Topic: Maltese (?) moss green cylinder vase

[rocco]

I bought this a while back, and I am fairly sure I was sure it was Maltese then (not Mdina, I think Mtarfa?).
But I can't find any comparable pieces now, so any help appreciated!

Stands appr. 20 cm tall, moss green glass with bubbles and metallic powders, no silver chloride I think.
Flat polished base, unmarked.

Michael

[flying free]

I had a beautiful Gozo glass cylinder vase but it was much smaller than this.  Was it perhaps Gozo you were thinking of?

m

[flying free]

Having said that and had a quick look I'm not sure the casing and the shape of the base fit in with Gozo Glass.

Still, it could be worth a bit of research.

m

[rocco]

Thanks m!
I had a look through all the Malta glass companies, but nothing really similar came up.
But some of their "earlier" stuff is not so easy to be found....

edit: but that aqua green casing does look very Maltese, at least

Michael

[glassobsessed]

I would be looking elsewhere, it just doesn't say Malta to me. Vaguely Ekenas, more of a Scandinavian feel perhaps.

John

[rocco]

John, thank you very much, greatly appreciated!
If the Malta glass experts think this vase is rather not Maltese I will have too look elsewhere.

The feature that I was not able to find anywhere else so far is the aqua green casing of my vase -- it is so typical of the Maltese glassworks.

I have a nice Ekenas vase by Lake, it is signed and has a polished pontil mark -- after looking through 100s of pics this seems to be the common base finish; so I am rather sure the green vase is not Ekenas. Here are good pics of a typical Ekenas vase: https://auctionet.com/de/1232176-vaser-2-st-ekenas-glashytta-sverige/images#image_1
I have to admit, though, that there is not much seen online apart from the Lake designed pieces.

Motzfeldt drew a blank as well. And now I am stuck, as I cannot think of any other glassworks to google.

I bought this vase on ebay UK several years ago. So could any of the glassworks associated with Isle of Wight glass (Kerry glass) be an option?

Michael

[chopin-liszt]

I am trying to attach some pics of early Mtarfa to show colours. They are old pics, and I actually think the little square perfume bottle is Phonoecian, now.

[glassobsessed]

A single feature like the greenish casing can lead you away from considering everything else. In this case the colours used and the black graphite looking whatever it is doesn't ring a Malta bell for me at all, the only Maltese glass I can remember off hand having any black in a vaguely similar fashion is from MDG and then only this dark amber stuff.

There are a couple of Ekenas vases with similar colour palettes in Scandinavian Glass Fire & Sea (pages 108 & 97), a cylinder vase would fit but the black in your vase is absent. My other vague thought was Johansfors but Randsfordglass may be worth looking at.

[chopin-liszt]

I'm not convinced of Malta myself, I just thought the greenish blobs on these early bits  were very like some of the swirls at the base of this vase. It was just the nearest Maltese glass I could find with something in common with Rocco's apart from the shape.
The colour of the casings can vary a lot certainly in early Mdina. They had trouble getting hold of cullet and used old milk bottles. It can sometimes be quite yellow, (MDG can have a nasty yellow colour in the casing too)
Other times they got hold of better stuff and it's nice and clear.

What are the exact dimensions?

[rocco]

Thank you very much Sue and John!

Right -- the casing colour may have mislead me...

@Sue: I like that early Mtarfa range!
I don't have the exact dimensions here, but it is appr. 20 cm high, and looks quite nice beside my Mdina cylinder vases (thought the diameter is a bit smaller)

Mtarfa used a green base colour (pic of my ashtray attached), but with silver chloride decor.

MDG also has a similar green, but everything else doesn't fit imho. (Pic of my green bottle attached)

After John's post yesterday I did search the glassworks Ekenas, Plus, Randsfjord and Johansfors. But I couldn't find anything really similar (and for some the base finish doesn't seem to fit). Then I went out of Scandinavian glassworks to google for

Regarding you are both based in the UK and I bought the vase from there -- I think you would have recognized it if a British maker was another possibility?

Greetings from Vienna!
Michael