Author Topic: Kuttrolf Decanters... (Read 11522 times)

Pinkspoons · « **on:** January 22, 2006, 09:52:47 PM »

I know they're often all generically thought of as by Holmegaard... but I know they're not. Like this one I've just bought probably isn't.

Any ideas, anyone, about the age/country of origin/maker of this one?

I'm guessing it dates from 1900-1930. Origin/maker? I'm stumped. I'm not really well versed in that period of Scandinavian glass, but it looks more continental European to me. Just a guess.

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2006, 11:11:34 PM »

Oh, found this one with a very similarly styled stopper (although the moulding on this one is better than mine - judging by the photographs):

HERE

Coincidence or no?

nigel benson · « **Reply #2 on:** January 23, 2006, 12:07:13 AM »

Hi,

I thought the following information might be useful here, since you are perfectly right that Kuttrolf decanters are not synonimous with Holmegaard.

McConnell writes this about them in his book The Decanter An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650, on page 151:

"The date of the earliest Kuttrolf is unknown, but multi-necked vessels were made in Syria and Roman Gaul c 400-500. A twist-necked version [no stopper, but wide neck] is illustrated in a 15th century woodcut (plate 214), and a young man is seen drinking from another in van Ratgeb's painting The Last Supper, c1510. The Kuttrolf continued in production throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and enjoyed a popular revival between c1890 and 1930."

On page 416 he goes on to illustrate a number of Kuttrolfs, including three line drawings of Holmegaard and another of a Kastrup, dating from 1923 to 1930. As we know they also produced them in the 1960's and 1970's.

Looking at your one, it seems that the stopper has a different mould pattern to its surface, which concerns me, since I would have expected the stopper to reflect the base. Interestingly the problem occurs on the one shown on the link.

This brings me to a discussion about what I perceive to be to common problem, the swopping and replacement of stoppers on decanters. It is not always easy to tell when this has occurred, but one indication is usually when the base and top don't match, however well they might fit. After all it is easy enough to find a reasonable, or approximate, match and have it ground in - provided that the peg is large enough. Further is is perfectly easy to inscribe a number to the stopper to match that of the body (should there be one).

Of course this can happen within the history of the piece, since stoppers do get lost or misplaced by owners (often when moving) so a replacement might be many years old. However it happens it will effect the commercial value of a piece - but not necessarily its enjoyment.

Nigel

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #3 on:** January 23, 2006, 09:14:48 AM »

Thank you for the information - I knew vaguely of the Roman origins of the decanter, but none of the rest of it.

I shall have to re-photograph the decanter when it arrives because to my eye the stopper looks like it might have the same pattern as the bod of the decanter. But it is hard to tell.

Also, I don't know if production of Holmegaard kuttrolfs stopped for a while, but they've also been making them sometime within the last 5-10 years, as they pop up on eBay new and boxed every now and then.

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #4 on:** January 23, 2006, 09:28:55 AM »

Oh, I forgot to ask - is there any difference between a 1920's/30's Kastrup kuttrolf and a Holmegaard one? I've only seen 1950's Kastrup ones, and they look near-identical to slightly later HG ones.

nigel benson · « **Reply #5 on:** January 23, 2006, 03:53:48 PM »

Hi,

The illustrations for Holmegaard and Kastrup in McConnell's book on page 461 are only line drawings, so it is not possible to draw accurate conclusions regarding the difference between the two types of Kuttrolfs.

It is noticable that the stopper on the Kastrup one has a shorter shank and the sphere shape of the stopper is a true "O" form, whereas those by Holmegaard have a tapering ball running into a longer shank. However, I would not personally draw too much from this, since it is only from one small period of their history. Furthermore, it is only a small group of examples and, moreover in the drawn form.

Sadly, this is just another connundrum in the world of glass, more particular another within 20th century decanters.

Nigel

Frank · « **Reply #6 on:** January 23, 2006, 11:22:08 PM »

These things are everywhere here! I went to a big collectors market in Utrecht and every other stall, of hundreds, had at least one... Ivo can probably explain this one.

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2006, 12:29:59 AM »

They don't often come onto fayres in the UK - and when they do the sellers always want £50-100 for the bog-standard ones, and upto £400 for some of the silver-collared ones! :shock:

I've had to buy every one of mine from eBay to acquire them sensibly priced.

Oh, another kuttrolf question.... did Holmegaard make the decanters with the crown-shaped stoppers? I've seen many at fayres and in shops attributed to HG, but never any with labels.

Like so:

Anne · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2006, 04:16:52 PM »

Nic, I think so. I seem to remember there being a picture of one of these on the Holmegaard website at one time. They were a commemorative for the coronation or some such, I think.

Pinkspoons · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2006, 04:29:32 PM »

Oh, that's great then - I've now two more Holmegaard decanters than I thought.