Topic: Finely etched glass decanter, gilt detail. Venetian or Bohemian?

[chriss]

Hi I have a finely etched (to me) decanter standing 9 and a half inches tall. I think the etching is hand done and appears to me to be cut in 2 ways (possibly with a wheel?) as the bird and other detail seems almost ground down and opaque like, but the line detail seems very clean cut and clear (sorry it's not very well described :/). There is basic gold gilt line detail. It has no pontil mark, polished or otherwise, and the base is very very flat and smooth with sharp edges where it meets the sides, like you can find on older glass sometimes. There are no makers mark or labels. Can anyone identify this please and give me any info about it please? Thank you     

[Paul S.]

Hello  -  Not sure of your reasons for suggesting Venetian - to me it appears to have had its origins more probably in Czechoslovakia, some time around the 1930 - 1950 period - perhaps a little earlier  possibly.       The shape is typical of that period, and the gold banding is a common decorative feature on pieces from that area - they are often very heavily banded with gilt - sometimes parts of the glass have a frosted effect, and the glass can be other than clear.         This might possibly be part of a cocktail set.            I believe these are mould blown, which accounts for the flat base  -  the top rim may well be ground/polished, and possibly beveled.

However, the surface patterning (birds etc.) is all wheel engraved (the word etching is used only if a wet acid process is involved) - and different sized wheels achieve different effects/depths.              Worth remembering that not all engraved pieces started life decorated thus - in some instances wheel engraving is known to have been applied later.

I don't get the impression these pieces were ever backstamped  -  they were made very commonly and only if you're lucky do you rarely find a label still intact.

[Paul S.]

Sorry, that last comment is incorrect  -  assuming this is Czechoslovakian, then there are a variety of applied backstamps, acid etched, ink stamped and occasionally moulded  -  almost all of which use the word Czechoslvakia in some way or another.         Unfortunately, not all pieces are marked though.........and some marks are indistinct and difficult to see.
Apparently, pieces manufactured later in the period are more inclined to have paper labels only (so the book says)