Topic: Pressed glass DOG from Czechoslovakia

[Wuff]

I have just acquired another dog - this time pressed glas:

Click on images for larger view.

The item is designed to hold matches - with striking surfaces on the sides of the back legs. It is about 130 mm long (nose to tail), 50 mm wide, 65 mm high, and weighs 260 g (being partially hollow). Stamped on the base is "Czechoslovakia" (see last image) and "regd.no. 71127".

Can anyone supply me with more detail on where and when this nice item was made?

Best regards  -  Wolf

[pamela]

What a find, Wolf! I'm envy  Hopefully Marcus will be around soon to be of help!

[Tigerchips]

The 5 digit registration dates the design to 1887. Wasn't Czechoslovakia known as Bohemia at that time?

[Wuff]

The 5 digit registration dates the design to 1887. Wasn't Czechoslovakia known as Bohemia at that time?

Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1918 - so (as this name is pressed into the base) this piece cannot possibly have been produced in 1887. Of course, it could have been designed before 1918.

BTW - how do you derive 1887 from the number? Is there a formula, or a look-up table somewhere?

[Anne]

Yes there is Wolf, see it here: http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/numbers.htm

[Wuff]

Thank you for the link, Anne !

Can we be sure it's a UK registered design number? Would this office register designs worldwide (and would manufactureres worldwide have their designs registered there) - or would the registration imply that this item was manufactured specifically for the British market? Would there be "competing" registers in other states?

The spelling "Czechoslovakia" plus the fact that the little dog found his way from there to Switzerland via England certainly proves, however, that he was exported to UK at one stage.

So now I would have to find a kind soul who's visiting the National Archives in Kew frequently, to check these records on her/his next visit  .

[Hotglass]

Bohemia is a large part of Czech but not all of it. The name Czechoslovakia was in use but it wasn't an independent state then - part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Ed.

[Anne]

I believe that if it says Regd No or Rd. No then it's a UK registered design. I don't know if/which other countries have design registers but the spelling of Czechoslovakia in the English way would lead me to think it's a UK design number, but you may well find that the number relates to the importer rather than the manufacturer as it's not an English-made piece. (e.g. I have some foreign-made candlesticks with an RD No on for Hoskins Rose, the importer.)

[Sklounion]

The name Czechoslovakia was in use but it wasn't an independent state then

Sorry Ed, I disagree, if it was in use, then we are talking of the republic established by T.G. Masaryk. True, as Wuff says, he gained the paperwork agreement in 1918, but the state did not gain other than token recognition until the following year. I am not convinced that even in those negotiations, the final name of the state  had been agreed or accepted.
Certainly NO piece of glass before 1919/20 was ever marked so. Hence you will not find the mark on any piece, despite the aspirations of Masaryk, SOKOL and others, before the establishment of the state.
Regards,
M

[Wuff]

Thank you for the confirmation, Marcus - but can you shed any light on the dog?