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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Unresolved Glass Queries => Topic started by: Ohio on March 02, 2008, 06:44:49 AM

Title: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 02, 2008, 06:44:49 AM
Hi. I figured I'd post this basket here because it seems unlikely it's from my side of the pond (US). It's mold blown, three seams, opalescent with an attached flower, leaf? I cannot tell what it's supposed to be. Reacts to black light & is 7" length, 4 1/2" height & 3" width. Suprisingly very heavy for something not larger at 1 1/2 lbs. I don't know if it's Bohemian or English, but with the opalescence thought maybe English. It's a bit different looking. Thanks for the opinions & assistance which is as always appreciated. Ken
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Bernard C on March 02, 2008, 07:40:48 AM
Ken — Applied acanthus leaf decoration was popular on Victorian hand-made fancies, but this is the first time I have seen an example on pressed (not mold blown / mould blown) glass.   See Gulliver for a variety of examples, two positively attributed, one to Stuart, the other to Walsh, with others clearly from several different glass houses, one or more of which could be continental European.   What is also interesting is that I can't see how the basket was held to re-heat it when the added decoration was applied.

... and I don't recognise the underlying pressed glass basket, which seems to make it, to use your words, unlikely from any side of any pond.

What a delightful and unexpected mystery!

Bernard C.  8)
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 02, 2008, 05:28:28 PM
Thanks Bernard for your response. You know I honestly thought this was pressed when I examined it, but my brain simply did not want to accept that fact  because of the type,  form & timeline which I judged to be between 1885-1905 & although we here in the US pressed glass by the cubic ton during those timelines most of the "art" type of glass in your area was truely hand made. I actually passed on the piece initially then thought "you know you've not seen this type of piece constructed in this manner in all these years so maybe it's an oddball". It is different...the base reminded me somewhat of ones I'd seen on English manufactured dog (mastiff & setter) type bookends, but it was simply too odd to pass up in the end. I do appreciate your expertise in the matter. Thanks, Ken
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Sid on March 03, 2008, 01:47:08 AM
Ken:

This is a lovely little piece. It looks to me like the basket handles were applied as well.  Is that correct?  If so, the underlying piece is a nice little oval bowl not a basket.  Is the bottom ground or polished?

Is it possible to get a couple of high resolution photos showing the construction. I know the board can't handle them but you could email them to me by clicking on the envelop icon below my profile on the left side.

Thanks
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 03, 2008, 05:18:50 AM
Sid I'll try & email you tomorrow. Handles are applied, bottom does not appear to be ground, simply well cast. Strange mold lines though & your observation about it being a bowl that was hand manipulated would explain why one single line is at the very end of the piece while the two others are opposite one another on their respective side....the fold would explain that. Thanks. Ken
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Bernard C on March 03, 2008, 09:28:01 AM
Ken & Sid — Fascinating.   I get so used to fake applied handles on pressed glass baskets and jugs that I didn't think to check.   I can see that they are applied.

But how?   ... and what was applied?

Possibilities include:-

It is even just possible that they are pressed handles, made as the first stage in a two-part pressing, like John Sowerby's patent No. 2433 of 15 September 1871 for Ornamenting glass with designs in glass of a different colour, only this time in the same colour, see Hajdamach.   You may recall the two plates I had through my hands several years ago Sowerby made by this process.

Could this be an apprentice piece or an expert training piece, made to look like what it isn't? — i.e. fake pressed glass? — or fake handmade glass?

In some ways it is reminiscent of the little posy basket in Sowerby's Venetian range.

Bernard C.  8)
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 03, 2008, 06:48:14 PM
Bernard & Sid: Decided to post some closeup pics on my server rather than cluttering up emails & personal PCs. Hopefully these are OK. Now the last pic has nothing to do with the basket, it's just for fun. I picked these up yesterday & they are more in tune with European mythology rather than the US because they are Dragons. Paden City Glass, Paden City, WV made the pour from private moulds from Barth Art Glass in the early 40's. Considered very Scarce in blue, I had not seen one in a decade. Ken

 http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/handle%20side.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/handle%20top.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/bottom%20edge.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/top%20edge.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/bottom.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/mould%20line.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/applied%20decoration.jpg
http://www.glasstreasurechest.com/catalog/images/dragonswans.jpg

Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Lustrousstone on March 03, 2008, 07:56:33 PM
Those handles are pressed, you can see the line
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Sid on March 04, 2008, 12:38:14 AM
Ken:

Thank you for the photos.  I agree with Christine that you can see a mould line on the handles so they were pressed. But I still think that they look like they were applied to the bowl although it could be a good mould maker fooling us. As often in these cases, having the glass in hand would allow for a better understanding of its making than examining it through photos.  It is a lovely piece and you were quite right to snap it up (eventually).

Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: krsilber on March 04, 2008, 12:46:29 AM
Hi!  Brand newbie here, so try to forgive me if I say or do anything stupid.

I'm curious why people are saying this is pressed.  When I think of pressed, I think of a mold and plunger, and I haven't seen anything that suggests that is necessarily the case here.  Since plungers have to be smooth in order to remove them after pressing, the pattern of the rope rim couldn't have been formed on the inside during the pressing process.

I suspect the twisted rope handles and rim were molded, but not pressed in the sense that there was a plunger involved.  A plain rope of glass was probably laid in a two-part mold, and formed that way (my guess, anyway).  Maybe that is the same as saying they were pressed, I don't know.  They were then applied to the mold-blown (or pressed?) basket.  The basket could have been held by a snap, eliminating the need for a pontil.

"...John Sowerby's patent No. 2433 of 15 September 1871 for Ornamenting glass with designs in glass of a different colour, only this time in the same colour, see Hajdamach."
I wish I had the reference you're talking about!  I'm fascinated by the process of glassmaking, and look forward to learning more from you all!
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Lustrousstone on March 04, 2008, 07:09:33 AM
I've had another closer look and without handling it, I would guess that the handles weren't applied afterwards. It doesn't look like hand tooling to me. It's supposed to look like they were separate because that's how basket handles are. If you flatten it out, it's just a bowl/plate with two loops on either the side.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Bernard C on March 04, 2008, 09:44:15 AM
Quote from: krsilber
... I'm curious why people are saying this is pressed.  When I think of pressed, I think of a mold and plunger, and I haven't seen anything that suggests that is necessarily the case here.  Since plungers have to be smooth in order to remove them after pressing, the pattern of the rope rim couldn't have been formed on the inside during the pressing process. ...

krsilber — No, the only requirement of moulds is that what is being moulded can be removed — and reasonably easily then, when the glassmakers were paid piecework rates.   Smoothness of the plunger is conventional on tableware, where hygiene is important, but even that is sometimes not the case, as trademarks and registration symbols are often found punched into the mould on the smooth, plunger side.   Pressed glass baskets of this style were pressed flared, so any amount of ornamentation could be cut into the plunger, including inner rim ropework.   Once the basket was removed from the mould it was reshaped either by hand or by the use of one or more formers to achieve the final closed shape.

If you look closely at Ken's latest photographs, you will see the mould line (the junction of the plunger and the side components of the mould) running along the top of the ropework rim of this fascinating basket.

The reason I suggested a two stage process, along the lines of the J.G. Sowerby patent, was that you never get a perfect join between the first stage, separately pressed "ornamentation", here the handles, and the main object.   You will see the same effect with incalmo joints, with ribbon cloud on the outside near the base, and on some examples of malachite or "slag" glass, where you can run your fingernail along the joints.

BTW — Apologies, I had to ask — Are you a descendant of the Silber of Silber & Fleming, whose c.1890 mail order glass and china catalogue is so useful to us today?

Bernard C.  8)
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Lustrousstone on March 04, 2008, 10:22:57 AM
The more I think about this basket, the more I wonder if it is newish (relatively speaking that is). The acanthus leaf seems overfrilled and what about the pink colour of the opalescent bit under a UV light. That must be a clue to the glass composition but I don't have any opalescent to compare it to
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 04, 2008, 06:02:53 PM
Christine I'm a bit skeptical with 36 years of glass collecting/selling experience, athough granted the vast majority has been US based art glass, that the basket/bowl is relatively recent. It has all the earmarks/traits of items produced (whether English, French or Bohemian) during & up to the late 1800's to early 1900's. Now on the reaction to the blacklight, yes I agree it all varies with the chemical composition of the formula & I have seen/experimented with different reactions for years. Case in point: Henry Hellmers is considered by many to be the Godfather of American glass chemists (I won't bore by naming them all) & from 1930 to around 1955 Henry developed more than 1,000 formulas, many of which contained one or more of the reactive Uranium Oxides although in the early years they are simply listed as Uranium. The National Cambridge Collectors has a listing of many of his formulas & as an example a batch of light Emerald which weighs in at 1,422 lbs (US) only 2.68 lbs are reactive Uranium Oxides combined with Arsenic, Copper Oxide, etc. & the reactions vary formula to formula, e.g. a batch of Willow Blue that also contains the reactive oxides does not produce the same reaction under blacklight due to chemicals that differ in that particular mix. I've seen blacklight reactions that vary from the traditional greenish glow to yellow, orange, pink/volet, etc. I'm not a glass chemist, but I've often wondered what chemicals affects included in the mix causes what reactions? Why do compositions which may include, Bichromate, Copper Oxide, Red Lead, Borax, Manganese, Tin Oxide, Antimony Oxide, etc, etc, react differently when paired with the traditional Uranium Oxides? It's a question that probably only a scientist using a Spectrometer could answer, I can say though that I'm not suprised at seeing orange, pink/violet, or any other hues in what I've tested during the years.  Ken
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Frank on March 04, 2008, 07:15:36 PM
The colour of any reaction will inevitably change as the composition changes only those molecules that fluoresce will emit light but there are other compounds that absorb parts of the spectrum. I would expect some detailed studies of these reactions have been made by the various Glass Technology groups around the world - you could try contacting them directly or search through the Rakow Library catalogue for scientific papers on the subject. Probably dry reading but could be interesting. I doubt much has been published outside of journals.

Some examples that will be on file at least at SGS Sheffield is:

Fluorescent Phenomena.
Published in Transactions of the Optical Society 1919-20 #21, 219
Abstract in Journal of the Society of Glass Technology 1921 #5

Nichols, Edward and Merrit, Ernest did a specific study on Fluorescence of Canary Uranium Glass. "Studies in Luminescence" Physics Review 1904 #19 18-36

Patents are another path to some data, see US 1629248 May 1927 Uranium red glass.

As the date is before these things were fully understood probably an absorbable account. Moden papers can get very esoteric. Duncan lists many titles relating to this area. Not surpisingly most of the earlier studies were in German
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: krsilber on March 05, 2008, 12:40:12 AM
Wow, fluorescence, another of my favorite topics!  This basket or yours, Ken, has raised all sorts of interesting issues.

"No, the only requirement of moulds is that what is being moulded can be removed ... Once the basket was removed from the mould it was reshaped either by hand or by the use of one or more formers to achieve the final closed shape.

Of course, why didn't I think of that.  The outside of the mold can be removed, and the object pried away from the plunger to retain the patterned edge.  I'm so used to thinking about pressed glass as having minimal post-mold manipulation, but that's obviouly not always the case.

"....you never get a perfect join between the first stage, separately pressed "ornamentation", here the handles, and the main object."

The handles sure look well-joined to me.  Isn't it possible they were pressed at the same time the basket was made? 


Out of curiosity, has anyone seen any glass from the Victorian era or earlier that glowed pink/purple like this?

I'd sure like to get my hands on those articles Frank mentions!  And a spectrometer.  Shortwave UV light, Geiger counter...Heck, I want a whole lab!

 
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 05, 2008, 06:10:12 AM
Kristi I had a Harlequin AKA Quadruple Diamond opalescent vase that was attributed in Edwards & Carwile Standard Encyclopedia of Opalescent Glass, a relatively recent 5th edition reference. It was attributed as English, wheter or not that was accurate I cannot say, but the reaction was identical, a pinkish/violet glow. Unfortunately I sold it in January 2008 & purged the jpg when I finally got around to reorganizing all the jpgs on my server.  Ken
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Lustrousstone on March 05, 2008, 07:31:38 AM
I wasn't saying it was new, it was more a thought thrown into the melting pot that perhaps it wasn't of the Victorian era. I am also unsure that there would be uranium in the white opalescent glass. It's a pretty basket and could come and live at my house any time - it fits the uranium criteria with its leaf  ;)
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Frank on March 05, 2008, 08:32:28 AM
The pinkish colour is merely the reflected 'visible' radiation from the UV source. With a fine spectrum UV source (with no visible light) only fluorescence would be seen - the rest would be black. Lamps are available in the reprographics world but are lethal to the eyes.

Spectroscopy see Mrvaselineglass in http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,4389.msg36479.html#msg36479

and also check out some ideas in Martins posts here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,18737.0.html
and for a more ambitious low-budget approach http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/grism2.htm

SG see http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,18907
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Ohio on March 05, 2008, 03:39:55 PM
Hi Christine, yes by definition of Victorian 1837-1902 it could be later, maybe all the way to 1915 or so. It's simply a decent example of a whimsey. Frank, interesting discussion on the Uranium in glass. I liked the part on the hazards of working in a glass house in those times. No doubt if various governmental Occupational Safety & Health operations were in operation back then we never would have had any glass to admire today.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Adam on March 05, 2008, 07:25:19 PM
Ignoring the thing stuck on the side later, I am confident that Christine is correct in her opinion that this was pressed in one piece.  The mould was oval and the handles, at the time of pressing, would lie horizontally outwards, level with the top rim.  The bottom half (as pressed) of the handle would be formed in the mould body, while the top half would be formed in the top ring.  Hence the mould mark on the handle.

After reheating, all the reshaping would not be difficult.  The article, as suggested, could have been held in a snap, aka spring punty.  The mould maker has clearly made the handle to look applied and hence to look more up-market.

Adam D.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Sid on March 05, 2008, 11:27:23 PM
Adam:

I was hoping that you would see this discussion and comment.  The postings you did a few years ago on moulds was excellent in explaining the technical side of these things.

Thank you

Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: jsmeasell on March 06, 2008, 02:46:12 AM
The key to understanding these pressed handles (and the decorative top edge of the piece) is the relationship of the ring to the mould. Quite a few Sowerby pieces have handles made in similar fashion.

At Fenton Art Glass, we frequently press items and then change the shape dramatically by warming in and finishing.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Bernard C on March 06, 2008, 08:14:22 AM
Adam — Grateful thanks for your authoritative explanation.

Adam & James — I have to admit, much to my shame, that my knowledge in this area is woefully inadequate, particularly for one who attempts to explain to others how glass was made.   Perhaps my enthusiasm masks my lack of knowledge.   In particular I really don't understand the ring element of a mould, how it works, and what its purpose is.

Would you be so kind as to recommend some basic reading?   No concerns about out-of-print publications, British or American, as our inter-library loan service here in the UK functions efficiently.

... I don't understand "sprung punty" either — but that's a different subject ...

Back to this lovely basket — when I first saw the photographs Sowerby sprang to mind.   The colour, shape, and fineness of detail are all right for Sowerby.   I haven't yet acquired Glen's material on CD (there always seems to be another publication that's more important), so I am missing pattern book XI which should be checked for this basket.   I was interested to see that you, James, had similar thoughts about the possible Sowerby origin.

... and finally, could the acanthus leaf decoration have been applied by a different glass house?

Bernard C.  8)
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: krsilber on March 07, 2008, 08:52:03 AM
What a pleasure to discuss glass with such a learned group!

"I have to admit, much to my shame, that my knowledge in this area is woefully inadequate, particularly for one who attempts to explain to others how glass was made.   Perhaps my enthusiasm masks my lack of knowledge. "

I hope that's no reason to be ashamed - sounds like me!

I'm not very knowledgeable about molds, for I'll take a stab at the mold ring question - pure conjecture, understand, but I like that kind of thing sometimes, even when my hypotheses are wrong.  I'd guess it's a part of a mold that fits on top of two or more other parts that form the sides of the mold.  It would be donut-shaped, and the plunger would come down through the middle.  In this case it would bear the negative of the inner half of the handles.  This would address my earlier uneasiness about the idea of having a patterned plunger.  ...Now to wait and see where I'm wrong!

I'd never heard of a spring punty, but snaps or snap cases are sort of like tongs, with curved ends designed to hold a piece of glass. 

Unless the leaf is glued on (highly unlikely), it couldn't have been applied by another maker.  Well, it may not be physically impossible, but it would involve very slow reheating to a temperature at which it was hot enough to fuse with the leaf, and the two formulas would have to have compatible coefficients of expansion.

Having said that, I'm hoping I'm wrong.  I used to have a flower frog that I strongly believed was made of a piece of glass that had glass ropes added to it at a later date.

"The pinkish colour is merely the reflected 'visible' radiation from the UV source. With a fine spectrum UV source (with no visible light) only fluorescence would be seen - the rest would be black. Lamps are available in the reprographics world but are lethal to the eyes."

This may be the case with this basket, or opalescent glass in general, but it is not always so.  I've seen modern colorless glass fluoresce a pinkish color of a different hue from the UV lamp I was using, and have enough experience with using the lamp to usually know when something is fluorescing or reflecting.  Mr. Vaselineglass's spectroscopic examples were all uranium-doped, but there are other minerals used in glassmaking that fluoresce or enable fluorescence in longwave UV light (manganese, for instance).  Martin's very interesting comments about neodymium absorption spectra in different lights are about a different phenomenon.  Fluorescence is when light (or chemical) energy results in the excitation of molecules, which then give off light of a longer wavelength.

Phew, sorry about the long post!  I love these subjects.

Oh, forgot to answer this:  "BTW — Apologies, I had to ask — Are you a descendant of the Silber of Silber & Fleming, whose c.1890 mail order glass and china catalogue is so useful to us today?"

No, sorry, never heard of 'em!  Is this a common reference on your side of the pond?
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Frank on March 07, 2008, 09:18:29 AM
Sprung punty a.k.a. Gadget and other names. I'll start a new topic.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: mrvaselineglass on March 07, 2008, 01:50:46 PM

Patents are another path to some data, see US 1629248 May 1927 Uranium red glass.


Frank:  I looked for this and just could not find it.  I did a search of that number and came up with a machine of some sort.  I then did a search of "red AND uranium AND glass" and found nothing that old.  I was looking in the patent section, as that is what you mentioned.

Dave
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Frank on March 07, 2008, 03:05:39 PM
Ooops! It is those dyslexic fingers got the number wrong

Patent number: 1629648
Filing date: Jul 22, 1922
Issue date: May 24, 1927
Inventor: WARREN F. BLEECKER

http://www.google.com/patents?id=jpNpAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=1629648
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Adam on March 07, 2008, 10:11:05 PM
Kristi - Yes!!  Your understanding of the ring is spot on.  I would only add, to try to help Bernard et al, that it is worth thinking what would happen if there were no ring.  The plunger would come down into the mould, the glass would rise up between the two and only stop, quite unevenly, when either the pressure was taken off or the glass set.  When the plunger was withdrawn it would be a gamble whether the messy-looking article remained in the mould or went up with the plunger.  The ring, therefore, serves two purposes.  One, it forms the upper edge of the article and two, it holds the article down while the plunger is withdrawn.

Re the attached bit on the outside of the basket, I don't see why, if it were formed in some way and kept hot it could not be attached to the article while the latter was being re-shaped.  Possibly a quick re-heat if necessary.  As someone mentioned, the two glasses would have to be roughly similar, expansion-wise, or something would go off pop at some stage.

Adam D.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: krsilber on March 08, 2008, 12:45:43 AM
Oh, good!  It's gratifying to know my understanding of these things is growing.

Adam, you have some dates and glassmakers under your location - are these companies you worked for?

This doesn't relate to Ken's basket, but as long as we're talking about molds, I have another question, this one about "skeleton molds."  A few weeks ago someone posted a vase on the ebay Porcelain, Glass and Pottery board, and included a photo from a book that showed a similar pitcher and part of an explanation about these molds (see thread http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000493395&start=40).  Frustratingly, some of the text was excluded, and I've been curious about them and how they are constructed ever since.  I picture a type of blow mold with multiple panels held together by rings, and holes where the glass was allowed to protrude. Here's a sketchy drawing of what I envision.  Is this near accurate?
(http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l288/krsilber/skeletonmoldmaybe.jpg) 

(Has anyone seen any pieces by Stevens and Williams, Webb, or another English glassmaker with a form like that of the vase and pitcher in the ebay thread?)

Regarding the application of the yellow thingy, I agree it would be applied while the piece was being re-shaped while still hot from the mold.  I just thought it unlikely it was applied by another glass house.

Interesting patent - uranium and lead for red glass!  Also intriguing that it mentions manganese being used to counteract the effects of impurities, despite it being a colored glass.  I'd only heard of its use in colorless glass, but I suppose the green imparted by iron could detract from a nice red, too.

I also found it interesting that there were articles being written about "luminescence" of uranium glass as early as 1904.  Thank you all for sharing the information and references!

Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Adam on March 08, 2008, 01:44:50 PM
Kristi - Re factories - yes.

Adam D.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Frank on March 09, 2008, 04:59:51 PM
Component Fluorescence

http://www.cbrain.mistral.co.uk/home.htm
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: krsilber on March 09, 2008, 07:24:50 PM
Great article!  Thanks, Frank.  I'm going to see if I can get any of the cited references from the library.  Although the results seem fairly straightforward, it's tough to take them and directly apply them to the colors we see in fluorescent glass, and hope to single out the molecules involved.  For instance, most ABP glass glows light lime green, I assume due to the presence of lead and manganese.  I've found that a lot of Bohemian glass glows yellowish to a dirty orange; I wonder whether soda has something to do with it.  Who knows what impurities might be involved, and how much interaction there is among molecules that influence the fluorescent colors we see?

Adam, after reading more of your posts, I figured it must be the case that you worked for those companies, but by that time couldn't modify my post, sorry.  What a wealth of experience and information you must posess! 

Re skeleton molds:  I'm going to repost my question in a new thread; this isn't really the most appropriate place.
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Bernard C on March 10, 2008, 08:00:07 AM
... Oh, forgot to answer this:  "BTW — Apologies, I had to ask — Are you a descendant of the Silber of Silber & Fleming, whose c.1890 mail order glass and china catalogue is so useful to us today?"

No, sorry, never heard of 'em!  Is this a common reference on your side of the pond?

Both sides of the pond, I think.   Excellent reference.   Search for The Silber & Fleming Glass & China Book.   Last time I looked clean copies with dw were easily available and inexpensive.

There's one on eBay with a colour page of table centres and wall mirrors shown.   In the lower corners are two tiny threaded shell epergnes on mirror plateaux.   I have one of these in stock — The Silber & Fleming Glass & China Book is the only reference book I've found them in.   Just one example of its usefulness.

Bernard C.  8)
Title: Re: Opalescent Art Glass Basket
Post by: Sid on March 10, 2008, 04:17:15 PM
Bernard:

As a reminder, this wonderful book was published under a different title in North America.  See this discussion:

http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,11258.msg83308.html#msg83308 (http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,11258.msg83308.html#msg83308)