Topic: Another beautiful unknown vase?

[sdelzer71]

Ok, I have had pretty good luck on some of my other posts, so here goes. Another piece with no marks. No luck searching online or in books, so thought I would post it here! I have thought maybe it was a PeachBlow glass, maybe Mt Washington in the diamond/quilted pattern with applied camphor handles? its a beautiful peach color, pearl satin, mother of pearl? nice ruffled rim.

[Paul S.]

hi - welomce to the GMB.

I'm almost certain this isn't Peachblow, and you're probably correct with your description of diamond quilting on a cased white interior  -  in the U.K. we tend to call these 'diamond pattern satin air trap' - a decorative technique that had its origins somewhere around the 1880's.

I doubt that these were marked - at least in the sense that they were backstamped - so finding a maker is probably a non-starter  -  I believe that B. & S. were another maker on your side of the pond - in addition to Mt. Washington.          Probably several makers in the U.K., including T/Webb.         The books seem to suggest this was also made on the Continent of Europe - the Truitt's associate Weltz with this decorative feature, but no idea of other names.

As a type of glass, this was produced on both sides of the pond and in a variety of colours and shapes - the most attractive, possibly, being the Mt. Washington 'Rainbow Mother of Pearl' (on the base of which sometimes the word Patent is seen), and this is typified by a variety of colours, so best to avoid calling yours by this name.      The surface texture also apparently varied, and there are a variety of 'patterns', the best known of which is possibly herringbone.      The outside colour often shades downwards, but not always  -  many have simply a uniform colour throughout (on the outside).
Assume your description of 'camphor handles' is the equivalent of saying satinized??

Yours is a fairly classical shape with the ruffled rim etc., and I'd assume original, but whether this decorative feature has been copied subsequent to the C19 I've no idea.    We have folk here who collect this type of glass and might possibly have a better idea of origin than me.

[Ohio]

With the bi-coloration, the heavy (as in dull, dull, dull) satin treatment & the exaggerated thorn handles I venture early 50s through the early 60s Murano imported into the U.S. by the ton because U.S. collectors were infactuated by the Ruth Webb Lee books on art glass. If you talk with any experienced U.S. art glass dealer they will tell you that over 50% of the Mother Of Pearl/Air Trap seen in the U.S. today is Murano despite the common practice of attributing the stuff to Mt. Washington especially since Phoenix Art Glass (Monaca PA) in all probability outproduced MT.Washington regarding MOP/AT production. Due to collectors becomming educated of 50s Murano imports, MOP/AT prices are 1/2 of what they were just 15 years ago with one notable exception...rainbow no matter who/whom the manufacturer remain strong. 

[sdelzer71]

Thank you both Paul, and Ohio. So, I am to assume that I should represent this piece a Phoenix Consolidated art glass. Is it a vase, pitcher?  Its a lovely piece and beautiful colors.... The I call it 'cranberry to yellow' quilted pattern. It upsets me that other studios devaluate true pieces by mass producing replicas  or 'fakes' that people get taken for as antique collectables.

 I am thinking thats what my grandmother did, with several other pieces 'believed' to be L.C.T are in fact Lundberg, or Quezal or Steuben and ground down and etched with the name to increase the value. Still very beautiful, but worthless now, would have been better left the original studio.....

[chopin-liszt]

  I don't know - it would make the Steuben or Lundberg or Quezcal affordable to me, which it otherwise wouldn't be.

[Ohio]

No this in definately not Phoenix Art Glass. Best advice I can give you is as with the majority of this MOP/AT its awfully difficult to attribute it to any one manufacturer as it was made in the U.S. & Europe by multiple manufacturers so in this case just call it Mother of Pearl or Air Trap & don't get hung up on a singular attribution. Yes its a vase. Any time something of proven value emerges you can obviously expect reproductions, look-a-likes, replicas, etc. Personally I don't start calling them fakes unless an identifying marking (signature/label) is purposely placed on a piece in order to deceive &  in this day & age on-line there are numerous sites whereby signatures/labels can be compared, legitimate versus spurious such as an  LTC or Quezal signature or markings on a piece of Lundberg. Its been going on for the better part of a what?  a century when comes to glass. It is what it is.

[KevinH]

... call it 'cranberry to yellow' ...

I don't think this is cranberry or yellow [ * ]. More like amber (or orange) over opal (white) with the satin effect distorting the colours slightly, and where the lower part is blown out the colour "weakens" because of the stretching.

I have a vase (actually one of a pair) which is a similar colour, and is "air trap" but with herring bone pattern and is cased in clear without the satin finish:
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-2389
This shows the blowing and shaping effects on the colouring quite well.

My vases have similar style rims but without the clear trailed edge. They also have a similar style of foot. But mine are, I believe English (probably Stourbridge) and the V&A in London used to have on show a smaller, single-handled version otherwise identical to mine in colour and form - and they also had it labelled as "Stourbridge".

Ohio's comments on the many makers and countries is well made. I tend to think (without any proof) that the Murano versions of "air trap / MOP" are not so "sturdy looking" in that they have thinner layers.

[ * ] Edited later to say, please see my additional post below.

[flying free]

How about Czech? or Bohemian rather?
My first thought on this one would have been Czech for some reason 
The colours and that particularly greyish satin clear glass remind me of Franz Welz pieces (not suggesting it is a Franz Welz piece at all, just that  those features have strong similarities) and the thorny handles.
The airtrap looks well produced and I would have thought it was an older piece?
But my eye is off the ball at the mo 
m

[KevinH]

I still feel the actual colour over the opal is closer to amber, but looking again at the second image I can see why "yellow" has been suggested.

In fact, I recall seeing the same "yellowish" colour (or tint) on another "air trap / MOP" vase in a fair some years back, but again the yellow effect was not so clear on the upper parts of the neck and the underside of the rim.

[Paul S.]

opinions on colour do vary, and I'm seeing a sort of bronze ish shading out to a pearl-like pink  -  but colours can be subjective and influenced a lot by individual screens.

Discounting the small pieces of green felt-like patches, do we know if there is the sort of wear that might indicate substantial age as opposed to Ohio's suggestion of 1950's to 1960's production - and I wouldn't presume to question any of that information regarding the statistics of the high proportion of Murano pieces in the States, but just thinking of looking at other aspects of this piece that might help to date.

older pieces are found with both snapped and ground out pontil scars apparently, so no help there  -  but if you wanted to say this agreed with anything at all (superficially or otherwise), then it does appear to come close to features of Weltz pieces.

Popularity breeds imitation and someone makes money on the back of look-a-likes - we have to live with that, unfortunately, but it can make life difficult at times like this.