Topic: Smokey amber craquelé vase

[SteveM]

http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=5a2laf
http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=5a2lcn
http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=5a2lgl
http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=5a2lio
http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=5a2lna

This is an smokey/amber-coloured craquelé vase which I rescued from my late aunt's estate.My dear bro' was about to take it to the tip.I think he may have already done so with some Clarice Cliff pottery but that's another story!:(

It is only 17cm high but weighs a ton(nearly 2kg) because the glass is so thick.Pontil mark is partly ground away.

A few years ago I noticed an identical vase offered for sale in a Christies glass auction and they attributed it to Rousseau but also(like mine) it didn't have a signature or ID mark.Their price estimate was around £300 but it didn't sell anyway as far as I recall.
I quite like it but my wife doesn't really!

Anyone here have any ideas.Thanks.

[Frank]

Auction houses always like to use 'attributions' and of course often get it wrong. I doubt this is Rousseau.

My first instinct was WMF but I have not heard of crackle glass being used before which does not mean much, as the Ikora range were mostly one-offs.

Best site http://www.glaskilian.de

[jomo99]

Hi Steve,

                  I take it your Brother is not a Glass Lover like us?   your pice is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! I haven't a clue who its by but I LOVE it!!!!

         Warmest Wishes

               John

[SteveM]

Thanks John.My aunt used it as a lamp base as it's difficult to turn over!

If I hadn't met my wife then I might have been as "uncultured" as my bro' :lol:
But his wife doesn't help..would't recognize a beautiful object if it hit her on the head and regards everything that's not immediately utilitaran for her,as "clutter".In the bin with it :roll:

When we arrived at my aunt's flat after her death,bro' had already taken 10 full binbags to the tip! And she was a lady of expensive tastes with an income to support them!We managed to save a Clarice Cliff and a Moorcroft vase but we have no idea what was in the 10 bin-bags apart from "clutter".  

[SteveM]

Frank: Thanks so much for the Ikora link.

I didn't find anything there resembling this craquelé vase.However,I did find
a large dish(39cm) that we bought here in NL 20 years ago is absolutely definitely WMF Ikora.
Probably one of those 1930's ones or earlier because ours has a lot of uranium green in it.Amazing effect if you light it with blacklight and then turn off the light...glows in the dark for some time afterwards!
Very probably a health hazard and might be classed as radio-active waste!

I'll take a shot of it and post it here soon. Thanks again.

PS. I suspect that the auction house only described the vase as Rousseau because it was craquelé.Wasn't he one of the first to apply the technique?
Sort of like calling a vacuum cleaner a Hoover  :!:

[Frank]

I doubt he was the first, I am fairly certain the technique is a lot older. (Could be wrong, to early in the morning for trawling through books)

[SteveM]

From the Dutch version of GLAS by Dan Klein and Ward Lloyd p181 a roughly translated piece:

One of the first glass makers to be inspired by the old Venetian glass techniques was George Bontemps in Choisy-le-Roi.............
In England it was the multi-talented Apsley Pellatt who made the first attempts at reproducing various old Venetian techniques.One of the glass types that Apsley Pellatt showed at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was that of Venetian craquelé glass.........

So the Venetians probably invented it and it was picked up again later around 1850.

The only reason for an auction house to associate "craquelé" with Rousseau(apart from getting attention!) would seem to be that:( also from the same book)

Rousseau experimented with colours and techniques and, in particular, with the effects of internal craquelé pattern as a decorative medium.........

Well,I'm quite awake now.And have learned something! :lol:

[Frank]

Ivo's book lists the technique as 18th Century Venetian.

Also known as Ice Glass and Crackle glass.

[nigel benson]

Hello All,

Unfortunately I cannot access my full library at the moment, however I do have a book showing a piece similar to the one in your photographs Steve.

I thought it was Victor Arwas's "Glass - Art Nouveau to Art Deco".  I do happen to have a copy of the first edition of that book with me and it does not have this illustrated. It does, however, say under F.E. Rousseau in a passage on page 189:

"A number of other internal effects were achieved. These included various coloured streaks and patches and patterns simulating moss, lithen or autumnal branches. Colour patches were often used in conjunction with crackle glass."

I have also sold a piece like this as Rosseau many years ago. The foreign dealer who bought it from me confirmed my attribution at the time.

Whilst this is not conclusive, and I hesitate to come to the rescue of auction houses, I think on this occasion they may well have been right.

If the catalogue was Christies UK, as well as a Glass auction (as opposed to Decorative Arts), it is unlikely it would have sold - unless it was picked up by a continental collector or dealer - since it is not a range generally understood over here.

I would fully discount WMF as a contender. Incidently, although they did make a large number of Ikora "Unikat" pieces, there are pages and pages of Ikora production ware illustrated in the recent book on the subject.

Hope this helps, Nigel  

[SteveM]

Thanks Nigel.It helps a great deal.I've searched through our old Christies (South Ken.) catalogues but cannot find the catalogue in particular.

However,whilst searching I did find this in the Christies South Kensington catalogue:Lalique and 20th Century European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
15th May 2003......

http://tinypic.com/view.html?pic=5arfns

The shape is different but the technique/colour looks identical.Attributed to Eugene Léveillé.

Even though I can't find the catalogue with the identical vase,I know I'm not mistaken about their(Christie's) attribution.It's not something I could have come up with by myself!!

Thanks again.