Topic: Heavy glass vase

[Taylor Thomas]

Hello all,

I was looking for some information on this piece which I picked up in Dresden....

14 cm tall.

Thanks Taylor

[Ivo]

looking good, well made, nice colours - but the photograph, aï aï aï - could you try and do  better shot? And when you do, let's have a look at the underside too, please...

[Andy]

Hi Taylor,
Im 99% certain its Skrdlovice, Czechoslovakia, I have one very similar, i will pop a photo on tomorrow,
mines a whopper at 28cm tall and about 3 1/2 kilos.
It has a Goldy yellow Skrdlovice sticker on it, which (I think, maybe Ivo or Marcus will know) dates it
circa 1950s 60s

Cheers
Andy

Added. Just found a photo, far left is like yours, mines a bit 'lumpier' and bigger, with Skrdlovice
label   Comparing the 2 , im a teeny bit less positive than i was
check out this thread
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,12766.0.html

[langhaugh]

Nice pieces, Andy. I have a few similar vases, some with the yellow Skrdlovice label, but others sold to me as Finnish (likely Swedish) and Chalet (one by someone who is reliable). I have been trying to figure out how to tell them apart when there is no label. Any suggestions? Are certain colours or colour combinations typical? Is there any published or internet source describing pieces like these? The closest reference I can find  is the propeller vase by Jan Kotik in Czech glass, which was made at Skrdlovice. (Interestingly, modernistglass.com has a vase that looks like a propeller vase but which they are convinced was made in Canada.)

David

[Andy]

Hi David,
modernistglass.com  Nice site, lots of lovely glass from all over the world, well worth everyone having
a look at!
This link to the Canadian/Kotik vase,
http://www.modernistglass.com/glasspieces/view/2264

I would have thought more likely Bohemian rather than Canadian. I havent seen Chalet that makes me
think the others in my photo are from them, Aseda sweden has been suggested, again i havent yet found
a similar on, although in the book Czech Glass 1945-1980 on page 218 , a picture of a propeller vase,it mentions
comparable pieces produced at Aseda Sweden, after 1945, im yet to find one
And Skrdlovice? maybe, some of mine i bought from a collector in Austria (Argonf , anyone know him?) who
was selling them as Skrdlovice , but no labels. He does seem to sell some nice items and know his stuff.
I walked through hundreds of tables at Gaydon Glass fair, didnt see any similar

Its a mystery, that i would like to solve one day!
 Regards Andy

[Sklounion]

Hi,
Now, if I were shown the item from the Modernist Glass web-site, I would find it very difficult to attribute that as anything other than a Kotik item from Skrdlovice, despite it having turned up in Canada.
YET, herein lies a problem. It is quite clear that Skrdlovice did NOT make all the items like this, in the volumes suggested, and simply because an item "looks like a duck, squawks like a duck therefore it must be a duck", that cannot be a realistic assessment. Production of very popular items was known to have been moved to other factories within Czechoslovakia, capable of high-volume hand-worked production, and this is consistent with the role of Skrdlovice as a development centre within ÚLUV.

Regards,
Marcus

[krsilber]

What's ÚLUV?

[langhaugh]

I lean towards the great majority of glass this style being Czech. First, although not all it is described as Czech, there is a fair amount of Czech glass in Canada. At least two of our big department stores carried Czech, such as Harrtil. Second, according to the people who worked at Chalet, virtually all their glass carried the Chalet mark. I've never seen a piece like this marked Chalet. Third, my admittedly limited knowledge of Canadian glass companies doesn't suggest that anyone made glass like this. I went to th Michel Blais website, which used to show a lot of Chalet, but it seems to have abandoned Chalet. The website didn't have a vase like this, but it did have what I think was a monumental triangular cigar ashtray that had the same feel as these vases. Many of these also turn up in Canada.

That said, one piece I have doesn't look Czech, and Aseda would seem a possibility. The colour is somewhat like Andy's red one and te pulls on it aseem tool made rather than achieved with compressed air.  I just got my decent camera back from the repair shop today, so I'll take some pictures of it on the weekend to see what you think. I should add some of the other pieces that seem different. For example, where the glass has been shaped so that parallel diagonal ridges run across the vase.

David

[Sklounion]

ÚLUV =Ústřední lidové umělecké výroby. Centre for Folk Art and  Artistic Work.
My apologies for using the acronym without explanation.
Regards,
Marcus

[Andy]

and simply because an item "looks like a duck, squawks like a duck therefore it must be a duck", that cannot

Marcus, we will all know your acronyms when your book is out !
And ducks Quack, not squawk! (unless you grab one by the neck  ) so does that mean it may not be a duck?

David, I was going to ask for a photo of your pieces, look forward to it, I got another larger one recently,
i will add a new photo of mine later.

Andy