Topic: Large Elephant, any info? ID = Made in Mexico

[kjsammy]

I would appreciate any info on this large, heavy, glass elephant. Measures nearly 13 inches to top of head, almost 16 to top of trunk. There are not any marks or labels. I doubt it is made in China. Murano a possibly? Any other possibilities?

[Mr. Turnip]

Well if it's any consolation people are at least looking! It is unusually large - even for an elephant. No idea where it's from though... Murano is mostly a mystery to me but unhelpfully, Chinese glass can pop up anywhere in the UK (I've noticed you are in USA). Where did you find it?

[kjsammy]

It was found at an estate sale and I was told it was 'early glass, probably pairpoint'. Of course, a lot of older glass in the US is not marked. I am sure I paid too much but it is wonderful looking, much better in person. My pictures of it do not come out very well. There are tusks, wrinkles or folds in the ears, the end of the trunk is especially accurate, with 'fingers'. It is so heavy, not hollow. Oh, I don't think pairpoint made anything like that huge elephant. Could it be Chinese? If anyone has easy suggestions of how to take better pictures of clear glass with a point and shoot let me know. Thank you Mr. Turnip.

[rosieposie]

Have a look at this Ellie,  Kjsammy, it is Murano Glass by Loredano Rosin glass factory and has very many features that your ellie has.  It looks as though yours has bullicante,  but this one does not.  However other features such as the ears, trunk, tail and stand are very similar.

http://www.rubylane.com/item/312573-magele/Murano-Art-Glass-Elephant-Sculpture

[kjsammy]

Amazing Rosieposie. They are from the same maker! Thank you! I googled until I felt it futile and never found that elephant on rubylane. On the other hand, before the internet, I never would have found an answer . Fantastic 

[TxSilver]

kjsammy, I did some looking for information about your elephant and Loredano, but couldn't come up with anything definite. I found some information on Loredano. I was surprised to see how sketchy it was. If the Ruby Lane elephant was from Loredano's factory in the late 1950s, it would have been Artvet. I got the feeling Loredano and his brother Mirko started Artvet in the late 1950-early 1960s. I looked around for things from Artvet, but didn't have much luck. I ran across a large fish signed "L. Rosin" on bottom. I remember seeing that fish on Fossilfly a while back. It looks like no one has reached a conclusion yet on it.

One word of caution -- I've learned to question people's memory of the history of an item. Sometimes the memories can be like a game of gossip, with the details changed a bit between people hearing the history. And sometimes the memories can be false. I've seen people selling glass they swore they bought in Venice in the 1950s and I know it is a contemporary piece from elsewhere. In the case of the elephant -- I know it is a good one, since I've seen a better photo of it than those here. The Ruby Lane information gives you a good direction for research, but there are over 50 years that the memory of the item could have changed. I hope you can verify it is right.

[TxSilver]

I just checked Murano Magic and saw that Loredano and company founded Artvet in 1964. Before that Loredano worked for other people. If the Murano Magic dates are correct, the RL elephant data may be a bit off. But I also know things are not so black and white when it comes to Murano glass, so Loredano may have had a personal operation that is not recorded in the book.

[kjsammy]

Thanks TxSilver. Yes, I understand that the objects are not signed, there is no label and the ruby lane description of "Venetian art glass collection bought in Italy during the late 1950's" is not really different than my being told it was early pairpoint.

I does seem that the same person would have made both elephants though, no? Is it likely that there are more large elephants? When making glass objects, would an artist do a couple, a few, many of the same thing?

There are large art glass objects by Loredano and Dino Rosin and they are sculptures (rather than a blown vase or bowl) so I guess that attribution is a possibility. Pairpoint is not.

Thank you for your information.

[TxSilver]

I found a few more elephants and other animal (steinbok?) that were like this at LiveAuctioneers.com. They were called Murano, but none of them were attributed beyond that. None had labels. But at least we know there are a few of these out there.

[TxSilver]

Here's one that has a label. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/12233803_art-glass-elephant-sculpture-made-in-mexico-appr

I have a picture of an elephant that is very similar to yours, but on a different base. The picture that I have (not mine, so I can't show here) has a label that reads "Cristales de Murano s.a., Hecho en Mexico."

So mystery solved. Made in Mexico.