Topic: Help Identifying this beautiful piece of glass...

[Carterofmars]

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2568632070096610826mLLPBa

Can anyone help me identify this piece I picked up in a steet fair this morning?

Base is not flat.  There is no pontil; it curves up to where it looks like the blower may have broke off.

Thanks in advance... 

[wrightoutlook]

Very contemporary China-made imitation of Murano. Not sure if these are made on the island of Taiwan or in mainland China. Your clue to the provenance of these imitations is the brightness of the colors, as in too bright or too overly colorful. Hopefully, you only paid a few bucks for it, as they are mass produced on a massive scale and brought to the U.S. by the thousands by Asian-associated importers. Also sold in places like T.J. Maxx, A.J. Wright, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Nana Dollar, etc. in the States.

[heartofglass]

Hmmmmmm.....
Those millefiori canes look like Moretti canes to me.....used in Murano for beads etc since the 1930s.
It is recent but I do think it's Murano, or at least made from Moretti canes from Murano.
Yes, I agree it's not a high-end item, but I beg to differ that it's Chinese.
Chinese canes are different. They are doing a lot of millefiori beads now but the canes don't look like these distinctive Moretti ones in this vase.
I have a 1970s paperweight, with original Murano sticker, that features
identical canes.
I also have a handkerchief vase with the same canes. It is also 1970s.
I realise the possibility of a trade in millefiori canes- this has been going on for a long time with their usage in jewellery components-but in any case, the canes in this vase are from Murano.
Whether it was made there (probably was in my opinion) is open for conjecture, but it looks like a touristy type piece to me.
P.S. And I quite like it too!

[chuggy]

I'm with Marinka on this I would say it's almost certainly a Murano made tourist piece on the lines of the earlier Fratelli Toso work. The clear applied handles confirm it's later origins, but I'd say not Chinese.
Paul

[Bernard C]

I'm astonished.

I took just one look at this vase and immediately thought Fratelli Toso.   Then I read the later contributions.    This could be the first time I have been on the right lines about anything Murano (and may well be the last)!

Phew.   I need to sit down and have a nice strong cuppa.

Bernard C.  

[aa]

I'm astonished.

I took just one look at this vase and immediately thought Fratelli Toso.   Then I read the later contributions.    This could be the first time I have been on the right lines about anything Murano (and may well be the last)!

Phew.   I need to sit down and have a nice strong cuppa.

Bernard C.  

That's what happens if you keep going off to  Murano on your hols, Bernard! Shouldn't that be a nice strong espresso? :lol:

[Cathy B]

Hi all,

I thought it was probably real Murano for no other reason than those gold spangly bits in the applied handles. Is this just a truism I've acquired from somewhere? Are there any reproduction pieces of this sort with aventurine inclusions?

Ivo wrote something on the Asian reproductions of millefiori items, but I can't find that thread anywhere. Just for the record, could anyone write about the reproductions again--qualities, base (ground but not polished?) etc?

Cathy

[heartofglass]

Hi Cathy,
Aventurine does turn up in repro items, but I find it has a lighter, more golden tone than older aventurine, which tends to be a deep,intense, copper colour.
I have a collection of aventurine jewellery, which spans the period from Victorian thru to present day. Seeing the change in colour over the years of production is quite intriguing.
I also think that older aventurine tends to have a more concentrated & brilliant sparkle.
Murano had a monopoly on aventurine up to the 19th C. Since then it has been made, in varying quality, in various glassmaking countries.
Aventurine was/is also exported from Murano in cane form to be used in glassmaking elsewhere.
Sybille Jargsdorf's excellent book, "Glass in Jewellry" has a whole chapter on aventurine & it's use in both jewellery & glassware.
I have a few repro items (bought very cheaply,long ago) of aventurine spatter on black & red cased glass (in the style of Nason-there's a thread on this firm somewhere in the Murano forum).
One of these was marked "Made in China", & was purchased new in a bargain shop in 1999.
I am uncertain as to whether the Chinese manufacturers make their own aventurine, or buy it in from elsewhere.
But all that glitters is not aventurine! There are loads of Murano items that have gold foil/leaf inclusions that aren't aventurine. True aventurine is made from copper & should have a deep copper or red-brown tone.
I have a 50s Murano bowl that has the full range of metallic inclusions-silver foil,gold leaf, & aventurine.  
As for this vase, it seems to be a recent Murano item. I have a small vase,
sans handles, with the same canes & an all-over dusting of gold-leaf.
It is card-carrying late 1990s Murano.
Hope this has been helpful!

[Leni]

Just for the record, could anyone write about the reproductions again--qualities, base (ground but not polished?) etc?

Just for the record, Cathy  :wink:  the Chinese paperweight manufacturers are now polishing the base of recently made weights.  Someone must have 'tipped them off'!  So I would guess that in future we should also expect the base of all sorts of repro glassware to be finished in this way!  

Oh, and those are definitely Moretti (now known as Effetre) canes  :wink:

[Cathy B]

the Chinese paperweight manufacturers are now polishing the base of recently made weights.  Someone must have 'tipped them off'!  So I would guess that in future we should also expect the base of all sorts of repro glassware to be finished in this way!  

Thanks Leni -- What would you say, are the new paperweights originating in China deliberate reproductions, or are they more just unoriginal designs?

Cathy