Topic: Art Deco Pressed Glass Vase? ID: Sowerby, Hermes Vase

[Tigerchips]

I'm not sure who the figure is on this vase but he/she has what looks like pointed (or winged) ears and feet. It is also wearing a cape and has long hair or large wings.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-148

I don't think it's Spock.  :lol:

As I was carring it around the car boot I noticed a lot of stall holders looking at it. Strange, perhaps they thought it was Spock.  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

I think the glass frog is missing. Any information welcome. Thank you.

[Glen]

Hermes was the Greek messenger god, he was called Mercury by the Romans. My understanding is that Sowerby's actually referred to the vase as Hermes.

 :shock:

Glen

[Tigerchips]

Thanks for your help. I shall sleep well tonight    

I guess I should take some history lessons.

Sowerby, kind of embarassing since I live in the North East of England.  :oops:

Just thought i'd ask while i'm here, Why do glass firms have marks on one thing and not on another?

Also, I have a "marked" George Davidson clear glass comport but I couldn't find any matching pattern on the Net.
http://tinypic.com/bi49he.jpg

Last sunday I bought four pieces of glass and nothing else. This site has me hooked.  

[Bernard C]

Just thought i'd ask while i'm here, Why do glass firms have marks on one thing and not on another?

TC — Welcome

The simple answer is that no-one really knows.   However there were many reasons for not marking British glass, including:[list=1][*]because it was an extra manufacturing process and so reduced profits,[*]because the big trade buyers did not like it, as they perceived it to enable the public to bypass their retail outlets when buying more,[*]because it would have been an open invitation to US glassworks to copy exported glass had it been readily identifiable as such (litigation between US glassworks was costly and unpredictable — the Atlantic made it impossible),[*]in the case of Walsh deceptive reproductions of old Georgian glass in the '20s & '30s, sold through a catalogue wholesaler directly into the antiques trade, marking the glass would have been rather counterproductive![/list:o]
I am sure others will add to this list.

As for your Hermes/Mercury bowl, see previous topic Green Deco Bowl Help? for full details.

Bernard C. 

[Bernard C]

TC — As for your Hermes/Mercury bowl, see previous topic Green Deco Bowl Help? for full details.

Bernard C. 

[Glen]

Why do some pieces have a maker's mark and others don't?

So many possible reasons, and even then we probably don't have them all. Mostly (on pressed glass) the maker's mark would be on the base. This would have been simple to do (and not expensive) - but sometimes the base plate used, was not marked. And sometimes it was. Northwood in the USA is a good example here.

Then again, sometimes it would have been tricky to find a place for the trademark. Some patterns and shapes are not conducive to the inclusion of a trademark.

Bernard mentioned US glass makers possibly copying UK glass makers. Ahem - quite a few examples of exactly the opposite. Sowerby ripped off a well known Imperial (USA) design and plonked it on several of their own Sowerby patterns. Plagiarism was going on right, left and centre.

Glen

[Bernard C]

... there were many reasons for not marking British glass ...

Glen — Plagiarism by British glassworks is certainly not a reason for not marking British glass.   Like the US glassworks, they seem to have enthusiastically copied foreign designs, presumably because litigation was unlikely, although we know of several examples of British glassworks copying each others' products.

Bernard mentioned US glass makers possibly copying UK glass makers.

I did not use the word "possibly", I stated it as a fact.    Please disagree with me, or correct an error, but I would be grateful not to be misquoted, as I generally choose my words very carefully.

... they [Walsh] appear to have had an excellent understanding of the US market.   I believe they accepted that the better of their designs would be copied, and that there was no way of protecting them.   An example is Opaline Brocade, which was copied by Northwood within a year of its launch by Walsh.   Incidentally it happened equally in the other direction, for example, the famous Edward Bolton "Grace Darling" boat is an almost exact copy of the Hobbs 101 Yacht Celery.   This had a major impact on Walsh in that I believe it explains why so few of their registered designs were marked (almost an open invitation to copy), and also their marketing approach to the US, which appears to have been to send over a large shipment to their agents, and then start all over again with completely new designs.   I can find no other obvious business reason for the constant and amazing innovative drive at the Walsh glassworks. ...

As you can see, Glen, I am even-handed when the debate warrants it.

Bernard C.  

[Glen]

I think the name is one of these interchangeable "aka"s. Some poeple know it by the name "Hermes" and some people know it by the name "Mercury". You can find it referred to by both names - and they are both correct. My understanding is that it was known as the "Hermes Vase" at Sowerby's.

Glen

[Glen]

Bernard - I should have hit the quote button rather than relied on my understanding of what you said.

1.
Bernard wrote:

You wrote:
Bernard mentioned US glass makers possibly copying UK glass makers.

I did not use the word "possibly", I stated it as a fact. Please disagree with me, or correct an error, but I would be grateful not to be misquoted, as I generally choose my words very carefully.

Yes of course British designs etc., were copied. Vice versa too. No dispute from me on that fact. That is precisely what I was writing about - plagiarism.

What you actually wrote Bernard was:

because it would have been an open invitation to US glassworks to copy exported glass had it been readily identifiable as such (litigation between US glassworks was costly and unpredictable — the Atlantic made it impossible),

Actually Bernard I didn't "misquote" you 'cos I wasn't "quoting" you. But I certainly will be much more careful in future.

2.
Bernard wrote:

Glen — Plagiarism by British glassworks is certainly not a reason for not marking British glass

I didn't say that plagiarism was a reason for not marking glass. You are attributing words to me that I did not say, Bernard. I was simply adding what I felt was an interesting point about plagiarism.

Glen