Hi,
I've just bought a very pretty art glass snail from a private collector, and I'm interested to find out more about it. The guy I bought it from said he'd bought it several years ago from someone else and doesn't know its history.
I've done searches on the net and can't find similar images of snails, or of the sticker on it's back, although there is a similar one in the labels 101 gallery, but with different wording.
I've attached an image from the seller, but I can take more if you want to see detail.
http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/99/83909699_full.jpgThis sticker says 'ARTE VENEZIANA GRAN CANAL' around the top, and 'MADE IN MURANO ITALY' in the middle.
So my main questions:
is it likely to be a real Murano?if it is Murano, should I leave the sticker on, or is it ok to remove generic ones like this?is there a special name for this style of glasswork technique? In person it almost looks like it's made of translucent milky jelly or ice, and it's very striking with light shining through it. It's almost a surprise to touch it and find that it's not wet or slimy.I mainly bought it because I think it's beautiful, but I don't want to tell people I have a Murano piece if I don't really - if it is just a pretty thing that someone has put a sticker on, I'd like to remove the sticker.
The writing on the bottom is a bit hard to make out even in person, but it looks to me like it says:
Murano
ht. quality
I did a pencil rubbing and it looks like it might just as easily say 'bt. quality' or 'lot2 quality' or 'W. gratini' or 'L. gratigi" and I'm not having much luck working it out definitively. I'm not expeciting it to be made by a master but it would be nice to know who did make it if anyone recognises the signature or style.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to building my collection, and I'm really pleased to have stumbled across this forum!
Thanks
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