Topic: Glass urn, Bohemian? English? Date?

[quill]

What on earth is this?  Okay, yes, besides a glass urn!  I thought maybe a Victorian/European thing, but could any of you gurus narrow it down?  And how was it made, pray? See all the little cutout bits on the reverse?

It's all right, you can tell me if it was mass-produced in Indonesia last month.

Mrs Quill thought it was pretty.

Mrs Quill probably shouldn't be let out alone.  At least not with a credit card!

[keith]

I take it it's glass with gilding? are the flowers painted on or transfers?I would guess Bohemian but it's only a guess I'm afraid,Keith.

[keith]

I suppose I should say why I think that;the flower panel reminds me of the decoration on a vase of mine that is(probably) Bohemian,

[quill]

Yes, Keith:  white & clear glass with gilding.

I took them to be painted on;  now you've got me second guessing.  Is there a simple way to tell, or you just get to know after handling a few thousand pieces?

[KevinH]

Bohemian, 19th century. I can't be more precise than that, though.

Nice to see an example that is simply gilded on white-cut-to-clear rather than the white-cut-to-green or white-cut-to-cranberry. Painted panels like those were quite typical. I have a goblet vase (white-cut-to-green) with three panels of flowers and one panel of a portrait of a lady.

[keith]

If you look closely at the painting,if it is,you should see brush marks and it may feel raised to touch,transfers are flat, can overlap at the edges or be off centre and may show signs of wear,Keith.

[Lustrousstone]

Transfers should also show the screen printing dots if looked at under a lens. Hand painting and transfer both wear and may both feel raised though.

[quill]

Thanks very much, everyone, very helpful.

[KevinH]

Here are some pics of my vase showing the complete item and sections of the painted parts:

The full thing (distortion in view due to wide angle image)
The most complex of the three flower medallions
Closeup of part of the young lady's portrait
Closeup of one part of the Flower medallion
Closeup of another part of the Flower medallion

[Frank]

Transfers should also show the screen printing dots if looked at under a lens. Hand painting and transfer both wear and may both feel raised though.

Not necessarily, many techniques of making transfers including hand painting - but the most commonly seen will show some screen if photographic, but there are also continuous line transfers in which colours are applied individually to the carrier.

Cold transfers can wear, most common on US glass. Hot transfers are printed with enamels and fired into the glass and this tends to be permanent with the exception of metallicised enamels that do not fuse as well.

see also http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,6965.0.html