Topic: ID Help - Murano fish

[tropdevin]

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Can anyone tell me which factory in Murano is likely to have made the fish paperweight shown below?  It is 3.5 inch / 91 mm diameter, 2.5 inch / 63 mm tall, and has a flat, polished base.  I have had the suggestion it is Barbini / Cenedese, but I am not convinced - however, I know little about these items.

Alan

[KevinH]

See also this message from 2008, where discussion touched on Cenedese "Fish Block" designs by Licata as well as general "Orb" type Fish.

No real conclusion was reached but for the "Orb" types I mentioned, "I have also heard of these being attributed to Fratelli Toso or Venini."

[TxSilver]

The fish pws are difficult. So many of them are misattributed online and so few have labels. The fins of the fish remind me of the ones done by Seguso Dalla and Fratelli Toso, but the bubbly blue inclusion reminds me more of something I would expect from Archimede Seguso, Barbini, or Aureliano Toso. The brown with gold and the size of the fish are delightful. I would say probably not F. Toso or Seguso Dalla because the seaweed is much different than their standard. The quality of the dome looks better than most A. Toso weights I've seen. I am favoring Archimede Seguso or Barbini, but these are just guesses.

[tropdevin]

Hi Kev and Anita

Thanks for the comments and link to the earlier thread.

The fish itself and the weed do have much in common with the Cenedese / Licata fish on modernistglass.com linked to in that thread, and the Google search for Cenedese / Licata fish turns up a couple of similar examples - but can we be sure is the attribution correct there!

Alan

[TxSilver]

The fin of the fish do resemble the Cenedese blocks. I didn't consider Cenedese because most the signed things I've seen by them have thin, well-defined seaweed strands that appear tangled, rather than straight. I'm sure that they could have deviated from this form, however, if the design called for it.

[KevinH]

Alan, is the fish in the side of the weight or on the top (like a floating dying fish)? And how is the base finished? More photos would be good.

But I will say now that even with extra info and photos, I will not be able to suggest a maker. However, I agree with Anita's point that the seaweed in this weight does not seem to be of the same quality as the Cenedese (Licata) work.

[tropdevin]

Hi Kev.

The fish and weed are in the 'conventional' paperweight cushion position. The base is polished flat. Click to enlarge images.

Alan

 

[KevinH]

Thanks, Alan. That's a variation I have not seen before!

[TxSilver]

I saw a couple of fish blocks listed on AntiqueHelper.com that were attributed to Barbini for Cenedese. The filaments of the seaweed were similar to your fish paperweight. The blocks on Antique Helper were not signed, so I don't know if they are attributed correctly. Just thought I would mention it.

I keep coming back to how much the fins look like Fratelli Toso. I wish we could find one like this with a label.