Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: BobKegeles on September 02, 2013, 05:02:42 AM
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Okay, up for debate . . .
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Base shot please
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Very nice. However I have seen this style of decoration on a labelled Chinese bowl.
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Hi. I suspect Chinese origin too - but remember that quite a lot of pieces made in China acquired Murano labels later, and were sold as such....
Alan
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I might add that several of the Murano companies were purchased by Chinese capital a few years ago and there has been a transfer of designs and key employees between the two locales. I also knew one fellow from the UK that went to China about 10 years ago and setup an entire factory and trained many Chinese in all the traditional English techniques. I now have a friend that is going to China a couple times a year from the US as a consultant for a company over there and teaching them color batching and many other techniques. He has been a studio glass artist in the state for over 40 years. It's world economy and sharing of most things or "borrowing" it has become common place. The people he is working for are have a company that is just making wares for the Chinese market which is now surpassing all other world markets in size and prices. I think it is wiser to look for good quality and collect wares that are signed and attributed to an individual as compared to a company. I think that's why paintings have always surpassed glass in pricing and as an investment instrument. Individuals have rarely produced things by the hundreds or thousands as most companies have.
Many of the famous Italians came to the US 25 -30 years ago and shared their expertise, now the US is sharing with China and many others. The days of keeping all glassworkers from venturing away from Murano ended a long time ago.
The International Glass Symposiums held at Novy Bor every three years allowed glass artists from all over the world to come to one place and work together and share techniques and ideas for a few days. It's a great Glass Fest if you've never been there for it, but it was by invitation only.
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I think the different image that Chinese and "Murano" weights have is based on the perception that Chinese weights are all "factory" produced, no artistic involvement, no soul, and "Murano" is perceived as being created (notice "created" vs "produced") by artisans, who, even if they are working for a production studio, still imbue each piece with a piece of themselves. Certainly unfair, but I think a common gut level feeling.
Almost all the Chinese product you find here in the USA is the bottom level product, you may get the better product in Europe than we do here.
As far as Murano, I rarely pay any attention whatsoever to that "label", since, at least on ebay, everything that isn't labeled gets called Murano, it's ridiculous. I wasn't aware that there were phony labels, or that the artisans were mingling countries. It only makes sense, it is one world after all, and if Italy's most famous food (pasta) is Chinese in origin, certainly modern glass techniques will intermingle.
I tend to know more about American studio glass, from the 70's forward, and tend to do the same thing here, at a gut level, I certainly think much higher of the Lundberg, Lotton, Josh Simpsons, Cathy Richardson, Chris Heilman, Randy Strong, Correreia, Satava, Orient & Flume, etc.
Then I put the higher end production studios Karg, Eickholt, Robert Held, Glass Eye Studio, (I think of GES as the American Caithness) pieces on a middle level.
Whereas, what I call the Midwest "factories" Fenton, Joe Rice, Gibson, Dunleavy, Prestige, St. Clair (and the many others) on a bottom American level.
My own personal taste is usually for the small studio's, an artist and a few apprentices, learning the craft. For the most part, if you can buy multiple pieces that are roughly identical, who cares, versus each piece (even if in the same category) is different enough, that you can see the differences.
Just my opinions of course.
Bob
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Christine,
Thanks for the base shot request, my camera takes photos that are too dense, (to high a KB level) to post, and I cannot figure out how to lessen that on my computer.
Perhaps, I simply don't have a program to do it, I haven't ever bought, or downloaded one, just rely on the bare bones PAINT that comes with every computer in the US.
A trick I've found, is when I upload pictures, to my Auctivia account, it automatically makes it a much smaller file, usually to just under the 125kb limit. Then I can save that image back on my computer, and it retains the lower density.
I've tried to get some "base shots", but even using my work around, they're coming out as 135-160kb, so I can't upload them to glass message board. Sigh.
If anyone has some good suggestions for cheap (or even better free) downloadable software that I can use to lessen the number if bits and bytes in a picture, I'd love to hear it.
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I use Irfanview to resize for GMB posts. A few tips etc here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,34093.0.html
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Thank you Pete for the tip on where to find the info, and programs.
Thank you Anne as well, for the tips.
I swear I'm such a guy sometimes, (well always) not only do I not ask for driving directions, I don't ask for computer tips either, unless I'm so far gone . . .
In this case, I just assume, that I'm the only one out there who doesn't know hoe to shrink pics., so was too embarrassed to ask.
In any case here's the bottom shot. and the other I have in the same family.
Really pretty pieces.
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Hi all,
Another example of Chinese weight with murano label, my father bought this weight thirty years ago, or even more.
Best regards.
Marc.
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did he buy it in China? If not the canes may have been made in China and sent to Italy where they were crudely assembled. I've got a lot of Murano canes that I've had for many years and have used in some work here in the US. I was in the Moretti/effetre factory about 25 years ago and they took me in their sample room and told me to pick out whatever I needed to take with me. Who knows how many others over the years have exchanged many of the murrine all over the world. I also had several from Perthshire as well. It has been a common practice for ages to sell and exchange many canes of different styles between glassblowers for many years. One 30' can make a lot of millefiore, and I've seen them pulled to over 75 feet.
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Another source of confusing millefiori paperweights is Pairpoint. Alistair Ross made some paperweights there with Whitefriars canes (I have a couple), and also with Perthshire canes (all obtained legitimately when visiting the factories). I doubt they were the only non-Paipoint canes used there!
Alan