Topic: Opaque cased orange lidded box - coralene stylised coral decoration - ID = Kralik

[flying free]

I've done quite a bit of searching on this one and found some amazing examples of coralene vases/boxes etc, but nothing like this so far.
 To me, it looks as though it should be Italian for some reason, perhaps because of the gold on the knob, but I feel it is Bohemian?  It's  a bit strange because it has this beautiful decoration and yet when I held it up to the light, you can see pin prick marks on the orange (see bottom pic) that show through to the clear and the lid whilst it is obviously the right one, is very slightly looser than it probably should be iykwim?  Any thoughts on country or maker would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks
m

[flying free]

more pics

[keith]

Seen a few bowls like this in 'Tango' colours,orange,yellow etc.. with clear glass finials,same shape and presumed they were Bohemian,never seen one with coralene decor' before,not much help am I?

[flying free]

Thanks Keith   I can find quite a few boxes or vases with leaves/flowers in coralene on, but only more fancy vases with this coral type design of coralene and I can't find anything in this cased orange glass with that decor.  Mind you I have very few books and none specifically for Bohemian glass.  I'll keep looking.
m

[Lustrousstone]

I think it is common to find pinprick "holes" in the coloured layer. I have a red vase the same. I think it is because it is not coloured glass cased in clear but rather clear glass lined with colour. I think it is done by blowing a thin bubble of coloured glass into a much larger bubble of clear glass, and then blowing it all into the mould. Any tiny bubbles in the coloured layer would then burst to give tiny "holes". That's certainly how the semi-lined opal/milk pieces were done. It also makes sense as colour is expensive and a little bit goes a long way.

I suspect Bohemian is as good as you are going to get. I've a feeling one of the big UK manufacturers (Stevens and Williams perhaps or Richardson) used this coral pattern (but I can't remember how it was done) in the late 19C and this may well be an example of cross fertilisation of ideas, as this is 1930s perhaps through to the 1950s.

I think the lids on these powder bowls are usually loose. They were only covers, not seals.

[flying free]

Thank you Christine   and I see what you mean about the colour being blown into clear rather than coloured then cased in clear.  It definitely makes sense on this piece.

m

[Lustrousstone]

I've just discovered where I've seen this coralene coral before. It's a Goldberg decor (Goldberg was a decorating company). Unfortunately yours doesn't look the same quality...   

[flying free]

Hi , Christine thanks for the information  

I meant to reply on this but forgot.  Alfredo has id'd this as Kralik from the 1929/1930 Butler Brothers catalogue.  

After you posted I had another look at it.  To be honest I have no books to look at so I can't reference Goldberg and understand what kind of variation there is in quality.  However I have taken more photos and had a good look round the net to try and find similar examples and see what difference there might be between others and this one.  
Originally I just bought it because I loved it so didn't look too closely apart from to realise immediately about the pin prick holes in the orange.  I took pics having done a lot of searching and posted it up.
Having looked more closely again now, it is in really good condition and appears to be well made.  There is minimal damage to the coralene,  the rim of the lid and the bowl are both ground and polished and there appears to be only a tiny rough edge to the lid on the ground edge in one part and some pin prick size fleabites really minute on the edge of the rim on the lid (I recognise this doesn't impact on the decoration quality).  The coralene really glistens under light presumably because it is clear coralene beads, I didn't think I had seen clear beads on any other of the vases I saw.  I have posted more pictures to show the decor more clearly and when lit properly it is pretty beautiful.

However having taken photos again under a very strong halogen light, I noticed something odd.  See photos below.  I got a bit of a shock as I could see 'glue' trailing under the beads.  I felt pretty certain that this is not a fake and that this is not recent decoration on an older box :huh: But having never seen another piece, I investigated further and found two links, one to a piece listed as Webb and another to a piece listed as Harrach.  When I examined them more closely it appears to me that they are also made of clear beads but the difference is they have coloured glue under the beads making the decor 'appear' a different colour.  The coral effect is the same as mine and so is the application. So I am none wiser on what the difference in quality may be     I think the following photos show it in a better light?  What do you think?  m

[flying free]

further pics and links to other Webb and Harrach pieces (Scroll along enlargements to see the glue effect I mentioned particularly the middle shot of the Harrach piece and enlargement 3 of the Webb piece).  Both these show the coloured 'glue' clearly and the beads.  I can't see any difference to them and mine   
But did I read rightly on a previous thread that coralene can either be heat applied or glued?  I took out of it that glued implied lesser quality.  Is that part of what the difference in quality is that you mean?  If beads are heat applied are they glued on first then reheated - if so do they change shape. I think what I mean is how would I know that mine hadn't been glued then heated, rather than just glued? 
m

[flying free]

http://www.malleries.com/beautiful-harrach-coralene-mother-of-pearl-glass-vase-webb-i-20197-s-38.html

http://www.trocadero.com/hda/items/717005/item717005store.html