Topic: HELP? Please identify this cute little vase? Legras? Daum? Czech? OR repo?

[Mike M]

Hello folks

back now and I can explain my hasty words

I'm a bit of a fan of all kinds of 'enamelling' so I've spent a lot of time looking at particularly French, English and Bohemian enamelled glass.

Now I'm gonna certainly make a lot of terminology faults here, but hopefully it will all make sense.

The vase pictured above Looks and probably is just painted -it might have been fired at a lowish temperature to help it stick, but it probably isn't even true enamel (French often called this cold enamel I believe)

The are lots of different, higher, grades of enamelling, using true enamels and higher firing temperatures

A pretty good example of medium to high quality enamelling is the wonderful Stuart enamalling (I Love it)

The French tend to also use thicker enamels than the British (run you finger over the surface and you can feel it) -best seen in say Legras snow scenes. -these need quite higher temperatures -but can also be combined with ordinary cold enamels (ie paint) -so you can have a painted scene -with enamel snow.

So simply yes the images on Legras (especially the lower grade Legras often signed 'Leg')  can be pretty poor quality and parts that are just painted can easily wear -However Legras, I believe, always used some true hot enamel in there images -which is much harder to do and what I meant by Legras being higher quality.

Also to add to the debate about fakes

In France alone (OK include Belgium) around 1890-1930 I suspect there were dozens if not hundreds of cold and hot enamelling companies producing vases like these -only a few are signed (Signed ones apart from Legras include Clichy, Delvaux, Quenvit, Jem, Martin, JoMa, even the ultra famous like Daum, Rousseau, Goupy, Pantin, Baccarat etc etc etc)           

So just because it isn't Legras doesn't make it a fake -but it could be!

Sorry farrrrrrr too long

[azelismia]

not too long at all. it's  informative. thanks