Topic: A Little More Info on Royo Glass

[johnphilip]

On ebay just now item 330284362728 listed as Bohemean Historismus - a couple of hours to go is a typical Gordiola (Royo)  piece , i believe the coat of arms could be of a Spanish region you see many different ones on these pieces , i have a large brandy goblet with almost the same decoration as this one it is signed Royo. The signature is often well hidden .JP

[krsilber]

Hmmm, I think I've seen Royo similar to what you're talking about, at any rate with helmet and coat of arms.  This one though also reminds me of some Bohemian historismus, for example a few of the examples on this page:
http://www.glaswolf.de/Historismus.185.0.html

The shape seems a wee bit odd for Bohemian, though, and you say it's typical Gordiola, so you may well be right - you know them much better than I do!  Would Gordiola leave a ground flat rim like the one in the auction?

[johnphilip]

I have seen many signed ones over the years with many different bases , remember they were copying earlier styles ,i showed Marcus about 20 pieces at Gaydon he commented how varied they were and most were signed
one is signed Gordiola Mallorca .

[krsilber]

It would be nice to see a bunch together and try to establish the ways they are different from the Bohemian ones.  Seems like Heckert has more fine black line detail in theirs, but I haven't seen enough of the Royo ones to really compare.

The green decanter at the top of the page on the glaswolf site, identified as probably Egermann, I would have thought was a good Royo candidate based on the glass, BWDIK?  Not much about this, but it's interesting to learn more about it.

[Sklounion]

Uwe Wolf is NOT a person to make uninformed attributions, and is unlikely to mistake Gordiola and Royo as Bohemian.

Regards,

Marcus

[krsilber]

He says "probably Egermann" on the site; sounds like he's not sure what it is.  And I said "I would have thought it was a good Royo candidate," I didn't say I believed it was Royo or otherwise question Wolf's judgment.

[krsilber]

JP - It would be really nice to see photos of your Royo, et al. glass. 

[Sklounion]

Ok,
 I know exactly the issue that leads to Uwe's attribution. Catalogues are few and far between, several manufacturers operating, producing very similar ware, but informed appraisal, and experience suggests one candidate, rather than another.

This is a situation seen here in this topic: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,15349.msg96452.html#msg96452

It is not a lack of knowledge, in fact, quite the opposite, but a positive id can only be realised in certain circumstances.

Regards,

Marcus

[krsilber]

Yes, Marcus, I understand all that.  The thing is, I wasn't questioning his attribution.  I was saying what I would have guessed, but I'm not very knowledgable about it, so who am I to say?

Marcus won't like this, but as it turns out, I am wondering about a different probable attribution.  Not saying it's wrong, mind you, just thinking about it.  I've spent a couple hours today looking at Bohemian and Royo historismus with coats of arms.  The one on Wolf's site looks sloppy compared to the Bohemian ones.  It's got that bull in the middle of it and the helmet is bluish, which seems common in Royo helmets ("Royo" being kind of an umbrella term at the moment for all the Spanish enamelists that did this sort of stuff). 

It doesn't matter what Wolf's is so much as it's interesting to compare the many that are out there.  Who knows?  Royo might not even have occurred to him; it's not like they're known for their Wappenbecher.

[TxSilver]

Some Bohemian and German pieces are similar to the enameled Spanish pieces, but IME the Bohemian pieces have greater attention to detail. Glass from companies, e.g Lobmeyr, Meyers-Neffe, and Moser are near perfect. The enamel, if present, is carefully applied. The glass is also carefully made. One thing I've noted in Gordiola glass is that it appears to be hurried. Often the rims are not polished, such as in their 5-spout vases. Rigaree can be a bit haphazzard. The symmetry may not be perfect. The enamel is playful, instead of careful. Companies such as Lobmeyer and Moser were very careful with their enameling. Gordiola glass reminds me a lot of 19th Century Murano glass in its general sloppiness (for lack of a better word), only the Spanish glass is much heavier.

Spain has given us many of our great artists. Much of their art is carefully thought out, but whimsical. The art probably influenced the thought on glass. I mean, how many countries would consider painting chickens all over their glass and sticking chicken stoppers on top?