Topic: large iridescent vase with bubbles,green & copper aventurine trailed ridged claw

[flying free]

Big at about 8 1/2" (22cm) tall by 6 1/2" (16.5cm) wide, copper and green aventurine splotches,  the base is odd, kind of marvered finish rather than a polished pontil mark, cleanly and neatly done but not a concentric circle design or anything like that if  it is a molded finish?  but the rim is firepolished and pulled, 6 pulls.  The trail is reeded and ends in a claw.  Lots of big bubbles in the decor.
The iridescent finish makes it impossible to photograph well lit as it just flattens all the detail because of reflection - the finish is like the Kralik millefiori iris pieces.
Any clues much appreciated
m

[keith]

Does look very Kralik that 'claw',presume you've already looked at Craig's site,another great find m,

[glassobsessed]

What happened to the Made in Italy label that was on it?

John

[flying free]

hmmm, yes I thought it might have been John.  Something about the actual glass reminded me of a Stelvia opalescent (footed with the brown swirl patches) vase I had a long while ago, but the iridescent finish on the surface is a new one on me, so it might be much newer than the Stelvia vase.
Have you seen them in TK Maxx?  - I was  just curious because of the claw trail.  I'm off to look up Italian vases with reeded trails now.
Keith, yes I did look it up just in case but the glass itself is a kind of odd type of glass - it does have that iridescent finish that the Millefiori Kralik pieces have but there's something not quite 'the same' about the vase as a whole.  Looks great on the shelf so it's a better example than my STELVIA vase for me, which had an odd pattern and a shape I didn't like (footed goblet type), if indeed it's from the same place.  I've also noticed some odd vases on ebay two or three times that have a sort of mottled snakeskin type looking pattern on them on an off white background.  They are nice shapes but I suspect they are from the same source.
 
m

[glassobsessed]

Between the time I looked at it and you bought it the seller must have removed the label (on the base). It said "Made in Italy" but with no other information, just to confuse things further I was not certain the label belonged...

I thought Kralik when I first saw it too but it did not feel quite right when picked up.

John

[flying free]

no, it's odd I agree - a heavy vase, but not overly thick glass, heavy because it is cased in clear with a thick foot but the rest of the glass is quite thin even with the aventurine on it.   I also thought the base finish was odd combined with a pulled rim and an applied trail.  It doesn't have a huge amount of wear on the base either.

The good things about it are the aventurine is well done, not overcooked and sparkles brilliantly, and with the iridescent surface it looks great under lighting.  And the applied trail is beautifully done and with the iridescent finish it looks good quality.

I'll have a look around and see if I can find anything similar in shape or finish to compare.

m

[obscurities]

Here is my 2 cents worth......  I would start by saying it is actually a pretty vase.... 

Chinese glass....  they are getting very good.....  One of the first clues to me is the fire polished rim and also the missing pontil scar on the base. Not always an indicator, but a start.....

The second clue is the missing Italian label, as products like these have been made in China and sold as Italian glass. I believe as a part of the huge scandal where the Italian government seized Chinese glass and Italian labels from importers in Italy who were misrepresenting the country of origin.

Lastly, I will attach an image of my piece which is similar in style, in that it mimics early Bohemian glass. I posted this example on CW quite a while ago and when I did I was directed to an almost identical example with the Italian label and the Chinese attribution.  I can not remember what the label said on it, but absolutely no doubt of the provenance of the piece I looked at.

Fire polished rim and no pontil mark. Nicely irridized Silberiris style appliques on the sides. Took a chance when I bought a pair cheap online and got what I paid for....  and a good lesson about Chinese glass as it evolves....  :-)  At least it was a rather cheap lesson.

Craig

[flying free]

yep I'd say that body shape is almost identical.
and I've remembered about the snakeskin effect pieces, I've not found a vase yet to share but I'm sure that they are the same source as this.  I also had a lampshade a long while ago which was lovely and again a snakeskin type pattern though different to the vases I'm thinking of.   I've subsequently run across a few variations of it in different colours and as soon as I saw them I immediately  thought  aha Chinese production.

Mine was dirt cheap after I listened to the seller moan that he hadn't sold anything, no one was buying and the fair was too big lol, so it was very much worth it.  Looks great on the shelf and good piece to have as a comparison for future reference.
Thanks for all your help

m

[obscurities]

My pleasure.... as always....

Craig

[glassobsessed]

Saw a vase today that reminded me strongly of yours m with similar claw like trail. It had an "Arte Murano, Lavorazione, Made in Italy" sticker.

Same shape as this one but a different colour: http://www.fossilfly.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=2278

John