Topic: Uranium Glass Pen Tray?

[NevB]

I took a chance with this online as it looked to be yellow/amber uranium glass and Victorian. I did a search before I bought and thought it might be part of the Sowerby 1107 set on P.33 of the 1885 catalogue but now I'm not sure. I don't know its purpose, perhaps a pen tray or flower tray. Dimensions are 26cm.L x 4cm.D x 7cm.W.

http://www.victorianpressedglass.com/pattern_books.htm#4

[Anne]

Nev, my first thought is it could be a comb tray from a trinket set. It's not one I recognise but I'll have a hunt through other catalogues.

[NevB]

Thanks Anne, I think it's probably Victorian and English so it might be difficult to identify but I'll keep looking.

[flying free]

For some reason it reminds me of some Joseph Webb designs; example here:
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,54643.msg329495.html#msg329495

That said, I have no experience of pressed glass really - I just have a bridge trough thing that I thought once might have been Joseph Webb I think and it's similar in design/pattern.
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[neilh]

It will be tricky to ID this one as I believe most pressed glass makers would have made something like this. There is one in the Robinsons of Warrington catalogue, called a brush tray. And there is another in the Percival Vickers 1881 catalogue. Both give side on views which are not helpful. The Percival Vickers one is shown as 10 inches and a reasonable match, that may be the best you can do.

[Paul S.]

just an opinion, but I'd have thought unlikely to be pen related.           My vague recollections of those that were designed to hold pens, usually had some sort of projections/supports located within the tray on which the pen would have been placed.       I'm not too clued up on specific makers and the colour of uranium they produced, but is this amber appearance known to be a Sowerby shade?    

[NevB]

Thanks everyone, I was guessing on whether it is a pen tray or flower trough and it could be by any number of English makers. Also I don't know if Sowerby made this colour in the Victorian era.

[Lustrousstone]

I have one and for some reason (unknown to me now), I've decided it's French. I believe these are comb trays

[NevB]

I've had a look Christine and there are several similar in the Baccarat 1916 Garnitures de Toilette catalogue which are called a "brossier", which I would describe as a brush tray, so French is a possibility.

[NevB]

I've just contacted Mike Tomlin who runs the VPG website I linked above. He'd seen it on Ebay and thought it was Victorian and possibly by Sowerby but the colour was unusual for Sowerby. Apparently he will soon be adding some more pattern books to his already excellent site.