Topic: Sowerby Green Marbled Vase Pattern 1261 3/4

[mhgcgolfclub]

Fred

Some pictures of Sowerby vase pattern 1261 in green marbled glass.
Marked inside the base with trade mark and date lozenge.

Roy

[agincourt17]

Thank you for showing this, Roy.

Sowerby patterns 1261 and 1261¾ are shown side-by-side on page 4 of pattern book IX (1882). The only differences between the two patterns seem to be that 1261¾ has a slightly more flared top and a slightly more bulbous body (most obvious at the bottom of the handle loop). Your photo would, therefore, appear  to be of 1261¾  rather than 1261.

Photos of the 2 versions are shown on Volume 3 of the Thistlewood Sowerby CD-ROM (1261 in turquoise vitro-porcelain and 1261¾  in blue marbled glass) but I think that, apart from yours, those are the only other photos of the pattern that I can recall seeing - so it would seem to be an uncommon pattern (especially so in green marbled glass).

Cottle (page 100) gives the corresponding Sowerby RD for pattern number 1261¾  as 314281, registered 18 September 1877 [-Parcel 7], and I presume that the lozenge on your vase in in accord with this. I also presume that a pattern 1261 vase would bear the same lozenge and be from the same registered design.

Just for completeness, could you tell me the size of the vase, please.

Fred.

[mhgcgolfclub]

Hi Fred

The height is just under 3".

I believe Mike has a picture of one in his gallery. Also when I googled Sowerby 1261, Premier Antiques have a pair in purple marbled glass for sale but that was it.

Roy

[Paul S.]

As mentioned by Fred, the Reg. No. 314281 of 18th September 1877 given by Simon Cottle matches this general shape, and appears to agree better with the slightly more bulbous of these two designs, namely 1261.3/4.        Obviously a busy day for Sowerby as there were 21 Registrations on the same date - a record perhaps...   it's possible the slightly slimmer version was a later thought, but that's just an opinion.                   I'll try and do the Kew pictures of the factory drawing either later today or tomorrow, which incidentally is of good quality, although as always there is a complete absence of dimensions on the drawing.

It would perhaps save a little time and be helpful if when posting pieces with lozenges that details of the Reg. diamond are provided  -  unless of course the details are illegible, in which case it's helpful to mention that.

Regret I've not yet seen the other examples mentioned - Mike's gallery or the Premier Antiques pair - so unsure as to which of the two patterns these belong.              One of those instances when the reasoning behind the production of two separate but quite closely related shapes seems unclear - perhaps just a very popular item, although judging by Fred's comments suggesting it's an uncommon pattern you'd think not.

[Paul S.]

here then is the Kew Archive picture showing the original Sowerby factory drawing for Reg. 314281......... which shows clearly the bulbous shape of Sowerby's pattern 1261.3/4, as opposed to the tapering shape of pattern 1261.

[agincourt17]

Thank you, Paul.

Fred.

[mhgcgolfclub]

Thanks Paul and Fred

Paul the lozenge on this one would have been very clear had it not been obscured by tiny fragments of glass which do make it illegible and I will mention that in any future posts 
The one on Mike Tomlin's site http://e-britain.co.uk/victorian_pressed_glass/ looks to be a 1261. The 2 for sale on http://www.premierantiques.co.uk/ site do look more like 1261 3/4.
Having looked at all 3 I would say my green marbled one is 1261 as the 3/4 one looks a lot more bulbous, but there may be cases where its difficult to know for sure.

Thanks Roy

[Paul S.]

hello Roy -  thanks for adding the links showing the other vases from this design, and I'd agree with your thoughts as to which relate to pattern 1261 and 1261.3/4.              I would have thought that provided an image was of reasonable quality then it wouldn't be too difficult to differentiate one from the other.
Have to say that I'm very impressed with some of these collections of Sowerby pieces - there are indeed some very dedicated folk out there collecting.

[MHT]

Hi guys. I have 2 examples of pattern 1261, one in turquoise the other in purple malachite. Both have very straight sides with no 'bulge'. Like Roy's, the marks on the malachite piece are unreadable being obscured by fragments of glass.
Pretty sure Roys is a 1261.3/4 example, it is definitely different from the two I have.
Mike (Tomlin)

[Paul S.]

I'm with Mike regarding Roy's pattern, and am convinced that Roy's shows the slight bulging around the area of the handles, so will be the three quarters variation, and not the slightly slimmer 1261 vase.         I think Fred was also of this opinion.