Inca, can I ask you, if you came across a piece of millefiori or latticino
glass that was unsigned, how would you recognise it as being a Konstglas
Ronneby piece?
It can of course be difficult to identify something without a label or an
inscription.
To start with I did not expect to come across a piece of millefiori or
latticino glass from FM. But what is typical FM Konstglas, Ronneby? I have
not seen everything that FM have made over the years - 30 years in Ronneby -
so I am constantly prepared to be surprised!
When I started collecting FM at the end of the 1970's I thought that they
only made animal figurines with the "Royal Black Feather/Royal Black Grey"
effect. I have since then discovered numerous colour combinations and that
they also made vases, bowls, paperweights and abstract glass ......... so
why not also millefiori and latticino glass?
_______________________________________________________________
Mentioned earlier:
- FM Konstglas in Ronneby were run by skilled glassblowers, trained in the
Murano technique.
- quite a number of Murano glassblowers moved to Ronneby to work for
FM Konstglas, for longer or shorter time periods.
- The Marcolin brothers' brother-in-law Aureliano Toso also worked for FM
Konstglas.
_____________________________________________________________
I have now also learnt that Luigi Barbaro worked for FM at the end of the
1960's/the beginning of the 1970's, he is the brother of Alessandro Barbaro
http://www.signoretti.it/inglese/barbaro.aspI have seen, from three different sellers, two blue millefiori vases
(different models) and one latticino vase. All three items had the same type
of FM label. I have also seen these objects at a couple of collector's fairs
previously but I never checked for any labels then as I do not collect this
type of objects.
A few FM objects turn up fairly often but a majority turn up very seldom or
never! So it is nothing odd that only a few millefiori/latticino items have
turned up so far. It could for instance have been a limited production sold
locally in the shop at the glassworks. And if the labels have been removed
then these objects would without any doubt be sold as Murano.
I have also had suggested that labels sometimes 'migrate' from one object to
another.
Well, if there was something to be gained here it would make sense. If you
have a Toso vase that would sell for let us say £60, put a FM label on the
same vase and it would sell for perhaps half the price. There is more money
in Murano objects so no seller in his right mind would 'migrate' labels in
this case.
So far I have seen no reason to doubt that these objects were made in
Ronneby by FM Konstglas.