Topic: Large Battuto Vase

[ardy]

Hi All

Nothing special to report but picked this up as a user not a show'er. Like it myself but an not enamoured by it so blast away.

SIze is 41cm (16") high and 150mm (6") wide

Weighs about 2.5k's

Don't expect anyone to know anything about this and it may get bumped out of Murano. Still we live in hope.

Ardy

[Pinkspoons]

Looks a bit like the battuto coming out of China for the last few years.

I've seen some rudimentary incalmo glass littering the discount homeware shelves too.

[ardy]

That was a bit of a shock Pinkspoons. I did not expect it to be chinese. I guessed it was not Murano but thought it was better quality than some of the chinese pieces I have seen. Only mould blown but I thought the buttato was good quality. Maybe I need to change my level of sneering about Chinese glass.

[Pinkspoons]

I'm quite happy to be wrong, of course.

The main difference between the ones I've seen and your vase is that the definitely Chinese ones had the usual rough-ground base... but the kinds of large, simple, shapes and colour combinations are very very similar.

I was quite surprised at the quality of the decorative cutting on the few Chinese battuto pieces I've handled in shops. The incalmo glass, too, was about as good as some of the lower-end Murano furnaces.

[ardy]

Yes it seems that they are improving rapidly. Will have to re-double my efforts as this is the second piece of Chinese I have bought as house vases ie not collectables. My worry is when I buy what I am sure is an Archimede Seguso piece and it turns out to be Chinese!

[Pinkspoons]

I suspect a lot of collectors are not looking forward to the time when some glassworks in China decides that a bit of attention to detail in the standard of base finish might be worth their while.

[post modern nut]

I have a good friend who spent 2 years in China teaching glass techniques.  He just finished his MFA in glass and is now in Europe.  So, yes, there technique is getting better and better.  I think it will depend on which company produces work, but one will never know.  Will Chinese glass be collectible some day? 

[ardy]

I have a good friend who spent 2 years in China teaching glass techniques.  He just finished his MFA in glass and is now in Europe.  So, yes, there technique is getting better and better.  I think it will depend on which company produces work, but one will never know.  Will Chinese glass be collectible some day? 

Only if their standard of living doesn't overtake their needs. Nobody in the Western world will study murano glass making for 14 years like Seguso, nor live on a pittance whilst doing so. The speed that Chinese techniques are improving, there may be a few years where cost of labour will still be low enough and their skill high enough to make the pieces collectable in 50 years and affordable when bought.

[kane_u_pain]

Hi Ardy,

These were sold through Casa Domani...I saw a similar piece in an Op Shop with a label. I took pics on my phone, will upload them here soon

Didn't say what country they were made in though on the label...so China could be a good bet...

[chopin-liszt]

I thought I'd positively id'd a bit of Chinese glass in a local antique centre. It was massive, gaudy, thick, chunky and decidedly non-artistic.
It had a massive price tag on it too.

  on closer inspection, I discovered it was Muller Freres...

(Although somebody may have faked a mark. I don't know what the corrrect mark is to be able to be sure.)