Topic: Small straw opal footed bowl/vase? Likely Powell

[cagney]

Not sure what this would be used as. A sauce bowl?
6.75 cm tall
12.5 cm wide
Small snapped off rough pontil. Rope twist stem. Ribbed bowl and foot with sturdy folded under foot. Three part construction. A lot of extra work for such a small piece.

[Paul S.]

very attractive.              Doesn't immediately make me think of sauce  -  how about a bon bon or comport dish, or something the Italians call a tazza (for sweetmeats?).             My very uneducated suggestion would be that there's not enough 'straw'colour to qualify as straw opal, but then I've never owned such a piece, and am looking at pix in books only.

With the folded foot and wavy rim it does have that Venetian look, so how about mid C20 Italian - or did someone like Fenton produce such pieces?

What is the wear, if any?   

[Lustrousstone]

Looks highly likely for Powell to me. The colour looks right, the folded foot, the swirls in the foot and the twisted stem all seem to be Powell things of the straw/blue opal period. This was expensive stuff, so not too much work for such a small thing.

[Paul S.]

being always respectful of Lustrousstone who has a far greater knowledge of glass than me  -  on this one I'm going to hang on to my comment that - looking at the books - there isn't enough 'straw/ochre' in the opal part of this one for Powell's product.     Too pale creamy for my money, and my screen shows a complete absence of any straw colour on this piece.

[Lustrousstone]

I think the book pictures are quite deceptive. Straw opal doesn't seem that yellow in the flesh and these are definitely uranium glass, which would be correct

[Paul S.]

thanks Christine  - I've just bought a copy of the large W/Fs book  -  when it arrives later in the week I'll have a look to see if this shape is included  -  it might be the clincher.
So, we'll blame Lesley Jackson for the colour misrepresentation then

[cagney]

Yes. Lighting on this type of ware can make all the difference.
1st picture mostly back lit
2nd picture mostly neutral
3rd is with camera flash

Lesley does use the term "there newly developed yellow-ish straw opal colour". This is in relation to the Paris Exihibition of 1878 on page 27 o her book.

[Paul S.]

have to say I hadn't read Jackson's glossary at the time of scribbling my replies.              It appears more complicated than at first imagined  -  with respect to replies posted so far, here is Lesley Jackson's full description of her entry under 'Straw Opal', which may be of interest     ………

""Pale milky yellow opalescent glass developed by Harry Powell between 1877-79 along with blue opal.   (pl. 18)    Ingredients such as arsenic, bone ash and uranium were added to make it heat-sensitive, so that when it was cooled in localised areas and then re-heated, the parts which had been cooled turned opalescent.               Straw opal is more yellowy than the white Venetian style opalescent glass produced by Whitefriars from the late 1860s to the mid 1870s.""

or as we sometimes say 're-struck'.            IMHO it does seem to be that we should be seeing an opalescence of a more yellowish appearance than cagney's dish.

Obviously, if you don't have Jackson's book then the plate reference will be lost.

[Lustrousstone]

They look fine for straw opal to me. Heat struck uranium glass is quite whitish when the uranium is quite pale to start with

[nigelbenson]

I wouldn't be comparing actual items with plate 18 in Jackson - the photo is appalling as it doesn't represent the colour correctly at all. Many of the photos in the book suffer from using only back lighting with nothing to pick out the front of the item(s).

From cagney's photos this piece looks spot on as Powell to me.

Nigel