Topic: Butterfly, Bats & Garland - pressed glass dish seeking ID

[dirk.]

Hi

think I may have a new favourite pattern - at least for the moment. Found this lovely pressed glass
dish with an intriguing pattern this weekend.
While at Pamelaīs we already browsed a lot catalogues - to no avail. Anyone recognise it?
Itīs ca. 11.5cm wide.

TIA
Dirk

[obscurities]

No idea at all..... but way cool.... 

Craig

[chopin-liszt]

Abby Fabby.   

I'm wondering if the butterfly should be a moth - another creature of the night to go with the bats.
However, it does seem to have blobs at the ends of its antennae - which is a distinctly butterfly feature.
Moths' antennae are feathered or straight.

However, it is lying the way a moth does, with its wings open. Butterflies rest with their wings folded (unless they're trying to get warm from the sun.)

[neilh]

I haven't been able to find this design in my Ruth Webb Lee cup plate book, but there are a couple of butterfly plates in there, of simpler design, which are vaguely attributed to Eastern USA. Plates with a widespread stipple design tend to be early as this was used to cover up pressing faults, which were common pre 1850.

Your best indicator as to whether this is an early piece is pressing faults (= earlier) or the weight of the item (heavier tends to mean earlier).

They can be difficult to date as I believe a resurgence in cup plates fired off in the 1930s and many old designs were recycled.

Your design, being stippled, could be as early as 1830s but very difficult to tell... my guess would be circa 1850 and it's slightly more likely to be European...  - no firm facts I'm afraid, unless someone out there knows better...

[Anne]

Oh wow! Dirk that's fabulous, I love bats and have never seen them on a pressed glass design before. Have you browsed Arnold Becker's collection for a match? He has all sorts of patterns I've not seen before... http://www.pressglas.de

[antiquerose123]

Hi

think I may have a new favourite pattern ...

TIA
Dirk

Great Piece for OCTOBER . 

Really unique piece!!  YOU must have the only piece as I am not finding anything at all....not that I would, but I am trying here!!  This old Bat here is coming up empty on any search....LOL

[dirk.]

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments - much appreciated!

I like bats a great deal, too, and therefore like this dish very much. Hard to tell if thereīs something
like a program or meaning displayed on the dish. The metaphoric canon of times and places can vary
that much I donīt feel able to even dare a guess.

Pamela said a lot similar things to yours, Neil. Luckily I even found several of these and your criteria
concerning age apply to these - they are rather heavy. And they are quite different from each other
concerning their weight which seems to back up that theory also.

If they however really date this early it will surely become a task to ID them - if not impossible...
Letīs see.... 

[Sid]

Dirk

Cool plate.

Is it a lead based glass?  All the early cup plates are.  To test use two finder to hold the plate in the center flat area, then tap the edge gently making sure you are not touching it other than with your fingers.  Lead glass will give a lovely resonating bell-like ring.

If it not lead glass, it is not early.  If it is lead glass, it may be early or a later reproduction (some of which were made with lead glass).

Sid

[dirk.]

Thanks for the tip, Sid.
To be honest Iīm still undecided about the result though. To me it does indeed ring with a considerably
higher tone, but Iīm simply not sure itīs quite the effect you mean. 
Does the lead content rule apply to pressed glass everywhere?

[Paul S.]

quote .............."Moths' antennae are feathered or straight."..............so what about the poor burnets then?

quote.............."However, it is lying the way a moth does, with its wings open." ................... when resting, a moths hindwings are covered by their forewings, like the Larg Ranunculus in the attached pic which I snapped the other evening on the fence.

Lovely plate by the way Dirk - Transylvania perhaps - in view of the bats