Topic: Can Anyone Identify this vase

[Max]

Well spotted Pat.    I guess we'd need a Caithness expert to say how Caithness had vases with an Italian looking technique that come from Italy.  :huh: 

[nigel benson]

Hiya,

Where to start.

Please, make sure you're comparining the same thing

I don't believe that the Caithness/Italian vases come from the same source as the red vase that started this thread. Yes, they have some similarity, BUT they are not finished in the same way .... note finished. Yes the battuto technique is basically the same, but the finishing is differnt - and that is critical. Nor does the pattern cover the whole vase, as so often with Caithness when this, and similar,  decorative technique is used by them.

I have watched this seller on and off over the months since he started selling his collection of '2000' and have found him a tad wayward on attribution and dating. In this case he should be correct, since the pair of vases have labels, which, sadly he doesn't show. Then he goes on to mention the country of origin is Italy, leaving us with a question mark.

For me there are too many unanswered questions to make this an accurate attribution for the original question. Interestingingly, it does raise other questions about where Caithnnes glass was made, and did they outsource? I have some otherwise Caithness pieces with "Made in Poland" labels on the base which I have been trying to verify..... but that should be for another thread.

Therefore my vote is, NOT Caithness.

Cheers, Nigel

[krsilber]

I don't have a clue who made this, but I wanted to comment on the design.  This would be quite difficult to cut.  The pattern is very regular, more so than any others that have been shown.  Trying to make perfect hexagons in a regular pattern while accounting for the curvature of the piece would take a deft hand.  They aren't perfect, but nevertheless it seems an important aspect of the piece, and I would think other examples of the same pattern would be similarly regular.

[langhaugh]

Hi: If you check the listing for the two green Caithness vases, you'll see the seller apologizes for the Italy attribution and corrects himself to British in an addendum to the listing.

David

[nigel benson]

Hi,

You're quite right David, but he has also removed the phrase/sentence about the country of origin overnight - since I emailed him for clarification.
 I confess I missed the piece you are referring to, whcih was actually done on the 3 October

He confirmed that  the labels suggested British. Still leaves me with my problem piece

The Caithness cutting is quite irregular - good point about the original red vase being fairly regular hexangonarly cut.

Nigel

 

[paradisetrader]

A couple of years ago I went to TKMaxx in Hammersmith and they had a tall battuto-esque piece by IVV (near Empoli & Florence) Italy. It was rather nice. I now wish I had bought it as an example as it was very cheap. However I only went there to investigate what was on offer as there was quite a lot of TK Max turning up on Ebay at that time and sure enough I saw a piece very much like it being sold as vintage Murano buttuto a few weeks later.

When Caithness went into receivership, about 18 months ago I think, newspaper reports at the time suggested that they had been buying in glass for other manufacturers and re-branding it. I don't know how long they had been doing that.
Over time I have learned that it's a practise which has been happening for some decades among UK glass and ceramics makers. Hence you get Royal Brierley, Royal Doulton and Wedgwood crystal from Slovakia / Slovenia for example. I have photo examples of the labels from the web / Ebay for my own reference which of course I am unable to share here due to copyright.
I have no such evidence for Caithness but it would make sense and thgere's no reason to doubt it. The reports were financial / business ones concerned only with profitability or the lack thereof.
Peter
Peter

[Otis Orlando]

A very unusual looking vase.  From the description of the rim, have you tried identifying if it could be Bohemian/Sko?

[langhaugh]

Are you suggesting the Borske Sklo optic mould blown vases? If so, quite different as some Borske Sklo might have a similar shape and optical effect but that's achieved by moulding not battuto. If not Borske Sklo, then I still don't think it's Bohemian and certainly not Sklo Union.

I've yet to see IVV battuto, which doesn't mean much by itself, but I don't think it looks like the kind of thing IVV do. It's very labour intensive. I still think the likeliest source for this is Indian, as suggested earlier. I've seen the Arcade pieces that Adam mentioned (by Baj and Laura de Santillana, if I remember). They're absolutely stunning and quite different from this piece, not that I am suggesting that this pieces is without merit. I think it's a really interesting piece, but one that you'd collect strictly for its intrinsic value without consideration of who made it. It's much, much better than what I see in charity shops in Vancouver.

David