Topic: Dolphin feet, unusual shaped vase ~iridised~seeking info

[Glen]

Fellow Carnival Glass collectors, John & Frances Hodgson, found a most unusual marigold vase that they have called "Delphine". It is tall, elegant and has very distinctive dolphin shaped feet. It was sourced in Poland. The Hodgsons have written an illustrated feature about the vase ~ seeking any further information or thoughts ~ and it is on my website. Just go to www.carnival-glass.net and click the link in the centre of the page (or click the vase photo!)

Any thoughts or comments would be gratefully received.

Glen

[Glen]

Has anyone seen anything like this.......at all......? In any kind of glass? Any thoughts from anyone?

[Lustrousstone]

No, although I had a great time catching up on your web pages  :clap:

[Glen]

Christine - thank you  :hug:

Any answer, even a "no", really helps

[Della]

Hi Glen,
Whilst out on the hunt yesterday, I found the bowl pictured below for sale. I didn't buy it as the asking price was out of my reach, but thought that you may like to see, and be interested in, the photo's that I took. 

Not sure if you might recognise the pattern on the inside, or outside of the bowl, which may help you with an ID for your vase.
It doesn't show very well, but it is iridised (taken in haste on my phone camera).

Della
xx

[Glen]

Hi Della ~ huge thanks for your input. The fab bowl you show is Sowerby's Diving Dolphins. We had wondered if there might have been any Sowerby influence on the Delphine piece, but the vase maker is a puzzle for sure.

BTW that was a lovely DD bowl; it's one of my favourite pieces Scroll Emboss is the interior design - cheeky Sowerby plagiarised the Imperial (USA) pattern of the same name. Spot a DD here 
http://www.geocities.com/carni_glass_uk_2000/SowerbyGroup.html

Glen

[krsilber]

This is totally unhelpful, but who started calling these scaly beasts with the funny noses dolphins?  Anyone know where the apellation came from?

That is a striking vase indeed!  Very nice mold work.

[Glen]

Grotesque dolphins were much used in the Regency and Victorian eras, reflecting the decorative taste of the time. The architect, Amon Wilds and his son, used such motifs, including the ammonite motif, on their buildings and structures in Brighton (West Sussex) in particular. The front of the elegant Wilds designed home of Mantell in West Sussex (Mantell discovered the first dinosaur fossil) is decorated with stylised ammonites.

The Victoria Fountain in Brighton (inaugurated on 25 May 1846, for the twenty-seventh birthday of Queen Victoria) was very possibly the inspiration behind Sowerby's later Diving Dolphins bowl (written about and illustrated in my books based on original research done by Angela Thistlewood in 1995). It has three writhing dolphins as feet with a bowl above (for the fountain).

Short answer on what could be a lengthy topic (but with no time for more right now).

Glen