Topic: Old facon de Venise dragon Bob-bon dish

[chopin-liszt]

Hello here!

I was browsing ebay yesterday for dragony stuff, and came across a listing of Svazzo's of a fabulous Dragon dish, which looks to be a very similar item to a bowl I have. Sadly, mine is damaged (I bought it that way) but it's lovely anyway.

I was wondering if anybody could confirm for me that mine is "The genuine article"? I have always thought that it is.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b227/chopin-liszt/dragon1.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b227/chopin-liszt/dragon2.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b227/chopin-liszt/dragon3.jpg

The eyes are yellow with a black centre, the tongue is a cranberry colour, with white stripes.

Thank you in advance.

[Ivo]

breathtaking photograph of a stunning item. Certainly it is the real article though hard to tell if it was made by Salviati, by Artisti Barovier or by Fratelli Toso. Pre-WW1, methinks.

[johnphilip]

Yes i would agree with Ivo , you can see several in the book Venetian glass - confections in glass 1855- 1914 i have had and sold a few over the years all with the black and yellow eyes , there is a market even for the damaged ones most of mine ended up in Italian galleries . in the book they are all attributed to Toso or Barovier working for Salviati no one seems sure .

[chopin-liszt]

 :chky:

Thank you very much indeed. (I shouldn't have bothered posting the third image, sorry).

So facon de Venise is the correct term for this?

I didn't buy it to sell, but to have as an example of this sort of glass - besides, the dragon has such a cute, smiley expression on it's face!

The damage is obvious in the pictures - a big chunk out of the dish part, glued back in, though there is also a crack in the tail where it is curled around the stem.
I paid £80 for it - I don't reckon that was too bad given the dragon itself is undamaged apart from the tail crack.

[johnphilip]

Its refered to as a Dragon Compote in the book .

[Bernard C]

Sue - Facon de Venise, or more correctly Façon de Venise, was a very specific term to describe C16 and C17 glass made in the Venetian style, initially by emigré Venetian glassmakers and later by those they trained.   Made in several parts of Europe, including England, to satisfy the huge increase in demand for quality glass, the bulk of the production was in the Netherlands.   It can be very difficult indeed, sometimes impossible, to distinguish between Façon de Venise and the contemporary glass made in Venice.   From memory (mine has been tidied away somewhere) Mark West has a useful 2-page illustrated introduction to Façon de Venise in his Miller's Guide Glass.

Unfortunately the early date requirement has been relaxed, initially by optimistic auctioneers and proprietors of expensive antique shops, and now by eBay sellers, all looking for classy words to describe their wares.   So now you can't rely on this sadly abused term meaning little more than old-style Venetian repro.   I've even seen it used to describe modern old-style Venetian made on Murano, which is tautologous in the extreme, and makes me laugh (or weep tears of pity)!

So, Sue, if your lovely comport was made on Murano, it cannot be Façon de Venise, or, at least, not unless you are in the habit of saying Stourbridge glass made in Stourbridge or Whitefriars glass made by Whitefriars.   

Bernard C. 

[chopin-liszt]

Thank-you for this clarification over facon de Venise Bernard. (I can't get my computer to do cedillas). I was a bit unsure, which is why I asked. This really is not my usual area of glass, though one I much admire, normally in museums.
However, I shall continue to call it a bon-bon dish as it is MINE    and I utterly detest the words compote and comport. I use tazza, confit or, in this case, a bon-bon dish. It is far too delicate to consider putting anything in it other than the tiniest, hand-made sweetmeats and even then, only for the most prestigeous of ocassions.

If I was ever reduced to having to sell it however, I may condescend to compote.  :thup: