Topic: Bohemian? Requesting ID assistance, please

[Albev2]

I am requesting the expertise and guidance of this  board in identifying a large collection of glass from my aunt's estate.   I believe these pieces to be Bohemian, but that is simply an assumption on my part.   The collection consists of about 40 pieces of similar design, but many different shapes as well as colors. Colors are primarily the red, but there are also clear pieces as well as a few yellow/green items.   The majority have German city names and scenes on the glass as well.

As a newbie to all of this I am a bit overwhelmed.     Do the items have any value or should I consider donating them to charity and move on ?

Thank you all for your advice and counsel.

[Paul S.]

Hi - welcome to the GMB.                Regret to say that members here aren't professional antiques/vintage appraisers, so unable to offer any indication of value for your Aunt's glass - as you can imagine, values are dependent on a variety of personal reasons, quality and age of the glass, and age is not always something that can be achieved with certainty by looking at the screen alone.

The age of these pieces may depend on your knowledge of when you Aunt is known to have visited eastern Europe  -  if she holidayed there c. 1850, then yes this glass would have a lot more interest than, for example some time during the last few decades

These pieces are typical, in appearance, of glass described as having a 'flashed' colouring  -  red was possibly the most common colour, followed by amber, then blue, green and violet - and decoration on these is also typical  -  floral arabesques, buildings of historic interest, grape and vine  -  also, though I don't see them here - images of stags and other hunting references.
Flashing was/is an economical means of colouring much domestic and tourist glass, with the colouring ground away to create the design, and is known very much as a Bohemian/Czech/German speciality - Egermanm (Bohemia) is the name that most people associate with this type of glass.

Regret to say that it's nigh on impossible you will locate the maker/origin of these pieces, unless your Aunt provided provenance/attribution  -  they are usually fairly common in continental Europe, and age wise they are no doubt still being made - so take your pick  -  c. 1850 to present, though wear might provide some indication, and in view of your comments then Germany sounds a safe bet.           Have a look on ebay, you should see a lot of this type of glass ware, and it might give you an idea of value, and help to suggest whether you donate or sell.

Sorry this is really unhelpful  - your pieces are a common type of continental European tourist glass ware, and not sufficiently specific with which to pin on a particular maker - but, they are attractive, show well and are a momento of your Aunt.

[flying free]

You may not have picked out the best pieces out of the 40.
I would suggest you look into each of them before deciding to just dispose of them.

In my opinion ( from my odd forays into this area), some places engraved on the pieces are more collectable than others perhaps ( this depends on the scarcity of pieces with that place name I guess along with collectors who are interested in those places perhaps), so if the glass is old and interesting and well made/detailed and has quality, then some of them may be worth more than perhaps.  Others will be interesting by virtue of the type of glass, how well it is made, the detail of the cutting, the quality of the engraving, the overlay (if any are double layered glass rather than 'flashed' ), the colour of the overlay and the age of the piece, regardless of what place is engraved on it.

There may or may not be some valuable items in the collection. 

Can you show us a clear photograph of the base of the 'becher' in your first photo please?  I'm interested to see if it is cut and what type of cutting.
The coloured ones might be more interesting than the clear ones.  Do you have others in a similar shape to the first one with the cut panels etc?  Are there any which are wholly yellow and engraved to clear or wholly green and engraved to clear?  Can you show us a couple of those perhaps?

m

[Albev2]

Thank you both for you prompt, informative replies.
As requested, attached is a bottom view of the first piece and a couple of the colored items.
Thanks again.
Albert

[Paul S.]

thanks for the pix  -  do you have any idea of the time line as to when your Aunt might have acquired the majority of her collection - this won't necessarily help with dating, but might suggest a general idea as to whether these are pre WW II, for example, or whether possibly far more recent.                  Are you aware of any supporting paperwork/receipts/invoices that might indicate some form of provenance?
I'd suggest that the handled mug/beaker in picture 8 is unrelated to the 'flashed' items shown in all of the other pictures - though could well be the same sort of origin, but creation of the decoration very different.      The solid colour of the glass, together with thin gilding and enamelled decoration is typical of glass from the Victorian and Edwardian period, and made in a variety of countries.

[Albev2]

Thank you, Paul.
The best I can determine, my aunt acquired these items in 1968, as the boxes were stuffed/padded with newspapers dated during that year.

[bOBA]

A great collection of spa glass. They were almost certainly packed away in 1968 but to collect these in pre internet days could have taken several years to find, perhaps many more.... A really nice little collection of mainly Victorian Bohemian spa glass. She knew what she was looking for!

Robert (bOBA)

[flying free]

Robert is it possible that they are termed 'souvenir' glasses rather than spa bechers/glass as spa bechers tend to have measures on them for measuring the waters if I recall correctly.

They are interesting.  But in my opinion the desirability will be based on the age and quality and detail of the cutting and making.
Oh and also that they are in perfect condition with no nicks, or chips at all (unless they are ultra rare in terms of glass type in which case they might still be desirable).

m

[Albev2]

m,
I have noticed some of the pieces due have graduated measures ( if that is a correct term ) going up the sides.
Also, is there an index of terms available that would help me with the lexicon of glass ?   Terms such as spa, becher,  flashing , etc. are a bit confusing to this newbie.
Thanks again
Albert

[flying free]

becher is beaker i.e. goblet type thing with a foot like your first picture
If they have measures on then possibly spa bechers for use in the spas for measuring the waters.

Probably the best way is to take them to a specialist auction house to see if any are valuable.

And yes, collecting these pre-internet would have taken a long time.

The value will still depend on the condition, and type of glass.  Some may be more valuable than others.
A good site to look at is called Glaskilian.
here are some examples on that site of Biedermeier period pieces of glass:
http://www.glaskilian.de/UEberfangglas.640.0.html

then he also has a site called Glaswolf -more examples here:
http://www.glaswolf.de/UEberfangglas.288.0.html

If you go on that site and have a search around you will see many many examples of the various types and might be able to make a guess as to whether any you have are very similar to those on the site.

They were made over a very long period and are still being made in different guises.  And working out when it was made, who made it and what value is quite tricky and can take a very long time and require specialist knowledge.  And some may look interesting and not be interesting at all - without seeing them in real life it can be impossible sometimes to know as you need to see them to hold and look at the glass composition.
The best way might be to have a specialist auction house look through them.
There is Dr Fischer Auction in Germany and Dorotheum in Austria. 

Of course it would be lovely to see photographs of the whole collection on here

m