Topic: Opaline Enamelled Vases

[NevB]

I think these two vases were originally part of a garniture of three with another like the one on the left as I've seen something very similar online. These are probably late 19th. century, Bohemian and possibly by Harrach, although you can see a lot of similar ones online described as "Bristol glass". Only one has a roman numeral VI mark.

[NevB]

Height is approximately 15".

[flying free]

I quite like some of these and these do have some lovely colours in.  But mostly they tend to be autumn leave 'sy' colours or designs and their not really my thing.   The middle one may be missing a lid.

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[NevB]

Thanks flying free, I've had another look online and the one closest to mine didn't have a lid. Others had lids with tall pointed finials. There is some evidence of wear to the gilding on the rim of mine where a lid could have sat inside. They aren't everyone's cup of tea but the workmanship is excellent and I like the swallows. The backs are in fact totally plain.

[flying free]

Yes, I meant to say, enamelling often looks a lot less impressive in photographs and then, when you see it on the piece, it is fabulous. Photographs lose the depth and intensity of enamelling somehow.

[NevB]

Here's a close up of the enamelling.

[flying free]

Very pretty!  It's possible the orangey colour enamel may have been gilded originally as well.

[flying free]

Quite a few pieces come  up in a museum collection in Belgium.

I'm just wondering ... whether some of these type of pieces (opaline with coloured washed enamel background painted on) might be Belgian rather than Bohemian? 

http://www.omnia.ie/index.php?navigation_function=2&navigation_item=%2F2023011%2F72021A51_priref_6900&repid=1

[NevB]

Hello flying free, I've checked the orange colour and I think it's an attempt to produce a gilded effect without using gold. The colour is very consistent and doesn't show any signs of wear, and it is also slightly more gold coloured than the photos show. I'm sure there are some similar Belgian vases although I now associate the coloured foot, usually in brown or green, with Harrach, but I may be wrong.

[Lustrousstone]

These are most likely Bohemian and possibly Harrach. I think the museum ones are also Bohemian. The shapes are typical and I don't know that Belgium has much history of this sort of glass. The dark green and brown enamel are also typical of Bohemian vases. The orange enamel (sometimes yellow) was used to raise and brighten the gilding, which was a very thin layer that rubs of relatively easily. Gold doesn't fix that well. I bet if you take a loupe to one of the lines you can see gold where it meets the body. In fact I can see it on the close-up. The vertical rimmed probably had a lid