Topic: Precious Opaline Glass Jewelry Casket, Bohemian, Schachtenbach? Josephinenhütte?

[antonizz]

Hi everyone,

Here I am again with a opaline / alabaster glass topic
This time it's about a precious box I've found.

About the opaline and alabasterglas discussion, I have drawn my own conclusion from
my own experience. I'm not in anyway more experienced that anyone of you, I'm not really
a reader. I don't even know too much about glassmaking, and all the history behind it.
Therefore I come here. I appreciate all help I get, and I value your knowledge.

I have made a very simple conclusion, that basically comes down to;
Alabasterglas is Bohemian's opaline. They must have used a little different formula than the French.
I find that Bohemian opaline is the class #2 in quality, compared to the French.
This has nothing to do with designs, finishes and/or cuts.

In one of my last topic's I tried to explain that the alabasterglas sometimes has (I don't know how to say it in English),
fuzzy spots, like waves in the glass. It also has more bubbles and imperfections than French opaline glass.
Of course this doesn't mean there aren't exceptions to 'this rule'.

Anyway,
I think I mentioned I would buy the 'Das Böhmische Glas, Band I - VII" before, which I still didn't.

I have bought this beautiful Bohemian opaline glass box.
It has a portrait on the top of the lid, and a gilded bronze mount.
Furthermore it has some glass 'jewels', imitating rubies and emerald gems.

I've bought it as:
Bavarian Forest, Schachtenbach, around 1860.
White alabaster glass, pastose gold painting.


Does anyone have an opinion about this?


Without having the books, online I can't find too much about Schachtenbach.
To me, Harrach or Josephinenhütte could also still be a possibility.
Harrach a little less likely.


Thanks for reading!

[antonizz]

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[antonizz]

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[flying free]

Thanks for sharing your new acquisition   The photos are lovely.

I think getting the books is probably the best way for you to learn more about the development of glass and opaline in particular.
Knowledge costs money I guess, and time and reading hours   However the books I have bought are written by museum curators and specialists and experts in their field of glass and are quite extraordinary in their depth of information and knowledge.  There really is no substitute if you are interested in the glass of that particular period/region etc.

Perhaps another route for you to find out a little more might be by searching the online collection of glass in the various Czech museum collections?  That is where I have learnt a lot as well as by having the books.  But again, it requires time and translation from German and Czech to understand the history of the various regions and pieces.

m

[antonizz]

Hi,

Yes that's true. It's just that there's so many things to buy sometimes, for which I have no budget.
So when I finally sell something, I have a list ready of items that I want to buy. :p

There's no room in my budget. So it's either the 3 of 5 items I'd like to buy, or no items and a book.

But the first books I'd buy are the "Das Böhmische Glas" Bands.
Just looking for a good price, and hardcover books.

I believe I also found them in translated in English once, but I can't find that anywhere now.
I could be mistaken.

[flying free]

Hi, I don't think they were in English unfortunately.  All mine are German.

It is always a balance for me, or used to be, between books or glass.  Now I have about 50 or 60 books, perhaps more,  and I wouldn't be without them.  I sold a lot of glass to pay for them but they mean I don't buy mistakes.  They are also a never ending source of reading opportunity of  a subject about which I am passionate.  Most are written by curators of museum collections  - they are without doubt experts in their field of knowledge and have access to collections and deposits and information I could only dream of being able to look at.  So for me, that knowledge shared by specialists is invaluable.  You have a good eye for glass. However you will miss opportunities because you don't have the knowledge, available in the books, to buy that glass.  They have also often prevented me buying something not worth buying.

m

[antonizz]

Hi,

Yeah, I've searched a bit today but couldn't find any in English.
Must be a mistake then.

Yes, that's definitely true. I will buy some in the future.
I only have my french opaline books which I was planning to translate,
but it took me waaaayyy to long.

So I gave up on that. And only translate little pieces of a page,
when it's relevant to a piece of glass I've bought.

[flying free]

I do the same   However I know, from reading through my books written in English, that reading and translating in that way means sometimes information found elsewhere in the book gets missed.  It's unfortunate but difficult when it's not easy to translate from a different language.

I don't agree with any of this in your reply earlier btw   :
Quote
'I have made a very simple conclusion, that basically comes down to;
Alabasterglas is Bohemian's opaline. They must have used a little different formula than the French.
I find that Bohemian opaline is the class #2 in quality, compared to the French.
This has nothing to do with designs, finishes and/or cuts.'

The Bohemian glassmakers had different opaline glasses based on their own compositions.  Some are opalescent, some are not.  Those that are not opalescent opaline are referred to as Alabasterglas.  Some that are opalescent are referred to as Beinglas.

I highly recommend you buying the two books Farbenglas I and Farbenglas II by Neuwirth.  They are translated into English in the books.  They are an excellent reference source on Bohemian glass colours.

I also love French opaline glass particularly that of the period 1800-c.1830.  It was incredibly beautiful.  However the Bohemians made the most utterly wonderful and amazing range of colours in opaline glass and cased them and cut them so skilfully. 
The French and Bohemian opalines are equally beautiful. In my opinion, one cannot be referred to as 'better' than the other.

[antonizz]

First of all, I appreciate your opinion.
And I agree on the french restauration period-opalines.

Most of them are highest on my wish list, but not anywhere
near my budget, if even they come up for sale once in a few years,
and for some even decades.

Still searching for a 'clair de lune'-piece. 

I think I have in the past, but I will try to basically explain
what I ment about the bohemian quality in a later topic, with
some examples. I'm too busy to do this in the next few weeks.

And thanks for the book-tip!
I'll definately check those 2 out.