Topic: Cased Crackle multicolour Italian vase opalescent Lions gold etc etc

[Lustrousstone]

I think perhaps that sort of crackling is not uncommon on older glass, I certainly have at least one piece (1930s) with skin-type crackling (who mentioned roast pork  ) where you can feel the cracks.

[Andy]

I have to do a bit more research on this vase, it would be nice to get a date, (or a guess)

Any one have any more ideas, or anyone specialise in old Murano/Venitian ?

Cheers Andy

[Frank]

I am sure the base is a repair and probably dates to 50s/60s. Probably varnished brass rather than geld plated though. No idea on the glass, probably best in the Murano forum.

[TxSilver]

A smelz vase with a design like your vase is shown on page 88 of Osborne's Venetian Glass of the 1890s: Salviati at Sanford University. It has the two lion's head masks. It is cased, but there is no crackle. The foot of the vase is the same colored smelz as the vase. The vase is 24.7 cm tall. The label reads VM 598 Venice & Murano Co, Sales Cat. Salviati dr Antonio. The design in the book is from 1893. I suspect your vase was based on this design and may be this design with a different decoration. As Frank said, your base is probably repaired. The original foot probably broke. Often in the old days before the time of good glue, glass was repaired by inserting a screw into the pedestal or base of a piece of glass, then bolting the original (or replacement) base in place. I would expect the color of the foot of your vase to either be multicolored or green like the inside. I don't know if these types of repairs are still done by anyone.

Nice vase. Quite keepable. And I bet Salviati, perhaps for CVM. I think there are examples of the Stanford Collection online. Maybe the vase in the book will be among them.

BTW, for people who don't know, smelz is made by fusing different colors of glass together in swirls, so the end result looks a bit like calcedony. It resembles F. Toso's apparenza, but it is a lot bolder. Do you think the vase is smelz or is it patches of color, Andy? I am thinking the latter. Unfortunately, I can't see the picture from this page. 

Anita

[TxSilver]

I checked the Gardner and Barr site to see if they had a vase of this design. They did!  :hiclp: It is blue with aventurine, so apparently the design was made with various decorations. You can check it in the image gallery of http://www.gardnerandbarr.com/ to see if you think it is like yours.

Anita

[Andy]

Wow Anita , Thanks  :hiclp: :hiclp: :hiclp:
great work, im working through the web at the moment, and trying to find the Stanford vase,
the Gardner and Barr vase is same design, (1878-83 catalogue)theres a few similar at the Victoria & Albert
Museum, London,obtained from Salviati in the 1860s.
Ive found some calcedony examples, which mine is not, i think its probably smelz, although doesnt
seem too 'swirly'. the colours do overlap in places, and are pulled out into the neck.
Have you got the Stanford book, is it possible to email me a pic directly, without breaking too many
copyright rules? I dont usually worry too much, but do you think its quite a valuable item?
I think Franks right about the repair, maybe done a little earlier.
As Christine said earlier, this may be worth a trip to the V & A, , i may try an email to them with this link.

I presume, Salviati made these to resemble or copy earlier examples, and im just wondering whether theres
a chance, mine may be an earlier example, quite happy either way

I shall now get back to more research, thanks again for the brilliant information.
Regards
Andy

[Andy]

Thanks Anita,
got your email, so thats 2 very similar vases, and im in good company, ive emailed Gardner & Barr,
I hope they may reply. Ive been reading more about Salviati, interesting article from NY Times,
Guiseppi Barovier, working for Salviati made a vase for Queen Victoria.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9805E2D61E31E033A25754C1A9619C94639ED7CF

Im not convinced my vase wasnt made with the metal foot, and just come loose, so been glued
and bolted later, the shape of the metalm matches the shape of the glass foot on the others.
Maybe??
I emailed the V & A Museum, but i think i will have to take it up to them one day, as it came back with an
auto reply, may try to get idea of value from one of the london Auction houses.
will keep looking for more info.
Kind regards
Andy

ps another fascinating , quite long article about the Stanford University collection.(by Sheldon Barr)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_3_162/ai_91088119/pg_1

[TxSilver]

The foot on the blue vase at the Gardner & Barr site looks different to me than the foot on the vase in the Osborne book. I checked Barr's book on Venetian Glass, Confections in Glass 1855-1914, but unfortunately the design is not pictured. I hoped to get a better look at the foot to see if the difference was only due to the viewing angle.

I haven't seen any metalwork on Salviati vases before, but I couldn't fill volumes with what I don't know.  :huh: I'm glad that you are looking more into the vase. Your thoughts on the foot may be right.

Anita

[Andy]

Good news  :hiclp:

I got a nice reply from Sheldon Barr, as follows, (with his permission)

' Hello Andy,

Anita is correct. Your vase is smelze. The surface is vetro ghiaccio -- (ice-glass). The technique dates to about 1570. It is characterized by its surface which resembles cracked ice. It is produced by immersing a hot glass vessel in cold water and immediately reheating it to anneal the resulting fissures. (Often, in the nineteenth century a hot, nascent vessel was rolled over a marver covered with crushed glass to pick up the fragments of glass, then reintroduced into the furnace to fuse the whole. This produced an effect similar to ice-glass. We shall call this glass: False ice glass.)

The model is illustrated in a Salviati Dott. Antonio catalogue datable to 1878-1883. (Check the Glossary on my website for more infomation on this catalogue.) Probably inspired by a 17th century vessel it was kept in production for many years.

It is broken and repaired.

Sheldon'

And on a follow up email, i asked for an idea of value, 'cos i have no idea, and he says should be
$500 plus    (even with the replaced foot!)

Regards
Andy

[TxSilver]

It is good to get an expert's stamp on the vase. I didn't know if it was smelz or not, since it didn't have the swirls I was used to. New thing learned -- smelz doesn't have to be swirled.

The terminology can get overwhelming at times. So many techniques can be called different things by different people. I am adding ghiaccio to my growing list of glass terms. The trouble is that I forget the term before it gets cemented into my brain well. False ice glass is a bit more rememberable :-)

Good to know you have a great vase,
Anita