Topic: John Walsh Walsh, Birmingham, England - Victorian glass vase

[MoMac]

BEAUTIFUL VICTORIAN GLASS VASE BY JOHN WALSH WALSH OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND

My daughter owns a very attractive collectable Victorian Glass Vase is by John Walsh Walsh of Birmingham, England. It is part of their "Autumnal ware" range and would have been made in the late 19th Century.  My daughter is wishing to sell the vase, but unfortunately as we are not glass collectors we have no idea of the value and would appreciate some help.

I would describe this vase as egg shaped, has a beautiful rose pink colour on the inside, overlayed with white glass on the outside.

A fluted leaf design in pink and green is applied around the outer body, the vase stands on three applied feet which are pale yellow in colour, this same colour is also used
in the decoration around the top rim.

There is a Pontil mark underneath and this has a flower design impressed into it.

The vase stands approx 19cm tall (7.5inch), approximately 43cm (16.9 inches) in diameter and is in excellent undamaged condition with no chips, marks or cracks. 

If you feel you can help with the valuation I can email pictures.  I do need this information fairly urgently as my daughter wishes to place this up for sale asap.

I'm in the process of trying to attach pictures but with some difficulty, if you would like to email me I'll forward some pictures to you in the meantime.  Many thanks

[Frank]

We don't do valuations and this would not be an easy item to find on eBay, the best on-line valuation service, that we usually recommend.

Do post a notice about the auction in our marketplace section as many interested parties could read about it there.

Pictures are a great help, please see our guide here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,6522.0.html

[MoMac]

Does anyone know how where I can find how much the John Walsh Walsh vase is worth please.

[Max]

Hi MoMac     Please feel free to upload your photo's to our Yobunny gallery, Frank gave you the link in the thread above.  Perhaps you might get some more information on your vase that would be helpful to you?

You could try the big auction houses with your daughters vase, I think they will accept photo's by post or maybe email if you can't get to them easily yourself.

[Lustrousstone]

The other opton is to scour the internet for online sellers with something similar, but if you find anything they are likely to be top end prices

[MoMac]

Here is the link for pictures of the vase.

   http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-4912

[Max]

Thank you for your photo's.    It might take a little while for someone to post any other information for you as people here have different fields of expertise and aren't always available immediately.

In the meantime, you could contact Simon Cottle at Sothebys.  His email address can be found on the Sothebys website, listed under Specialist Departments > ceramics & glass > London > Olympia.  He can take a little while to get back to you, but you could follow up with a phone call perhaps?

Best of luck with your item!   

[Frank]

My earlier remark that finding an example would be less than easy seem to have been premature:

Watch this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200075169055

Yours would likely sell for less than this one as the top bidder will have been satisfied.

[KevinH]

I find this interesting as I have always liked the opal-over-pink items with applied acanthus leaves. Perhaps not a partucularly masculine design, but I think it is one that typifies the late Victorian tastes.

What I have never found out, however, is which companies actually made which items - there seems to be various attributions given in books and by dealers. Is there any defeinte evidence that this vase is by Walsh Walsh?

In Victorian Decorative Glass, British Designs, 1850-1914 by Mervyn Gulliver, several examples with the coloured acanthus leaves are shown (pages 128/9) but sadly no attribuions are given. However, for three of them the text states, "... illustrated in an advertisement for Autumnal Ware, included in the Pottery Gazette, on May 1, 1884, by the dealers Blumberg & Company of Cannon Street London."

In Decorative Victorian Glass by Cyril Manley (pages 68/9), this style of vase has various comments and the reader is left with a puzzle about attributions, but possibilities include Stevens & Williams.

Gulliver does, however, give general price guides for each item shown and for these vases he suggested £175 to £195. In the author's words, " ... all prices quoted ... are approximate and are based on 2001, United Kingdom values for items in good condition." I suspect those prices are what would be charged by a knowledgeable dealer. Actual pirces obtained on resale can vary considerably.

Edited to add:I have just seen Frank's entry showing the eBay link ... which is, I believe, for the vase we are considering. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is. But I would still like to know whether Walsh Walsh can be confirmed as the maker.

[Frank]

Yes, that is true the eBay one mentions no mark so I would not be too sure it is a safe bid without more data.