard for ages.
I did have a look at some of the other items. I'm not convinced by several.
It doesn't help that they use a sort of language, along with excessive adjectives and capital letters that I normally interpret differently to the manner intended and run a mile in the opposite direction. That may have contributed to my thinking the attributions should be questioned. ;D
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Thanks for the photos of your glasses, they do look quite different from the antique English drinking glasses that I’m used to looking at. It has never struck me that the elephant is poor quality and I have seen some poor quality glass. I do see what you are saying about it looking like the parts are jammed-on but I thought a few of the Murano ones on various websites also looked like that. Anyway, it is what it is and some of it is quite subjective.
Ha, I know what you mean about the language and capital letters etc...but at least there wasn’t ‘L@@K’ in the title.
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Most of the ebay sellers Murano items are not Murano. Quite a few are Chinese and some of them are just Italian. The decimal point is at least one place adrfit to the right on most of them
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I was fairly sure I spotted some Makora amongst the xmas decorations. ;D
(but... we're not supposed to say things about live auctions or do anything to damage reputations or do anything against businesses' "interests"...)
but what about the rights of buyers? "beware" is all that can be offered?
We might be on dodgy ground here. ???
It's hard to tell now, when profit is deemed more important than honesty or integrity.
Murano glass does come in various degrees of quality itself, from the very top stuff to small mundane things for tourists (although I think a lot of those are imported from China, these days. I've even heard a bit of China has been renamed Murano so it can be used as the origin. I do not know if that is true.)
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There’s plenty of ‘Murano glass’ on Alibaba, much of it with minimum orders in the 100s or 1000s of pieces, and they seem to be quite open about where it’s coming from.
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The Chinese sellers are. It's the resellers that are more "creative"