Topic: Small grey hen on milkglass basket

[Anne E.B.]

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9036
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9035

Does anyone know who might have made this little hen on a basket please? Also, what it might be used for?  It measures only 5 & half inches long and 4 inches high. 

The actual hen looks to have a marbled effect - seen more obviously on the underneath.  Is this slag glass?  The tail is split, and there are darker patches of grey on its head and edge of its tail.  I'm presuming the basket is milkglass(?)  A close look hasn't revealed any marks.

Many thanks

[David E]

I was going to suggest Shirley Smith's site: http://www.henonnest.com/ but see the domain has been left to lapse!

Anyone know the new address?

[antiquerose123]

Gee....I just got a book from the library called PURPLE GLASS - 20th Century American & European by:  Leslie Pina, Ed Goshe, Ruth Hemminger (2002) by Schiffer Publishing ( ISBN:  0-7643-1515-3 ) and in this book on page 131, 135 there are several pics of Hens and a basket in different colors....

It says L. G. Wright catalog page (1975 - 1982 ) discontinued items.  It calls these 7" hens style 70-8.

They look similar in style to me, but I AM A NEWBIE....

I JUST GOT this book yesterday from the library....so I do not know if this is what you have, but they do look very similiar......

Hope this (?) may help....anyone else know if I am off in left-field, or what... () as a Newbie....

[antiquerose123]

Try any of these sites to see IF they help.....

http://www.nmgcs.org/photo_gallery/gallery2/index.htm 
http://www.nmgcs.org/photo_gallery/gallery3/index.htm

http://www.nmgcs.org/

http://home.nycap.rr.com/hennest/manufac.htm

http://www.mosserglass.com/assets/pdf/Mosser-catalog2007.pdf  (about three quarters of the page down....)
http://www.goantiques.com/detail,milk-glass-huge,779747.html

Just some sugestions...hope helps....even IF I am in left-field... :spls:

[antiquerose123]

http://www.cowanauctions.com/upcoming_dates_view_item.asp?ItemId=50496&AuctionName=
http://www.cowanauctions.com/upcoming_dates_view_item.asp?ItemId=50854&AuctionName=

http://www.fentonhenonnest.com/

Anyways....just a few I found...others here most likely know better than me...

[Anne E.B.]

Great links - thank you so much :clap: 

I think the nearest I can find is on this link you gave http://home.nycap.rr.com/hennest/morephot.htm - the green opaque one halfway down on the left.  I haven't heard of Mosser before and the Mosser website is a real eye opener    I checked in Ivo's A-Z and it would appear that Mosser used different signature marks.  I'll have another really good look tomorrow in good daylight to see if I can track one down.

According to the info given on the links, these are described as candy containers, powder jars, salts etc.  This one looks very much like a miniature version of a cheeky fat pigeon who nicks all the titbits I put out for the small birds in the garden

[Lustrousstone]

My intuition was Westmoreland - try looking inside the lid for the mark. Westmoreland hens seem to be quite common here, I've had one and seen others and this site http://home.nycap.rr.com/hennest/manufac.htm says "Many vintage Westmoreland hens and ALDs where [sic] done in milk glass, some in two tones of white/blue, white/black, white/amber,"

Mosser would seem less likely for something found in the UK as it is all fairly modern stuff, contrary to appearances

Try a search on "Shirley Smith" +hen, there is quite a lot out there and she is a member here (SAS)

[Anne E.B.]

Thanks Christine   I've gone cross-eyed looking for a mark of any description, and the only "mark" I can come up with is on the top of the out-turned rim.  It could of course just be my imagination trying to make something of what could be just a ripple in the glass, but I think it looks too symmetrical to be just a random manufacturing flaw  :huh:  It's very faint, but looks like a hill shape with what could be a letter A beneath.  This may or may not be the letters H and A for Hazel Atlas :huh:, but looking through images in the previous links and on the web generally, the hen doesn't match the Hazel Atlas ones shown. 

I googled "Shirley Smith+hen" as you suggested, and found an excellent Convention download "Hen on a Nest - Studying a Glass Collection, by Shirley Smith - Presentation materials."  This includes a really good section on how to properly observe the features when trying to identify hens on baskets/nests.  So using the observations hints given by Shirley, I can add some info which might help in the ID:-

Comb - curly.
Tail - split/divided.  Scalloped edge.
Feathering - realistic.
Head - cocked to one side.
Eyes - flat but goggle-eyed
Eggs (which I didn't even notice!!!! )  Four in total at the front - two on each side, the front one being smaller.  Two at the back - one on each side at the base of the tail.
Nest/basket - basket weave (picket fence?), which continues on the base.
Scalloped out-turned rim.
Colour:  Base - milk glass becoming opalescent at the scalloped edge.  Hen - grey marbled.
Overall form - the top fits well on the base so may be not a "marriage."

I think it is older than those made by Mosser, which according to Ivo's A-Z would date it to 1964 at the earliest.  It has wear and tear on the base and some nibbles and wear elsewhere.  I got the impression that it was fairly old and the seller thought so too.  I got it at a knockdown price, impulsively buying it because the collectables/junk shop was sadly closing down.  One less place to mooch and root about in   I might just pop back and see what else takes me fancy






 

[Sid]

Hello:

Shirley Smith's web page was taken down when she published her excellent book "Glass Hen on Nest Covered Dishes".  Based on your photos and description, I think that your hen dish is the one she designated as von Streit #640b hen.  It can be found on page 169 with a 1913 von Streit catalog reprint showing it on page 171.

[Anne E.B.]

Thank you for your help Sid   I'm really glad I bought the little hen.  I've been introduced to a lot of new glass companies as a result of my request for help here.  I'll do a search on von Streit next and find out a little more about them.  So much to learn - so little time

Happy New Year to you and all GMB Members :cheers: