Topic: Trying to identify large antique amber bowl

[ormontus]

I have inherited a large amber glass bowl from my grandmother.  She was an avid antique collector and at one point told me that it was very old Venician (though my thoughts are it may be Middle Eastern - though I've never been able to find any photos showing anything on this scale) and my guess is that she acquired it in the 1940's at an art auction. 
What I know:
The top of the bowl is 33cm across, the bottom is 21cm across and the bowl is 15cm high (it's rather large, but the glass is generally 3mm thick except the convex areas increase it to about 5mm, so the bowl is rather light at 2308gm)

There are excellent condition (look as if freshly painted) floral paintings on the side of the bowl which remind me of those I've seen painted in Eastern Europe, but there is a faint lattice still showing which was gilded -  as was the rim (but most of the gold has rubbed off over the years)

There are no mold marks that I can find and, while there's evidence of a center on the bottom, it's not very obvious.

The "bubbles" are convex facing into the bowl and the exterior is flat.  The color is amber.

The top edge has a minor bevel on both sides and the top seems polished.

There are no identifying marks or names on the piece.

The overall quality of the glasswork is even and frankly of a far better quality than I would think a piece which was hundreds of years old, but then I know next to nothing about glass.

Any help identifying this would be appreciated. I have high resolution photos, but I'll scale them down to meet the criteria of posting them here

Thank you for your consideration and assistance,
Jeff 

[Paul S.]

hello Jeff - welcome to the GMB

for what it's worth I'm inclined to think that date wise your bowl is more likely to be c. mid C20 rather than earlier, and I'm going to suggest an origin of Czechoslovakia/eastern Europe, for the following reasons..........

This optic 'ball' effect was popular as a geometric pattern around that time, and this would tie in with the gilt decoration you mention - especially from Czechoslovakia - as would the enamel painted floral decoration.               The fact that the 'ball' pattern continues under the bowl is to be expected - sometimes there's the outline of cross shape formed by this patterning - all of which is the result of your bowl starting life in a mould.
Finally, the ground/polished and bevelled rim would also be expected on examples from this origin and date.

Of course I could be very wrong, but that is my honest opinion  -  let's see what others think, but nonetheless an attractive bowl

[ormontus]

Thanks for the reply.  Any idea what a bowl of this size and type might be worth?

Jeff

[Paul S.]

Hi Jeff  -  I had hoped other folk might have contributed their thoughts on the matter of your bowl, but it seems not, unfortunately, and my ideas as already mentioned haven't changed.

It may seem unhelpful but regret we don't provide or discuss values on the GMB  -  for rather obvious reasons, glass tends to attract people for a variety of reasons, and you'd probably get as many different answers as to value - what something is worth is a very personal matter depending on individual likes and dislikes.          My candid opinion is that your bowl has little commercial value, lacking as it does any provenance or attribution to a maker  -  although even with such information pieces like this rarely realize the money you would hope for.
Can only suggest that you contact an auction house for their appraisal - alternatively spend some time trawling on-line auction sites, and those who issue catalogues - to try and find something similar on which to base a value.

You could simply enter your bowl into a local auction sale, with a reserve to protect it, and see how the wind blows..........    if they beat a path to your door, you'll be able to tell me I was wrong    

[nigelbenson]

My instant reaction was this is, at best 100-120 years old and quite possibly somewhat younger. Paul's general comments are totally valid IMHO.

Cheers, Nigel