Topic: Sottsass/Memphis Style Covered Compote

[shandiane78]

I'm eager to hear any thoughts you might have on this piece. It is not signed, and believe me, I've looked! The quality seems very good. The glass it not very thick, and though it's still translucent, it's all cased glass. The bottom is ground along the outer edge and again in the middle, and very highly polished. There's a small pontil mark inside the lid.

The whole piece is about 13" tall and 8" wide. TIA for your thoughts!




Black background - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/postmodern6.jpg
Lid off - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/postmodern3.jpg
Underside of lid - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/postmodern4.jpg
Base - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/postmodern5.jpg

[TxSilver]

Do you know that the jar is Murano? It looks a lot like a Czech piece. I haven't seen this specific jar, so can't be sure. Whichever it is, it is gorgeous.

Anita

[shandiane78]

Thanks Anita, I hadn't considered Czech. It really feels Italian to me (especially the bottom), so I guess I ran with that idea.

Thanks again!

[TxSilver]

It might be Murano. There is a lot of overlap in the look of glass in many of the European countries. If no one can help, maybe someone on the general glass board will recognize it. I checked some Czech sites and found a few jars that were along the same line, but none like yours. Yours is the prettiest one.

Anita

[Anne]

I'll move it over to Glass for now and see what the consensus is there. We can always shift it back if they decide it's Murano.

[shandiane78]

Thanks Anne!

[shandiane78]

Any more thoughts on this? Who votes Italian? 

[TxSilver]

I am glad that you bumped the thread back to the top. I spent a while trying to find something similar to your glass, but came up with nothing. One of the first things that creates problems finding the piece online is that people call these shapes different things -- compotes, jars, covered vases, among other things. What color would you say the main glass is? It looks like a bright salmon to me, with a hot pink applied ring. The contrasting colors and style of casing is what made me think of Czech glass. I'm sorry that I spoke up so quickly, because I think your feel that it is Italian may also be true. For now, I'll just keep my eyes open for glass that looks like it.

Anita

[shandiane78]

Thanks Anita! The color is slightly washed out in the photo. I think it may be a little over-exposed. I have a few taken with the flash. They aren't as pretty, but show the color more true. The bottom part is kind of an apricot color, while the lid is more mauvy pink, that shifts to apricot near the bottom. The disk on top is a deep swirly red, and the knob on is the pink and apricot colors swirled together. You have to look kind of closely to notice the color shift in the lid. Isn't that unusual?


Pontil under lid - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/postmodern8.jpg
Detail of top - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/postmodern9.jpg

The colors and shapes remind me of some pottery by Sottsass for Bitossi. Especially these totems:

http://www.designdesign.it/cat191_l2.php?n=1

Of course, my piece is simpler, and it's glass. 

[shandiane78]

I just checked my local library catalog online, and was shocked to see that they actually have a book on Ettore Sottsass, plus a few other books on 80's design. Unfortunately, they don't have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sottsass-Glass-Works-Ettore/dp/1902535006