Topic: Austrian Ladies Cuspidor/Spittoon to identify

[Lucy D]

I have attached 3 photos of what I believe to be victorian era Ladies Cuspidor/Spittoons.  The one photo has WIEN painted in what appears to be gold leaf pen.  They measure approx 2 1/8" across opening and stand 1 1/2" tall.  They are hand blown with pontil marks on bottom.  I have 9 of these lovelies.
The color looks pink or cranberry in color.  Each shows a varying shade making me think the color was added as it was blown.  I am not an expert.  Some are darker in color than others some are lighter. 
The top out half has a smooth gold guilding with raised and textured swirling gold marks.  This swirling gold design varies from container to container.
There is also raised enamel flowers painted on the sides.  Again not all have the same amount of flowers.  Some have 2, some 3, and one has 2 double flower clusters.
The client I received them from said she purchased them from a high school friend who traveled frequently to Vienna Austria.  They were purchased at her friends estate sale.  My client loves to entertain and they were used as 'nut cups' back in the 30's or 40's.
Aside from the one cup that has "Wien" written on it there are no other marks that I can find.
They all weigh differently from 42g to 68g.  The plum colored mini jug weighs 100 and 101g I have 2 of these.  They measure 1 1/2" opening, 2 1/2" at widest part of jug (excluding handle), base measures 1 1/8", it stands 2 1/4" tall.  They are painted similarly but not exact.  I do see tiny air bubble and trace pigmentation from the plum color as it was added during blow time.
The bottom of all pieces is clear glass no color.  On a few of the pink cups there is a gold 1/16" outlining base.
If you need any additional information let me know.  I have searched for months and can not find anything close to this.  Another website was a great help in suggesting perhaps these were victorian ladies cuspidors from vienna.  Beyond that I am persevering.  My client has a keen eye and I can't brush this under the carpet till I fully understand what I have of hers.
 

[Lustrousstone]

Welcome to the board. I think you have souvenirs from Austria but made in either Bohemia or Murano. This sort of enamelling was and still is done in both areas. They could be almost any age but they are probably just little individual sugar (or other) bowls, particularly as you have a jug to match. Glass souvenirs were often not made where they were sold, the lettering being done to order by the supplier or afterwards at the behest of the wholesaler

[Lucy D]

Thank you for your quick reply.  what type of gold do you think they have?  I am trying to think of how to price them.  I had a similar thought as you when I pulled the plum jug out of the box.  So I am not surprised. 
Thanks again.

[Lustrousstone]

Real 24 carat gold. Almost all gilding is. I doubt they have much value though.
Can we have base shots, as I'm surprised you say they have pontil marks.

[Lucy D]

Hope this works.  Maybe it is just how glass is made and I am confusing it with a pontil.  But, I welcome any education you can share with me.  In the end all I want to do is learn.

thanks for your help.
LuAnn Thatcher

[Lustrousstone]

I think the marks are just cooling marks rather than a pontil mark.

[Ivo]

As the one example says Wien the items are most probably of Bohemian manufacture, not Italian.The technique is known as ' raised enamel and gold'  or in Italian ' terzo fuoco'  as annealing, enamel and gilding each required a n annealing round.
Main producer ovr many years has been Egermann and it would not surprise me if these turned out to be =. 
 
Similar items have been around since the 1880s. In collector terms they are not considered very valuable.

[Lucy D]

Thank you everyone for your help and information.  Ivo I value the information you shared.  One last question, what do you see with your eye that says they have low value?  It just takes time and experience for me in learning to see the value.
LuAnn

[Lustrousstone]

It's just what they are, not what we see. These enamelled items have been made for a very long time and similar are still being made and are thus all very hard to date.

[Paul S.]

feel sure I've also seen pieces with similar decoration in charity shops in the U.K. in quite recent times.

I did post the piece in the attached pix, about year or so back, and remember Ivo commenting then that it was probably a spittoon  -  so just thought I show it again out of interest (also since I can't now remember how to search and find my original post).

Based on the design of the handle, this is midish C19, and assuming it's a genuine piece then probably dates to 1850 - 60 period  -   the handle is of the top-down variety with the twiddly finial at the bottom.         Reasonable wear, and no 'ring', probably soda glass  -  and haven't a clue as to its origins.

In view of my large sample of one  - I'd assumed that these things were devoid of pouring lips due to the high viscosity of phlegm  -  perhaps conents have to be power washed out
But am sure Ivo will know if examples exist with pouring lips.