Topic: Two Schachtenbach vases?

[Sendhandfran]

I'm curious what people make of these.
At first glance they look identical but there are a few differences. Most notably the neck is thinner on one, their feet differ and on one the snake's pointing down and the other up.
Do you think their differences are simply down to being handmade or could one be a later copy?
The vase on the left is in my collection. I was told it's alabaster glass, from the Schachtenbach Glashütte, mid 1800's.
The vase on the right is listed on a popular auction site and described as being Opaline glass and dated c.1910.
Both vases are 24cm.
I'd love to know which description is correct, or if they both are?

[chopin-liszt]

The one on the left is not alabastro - it looks like pulegoso - lots and lots of little bubbles.
The one on the right looks opaline - opaque white glass.
I would strongly suspect one might be a tribute to the design of the other, but this is not an area i know much about.
I think you've got the superior piece. It's far more elegant, and it is pulegoso, which is a good thing.

[flying free]

Sue, I don't think the one on the left is pulegoso.
I think it's the way it''s been photographed.  Alabasterglas can contain lots of minute bubbles but that is not like pulegoso.
Were you there when I brought my blue opaline glass vase to Birmingham. That is full of teeny teeny bubbles that would probably show up on a photograph but not to the naked eye unless peering extremely closely and held up to the light really.

OP I would like to see a much clearer photograph of the one you own.  Against a white background in daylight so the opaline can be clearly seen.

I don't know what the difference is between the two but the one on the right could well be c. 1860 as well.  Difficult to tell from one photograph.

I think the differences are just that they are different vases hand made.  That's all. 

I have also seen photos of vases with snake decoration from much earlier than 1860 in the Great Exhibition pictures. Can't recall where now but I remember being a bit taken aback as that is a design which I thought dated later.  It may well do on  many pieces but there were articles with that decoration pictured from that mid 19th era.

m

[chopin-liszt]

They're moulded, at least the bottom part is, and the bottoms are completely different shapes.
The glass on the left reminds me of Lustrousstone's Loetz chicken water set.

I didn't see your blue alabastro thing that I remember m, - but I tend to get a bit overexcited and rather like a headless chicken myself when I'm there. 
I've never noticed alabastro looking bubbly, not that I can think of.

eta. Link to image of the chicken water set. 
http://lustrousstone.co.uk/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=26

If you click on the arrows up on the top right, there's another image on either "side" of the one that appears. The glass is teeny-tiny bubbly. I wouldn't describe that as pulegoso, the bubbles are too small.

[Sendhandfran]

Thank you Chopin-liszt & flying free.
Chopin-liszt I prefer mine too I love its tiny waist. Interesting they could date even earlier than mid 1800, and that they're mould blown, I always thought it was hand blown.
Flying free, I tried photographing it against a white background but it didn't show up detail nearly so well as against black.
It has a lot of bubbles but doesn't appear to be made up of bubbles like pulegoso.
It does have an odd grainy appearance though, difficult to tell if they're tiny bubbles or not.
I know it's hard to tell differences from a photo but it appears that mine is greyer with a streaky, 'waxy' look, which were the reasons it was suggested to be alabaster glass.

[flying free]

It is opaline (translucent, not transparent or opaque) glass but I would agree that yours looks like it's 'alabasterglas' using that definition as one I've read in Walter Spiegl's descriptions - i.e. I'm presuming it doesn't glow red in the sunlight?

Can we see a photograph of the base please?  And interested to know if the snake is uranium glass?
I'm still curious to see what it looks like against a sheet of pure white paper though

[Sendhandfran]

Sorry for the delay getting a picture against a white background. I'm not sure it helps any.

[KevinH]

Hi Sendhandfran,

Your composite photo in your original post shows a comparison vase from eBay.

Do yiou have permission to use the seller's image? If not it will have to be removed in accordance with Board policy on use of copyrighted images. (Assuming it is removed, I can simply take a copy of your image, crop out your vase and then replace the image - and also add the eBay URL for reference.)