Topic: Help with mystery vase: Very odd pulegoso vase, signed to the base

[Anik R]

Hello all,

I've got a fabulously strange pulegoso vase which I'm hoping someone can help me out with.  It came my way from the Czech Republic (and the person who sold it to me got it from Fischer's). 

Height:  21cm
Weight:  1537g

The walls are very thick and the piece is cased in a thin layer of clear glass.  It looks old, made in the same style (with the same little black sooty inclusions) as my 1940s Skrdlovice pieces.  The base, however, is perfectly flat, without a smooth round indent from the pontil.

When I purchased it, I was pretty darn sure it's a pre-1950s piece, and likely Czechoslovakian.  However, when I was preparing the vase to photograph, I noticed it had something written on the base.  Very faintly, it reads:  1970 B

1970?  Who on earth could have made this vase as late as 1970, especially in the same style/quality that pulegoso pieces from Skrdlovice were made? 

I find it so odd.  By the way, you will notice the 1 and the 7 are European-style.  The B is somewhat stylised.


Thank you for your help, suggestions, points in the right direction, and kind comments,
Anik

P.S.  I really sorry for my sucky photos...  such an unbelievably hard piece to photograph 

[Anik R]

And now, photos of the base...

[chopin-liszt]

 
I can't decide if it represents a torso or a thing for doing massages. 

But the pulegoso is really good quality, isn't it?
The date is written in a style similar to some dates scratched on Benny Motzfeldt bits along with her initials, but I've just looked at the only one I have to hand, and the 7 does not have the continental bar across it.
I'll check my others when I can get Michael to bring them downstairs.

[Anik R]

Hi Sue!   Boy oh boy, I never thought of Norway (or Benny Motzfeldt) for this piece.  But I've looked online for some examples of her signed and dated work, and it seems everything I looked at had an uncrossed 7.  Also, the style of the B is different.   (But I really appreciate the suggestion...  I was super-happy for a little bit  )

By the way, when I look at the vase, I either see a bone or a ghostly figure. 

Anik x

[chopin-liszt]

There was another maker at Hadeland who had the initial B - Gro Bergslein.
I have one piece, it is marked in italic script "Hadelend Gro." I do not know if she signed that herself or if it's a general script mark put on her work.
The capital G is written like a large small g, with the loop above the top of the line of script and the tail looping back over the downstroke.
It's not dissimilar to the funny B you have there, but not neccessarily like it either.

(pic below)

I certainly think it's something good, but I was thinking Beranek for the pulegoso at first, simply because I know they did it. It was the scratchy date marks reminded me of Norway and the matter of using white glass with inclusions and bubbles.
It's a minefield!

[Anik R]

Thank you, Sue!   I'd be perfectly happy to find it's Norwegian...  or Czech... or anything else for that matter.     

Told ya it's a bit of a mystery!    The date on the base threw me in a loop.  I really didn't expect the piece to be as new as that. 

Anik x

[flying free]

A generalisation perhaps but is it also possible the flat polished base might indicate Murano or Scandinavian rather than Czech maybe? or is that a feature found on most pulegoso anyway?  I can't remember.
I'm sure Ivo posted a flat tray that had a similar effect on the flat polished base (iirc there was some discussion of pate de verre involved in that thread which might help if you wanted to look it up in search).

m

[Anik R]

Thank you, m.   I'll take a look at Ivo's post.  Your comment is appreciated.

Anik

[flying free]

Anik hi, this is the thread - the discussion is all about whether or not it is pate de verre, but what reminded me was Sue's comments about Hadeland I think:
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,51120.msg344101.html#msg344101

Obviously the bubbles in yours are very different but the base finish similar.

Trying to think who would have been signing 'B' in script in 1970 ... hmm ... and on such an organic abstract style piece.


m

[flying free]

I think I remembered wrong about the flat polished base    there are lots of Czechoslovakian pieces with flat polished bases - sorry.
It reminds me of a torso.
I've just had a quick look through some books and couldn't see anything that looked similar.
But it looks like a very good quality piece, and signed,  so we will find the maker ... one day

m