Topic: Spatter glass vase, optical stripes, satinated surface

[rocco]

I am well aware that these vases are hard to attribute, but this one has some interesting features, so I am trying my luck

Height 16 cm, moulded base, cut rim.
Outside satinated, the inner layer shows a pattern of vertical transparent stripes (from an optical mould I guess), with the finger I can feel a very slight ribbing at the inside.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Michael

[Paul S.]

Hello Michael.  -  Assume you can't find the word Czechoslovakia anywhere  -  very typical of the colourway and shape of pieces from that area in the period 1920 - 1940.          Ruth A. Forsythe does comment in her book that some of these mottled pieces had a satin finish, so presumably not a rare variation.          Is this piece cased in either a colour or clear, can you see?
Not very useful thoughts - hopefully someone else will have a better idea.

[rocco]

Hi Paul,
thanks a lot for your thoughts, very much appreciated.
I had hoped that the satin finish would probably point towards a maker, but if it was used by several makers, then it won't help.

I did check the base, but unfortunately no "Czechoslovakia" anywhere.
As far as I can see the vase is composed of an inner spatter glass layer with the stripes, and an outer clear casing which has been satinated, both equally thick (funny side note - each of my few Bohemian Art Deco pieces is composed of 2 evenly thick layers).

I think possible candidates would be Ruckl (like this satinated vase >> Link) or Welz (l found several striped pieces online), but I couldn't find a match for the shape or the decor so far.

edit: this >> Ruckl vase has a rather similar feel to mine.

Michael

[obscurities]

These decors are nearly impossible to attribute unless you can link it through a series of decors and shapes. Satin spatter was likely made by a wide variety of companies. 

Also, I am not so sure either of the linked pieces are Ruckl. Possibly on the cream and brown one. Not so sure on the striped bowl.

Craig

[rocco]

Thank you very much, Craig!

The only satinated pieces I could find online were both attributet to Ruckl, so I thought that was a possibility.
Well, obviously there are others...

I will just leave it down as Bohemian satin spatter then

Michael

[Paul S.]

Hi Michael......            I hate to be Mr. Picky, but...............

I might suggest that we should be calling this piece Czechoslovakian rather than Bohemian............    assuming made somewhere in the period I mentioned - then that area had ceased to be called Bohemia since the end of the first war, although I do appreciate that stickers saying Bohemia are found even now on some glass.
Ruth Forsythe uses the description Czechoslovakia when referring to this type of material.

[rocco]

Paul, thanks!

I wouldn't call you picky
Totally agree that accurate terms should be used.

I had thought that "Bohemian" referred to the glass making region rather than to a country (which was the Austrio-Hungarian monarchy at the turn of the century, and Czechoslovakia after WWI).

Michael

[obscurities]

Both of the terms seem to be used depending on application. As an example my website is about Bohemian glass, as it covers both pre and post WWI periods. I agree with Paul in that the term Bohemian is WWI production and Czech with post WWI production, but not all folks use the terms that way.  Personally, I generally associate the term "Bohemian" with a geographical area, and I associate the word Czech or Czechoslovakian with a historical time frame.  Many people now also seem to use the word Czech to describe glass from as early as 1900, due to it's artistic style......  as it appears the word is being generalized into describing a style of glass also...

As far as the satin decors go....... Although the Tango exhibition in 2011 showed a variety of Ruckl decors in a satin finish, there are many more examples of satin finish production that are completely unattributed at this point. It seems that the marketplace has, though a series of unfortunate events, hung the name Ruckl on many satin finish pieces which may or may not be by them. Although it is obvious that Ruckl produced glass, there is really little robust research or documented studies of what their production may have been.

I have, as a minor sideline to my Welz research, been starting to work on trying to create at least a partial idea of what they may have produced in the way of some decors and shapes.  Figuring it out in a reasonable manner is quite the lengthy and involved process.

As an example, I have only likely touched the tip of the iceberg with Welz production, and have been studying it as my primary area of research for over 5 years now.

Craig

[obscurities]

I am adding some images from a friends collection. These represent a portion of the satin pieces owned by them, and most of these are by unknown sources at this point. There are a couple of known Kralik examples, there may also be a couple of other Kraliks.... suspected but not attributed yet. There are a couple which may be Welz but unattributed at this point, and there are also a couple which are likely Ruckl.... the rest???  Your guess is as good as anybody's at this point.

I have added these simply to show that satin finish, and it's attribution to Ruckl in the marketplace is, IMHO, quite misguided.

Craig

[rocco]

Craig, thank you so much for your in depth answer!
Your site is always the first I go to when I try to research glass from that region/period.

And thanks for posting the pics.
That collection of satin spatter is great, and even with my limited knowledge I spotted a few satinated Kralik pieces there.
(And some pieces with a faint similarity to my vase, looking at the colours and the stripey pattern)

Regarding the Bohemia issue:
The way I used to apply these terms was up to now: pre 1945 -> Bohemian, post 1945 -> Czech(-oslovakian, to be correct).
But I see that this may not be the correct way, so I will be a little more careful in the future

Michael

P.S.: a possibly very stupid question: how many makers could have made these spatter glass pieces? -- Is it just a matter of attributing them to one of the makers we know have produced this style? (So it is either Kralik or Welz or Ruckl, and we just don't know which one)
Or are there dozens of other / unknown companies massproducing spatter glass in the 1920s/30s/40s?