Topic: Very thin Harlequin set of highball glasses - Scandinavian?

[catshome]

Good morning All,

I have a puzzle that started with ebay item 130682932336 – described as “6 VINTAGE BEAKER RIIHIMAKI LASI OY KAJ FRANCK FINLAND STUDIO GLASS 60s”.

I contacted the buyer – Jane - because the listing didn’t give a rim diameter and I have a set of 6 beakers that looked very similar, plus an additional one with a smaller diameter, and I wondered if any of mine were Kaj Franck as well.

All of the beakers we have between us are 155mm high.  Jane said the rim diameter on hers was about 57mm – except the red one is 60mm.  My 6 are 60mm and the odd one is 57mm. 

Then I thought maybe we could figure it out by using the weight, but we seem to have maybe 4 different glasses that all look very similar.

Jane has 5 with 57mm rims that weigh 80-100g, and 1 60mm rim weighs 150g.

I have 6 very thin glass ones with 60mm rims weighing 80-105g, and 1 slightly thicker glass with 57mm rim weighing 145g.

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-16439

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-16438

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-16441

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-16440

Is there any way to say if they are Kaj Franck, and are they Riihimaki or Nuutajarvi or something else?

Thanks as always
Cat

PS Please could somebody remind me how to make the pictures show in the topic

[rocco]

Cat, you can check out this site which features quite completely the Nuutajärvi and Iittala tableware ranges.

To me the colours don't look right for Nuutajärvi (but I stand to be corrected).
"Kaj Franck for Riihimäki" in that ebay description is just keyword spamming -- I am quite certain that Kaj Franck never designed for Riihimäen Lasi...

Michael

[Ivo]

The colours suggest Boussu, Belgium to me.

[catshome]

Thank you Ivo - yet another new name for me.  The best I can tell, the Boussu glasses have thicker bases than the thickness of the body of the glass.  I see what you mean about colour, although I don't have one of the distinctive yellow/gold glasses in my set which would have been a bit of a clincher.

[Ivo]

I know - I have a few samples here and there is some distinction between Iittala and Boussu quality. I don't think Iittala ever made the whole colour range as a set - so someone else must be made responsible. Boussu was a likely candidate (I have red, dark green, smoke and amethyst), and so is Kristalunie Maastricht, Empoli, and several German makers. And then there is Czechoslovakia, of course - and Sweden.

[catshome]

Harlequin highball glasses, very thin glass.  I thought possibly Lindshammar, but haven't been able to find this combination of colours - the red and blue are particularly distinctive.  Others are purple/amethyst, smoke, sage green, and teal.  They feel Scandinavian to me, but I'm open to other ideas.

Slightly concave bases which result in a small "hump" in the bottom of each glass.  Flat cut rims, which feel a little rough to the touch on a couple of glasses.  A few random bubbles and striations in the glass.

Approx. 15.5cm high x 6cm diameter, weights vary 84-108g.

They feel so fragile, I can't believe they've survived three moves unscathed.

Thank you for looking.

[catshome]

Just realised that I posted these in 2012......oops.  Adding link to original posting.   Quite understand if Mods want to delete this thread!

https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,47554.msg267605.html#msg267605

[chopin-liszt]

It looks, from your pic, as if the blue one is cased in clear. Is this correct? Are any others cased?
Not long ago, somebody posted a link to Belgian manufacturers of things like harlequin sets, but I don't know how to go about finding it.
I've lost all my bookmarks with the new pc.

[catshome]

Hi Sue.  No, none of them are cased.....must be a trick of the light.  Ivo suggested Boussu Belgium as a possibility, and quite a few other options in the original thread.  Boussu did look like a strong contender, especially for colour match on the red and blue, but they seem to have a really acid gold glass in each complete set.  Also, the bases look thicker than on mine.

https://www.getback-design.nl/Fotos%20Assortiment/Vergrootte%20fotos/Glas/Boussu%20Retro%20glasses.html

A good place to start for harlequin sets though.

[Anne]

Merged the two topics for you, Cat.