Topic: Mystery (art nouveau?) vase, opaque teal with golden iridescent crackle pattern

[rocco]

I was intrigued by the colour of this vase since I first saw it a few weeks ago at the fleamarket.
Yesterday it had wandered to a cheaper stall, so I purchased it

Delicate vase, 13.5 cm high, four indentations to the sides, rim fire-polished, neat circular polished pontil mark.

Teal coloured, glossy surface, with a slightly iridescent golden crackle pattern. In some areas there is another layer of cobalt blue glass visible, but not from the inside (see pics).
So 3 or 4 layers in a quite thin-walled piece...

I did search for hours yesterday, but couldn't find much.
First thought as usual was "Bohemian", so I looked through those fabulous websites by Craig and others.
Similar shapes, similar techniques (Lötz "Mimosa", Kralik "Soft Crackle"), but no real match, especially regarding colours or lustre.

Remarkably similar is this red crackle vase by Durand >> Link

But I always tend to think that American glass is rather unlikely to be found here in Austria.
And I don't know if the Durand attribution is correct -- other Durand crackle pieces I found on the web looked quite different.

Thanks for any help!
Michael

[glassobsessed]

Interesting Michael, the shape seems quite like Kralik but not much else does. An opaque crackle - can't think of many examples off hand.

Monart? I know so little about them but probably not.



John

[orangeglass]

Hi,
Defo not Monart, i have no idea who made these, but have come across 3 or 4 recently (not all in the UK) - different shapes/colours but all small size with this sort of finish and base. The others perhaps have been thicker glass though!
Is there any age wear on the base?

[Ohio]

Looks like pieces I've run across here within the past 6 months in a large operation we call "mercantile" which is  hot spot for design decorators so they leave labels intact because they are not in the business to fool people. The group were all solid opaque large crackle designs in various shapes that carried Hungarian lables. I will say this...although they were new they were certainly not cheap, quite pricy as a matter of fact. Also that "Durand" vase in the auction link is decidedly not Durand.

[rocco]

Thanks a lot for your comments, greatly appreciated 

Very interesting, I hadn't considered it was contemporary.
The colour sure is strange.
There is considerable wear to the base, though.
Some thoughts:
The vase is quite small, not what I am used to see in the modern home furnishing stores.
And I know very little about modern art glass - but all this effort for such a small, delicate piece...
On the other hand, Hungary is very close to where I live.
So well possible.

And glad that I have obviously learnt a few things here on the board: never trust auction house attributions (and signatures) 

Michael

[Ohio]

Here are some examples of Durand crackle from a NY art glass dealer. I've handled 4-5 pieces at a high end shows & Durand crackle is known for  encompassing the entire piece at of 50% of the original depth which caused many pieces to shatter during the process.

[rocco]

Thank you very much, Ken!
I was a little suspicious about that auction of the red crackle vase, as it looked nothing like the other Durand pieces I found online (similar to the ones in your post).

I searched for Hungarian glass, but nothing similar popped up...
I would love to see a pic of the vases you mentioned, to compare if they have the same construction as mine.

Still somehow mysterious that a small Art Nouveau-shape piece like this would have been made yesterday.
I cannot imagine it would be a bestselling model in a department store
And there is quite some wear to the base (just to some areas where the vase sits on).

Michael

[Ohio]

Michael unfortunately I did (and do not) take pictures in the Mercantile as several of us are able to go in periodically to see whats being imported & don't want to take a chance at abusing the invitation. I go once a month to see what glass is  being brought in & from where, China, Eastern Europe, Indonesia, etc. Was only commenting on a Hungarian possibility due to the crackle design affect, however (just a thought) your vase's interior color really reminds me of Czech Malachite although others may disagree. I wonder if its early 30s (pre-war) Czech? but others may have a better idea.

[rocco]

Thanks again, Ken.
I may have been completely off track in thinking my vase was an old Bohemian piece
I was rather amazed that comparable pieces are being made now...

And yes, the interior does have a Malachite glass look, I don't know if on purpose or not...

Michael

[flying free]

It's pretty! 
I'm interested in the layers and how they have been cased and then crackled to form the final perception of teal with gold crackle veins.
So, on the interior there is some form of goldy ish colour.
Then cased in cobalt blue
Then that piece is crackled so the cobalt blue separates into sections with gold veins showing between.
Then cased again in gold, so now the cobalt blue sections appear perceptively as teal blue (would casing a gold layer over cobalt produce this teal colour?), but the gold veins remain goldy colour.
Does that sound right in terms of construction?
It would be good to try and have a clearer picture of the wear on the base as well.  If this is a small piece then it looks like quite a lot of wear to me for something that doesn't probably weight a lot.  I wouldn't expect to see enormous amounts of wear on a small piece really.
But it's a colour that I've not seen before - it's lovely, I would have bought it.  I think it could be old still, but the interior colour looks like some newer pieces.  I think that could just be because of the colours used to create the piece though maybe?  Are there any black bits in the glass?  does it 'feel' old? 
I think it has a 'new' look about it because it is 'opaque'.  Most crackle I see is transparent in some form.