Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Murano & Italy Glass => Topic started by: cfe on June 18, 2007, 02:34:32 PM
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Hello. Please could someone with more experience and knowledge than I have advise me. I want to try and add a Cenedese Aquarium Glass Block to our paperweight collection. I have scant knowledge in this area of collecting and having looked at various examples on Ebay (and web sites) and seen all the warnings from sellers (on Ebay) about copies, I have realized that I could make a mistake. Do the copies for instance have a polished base or are they unpolished? What should I look for in a genuine item?
Thanks ever so much for any advice.
Regards Carol
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One fairly obvious difference between the authentic ones and fakes is that the fish in the authentic ones have fine details in the fins and other parts. The fakes are clumsy and solid colored in the fins and other details. I once owned a paperweight with fairly detailed fish and wavy grass that looked pretty authentic and high quality, but it seemed pretty new. (I think I paid about $30 for it at an antique store). In other words, more detailed ones aren't necessarily vintage. They're just not Chinese or Taiwanese knock offs.
Good luck,
Charles.
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Thank you Charles for your advice, I will pay attention to the details in the fish. Kind regards Carol
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Charles,
Are you using the word "fakes" in this context to mean "similar looking items"? Or do you have evidence that there are actual fakes of the Murano fish blocks that are marked "Murano" (or with a Murano maker's name) but which are known to be not made in Murano?
Just because other folk have made similar items, does not necessarily mean they are fakes - just similar items.
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In general the acquarium made in chine featured an unpolished base. It was probably the most easy sign of a fake. But during the last 2-3 years I have seen (in the shops of some friends, not in my one) some imported items with better details, first of all the polished base.
All the old Cenedese block that I had in my hands feature the fish made in furnace and not lampworked. It means that they are much bigger and thicker.
In general the blocks of recent production have different colours due to commercial issues (people prefer acquamare, tourquoise, blue).
At the end the best check, as usual, is the feeling when you have the piece in your hands.
Sincerely
Alex
www.artofvenice.com (http://www.artofvenice.com)
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Hello Alex. Thank you very much for the information. Do the fish in the older Cenedese blocks have a common range of colours?
Kind regards Carol.
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Kev H wrote:
Just because other folk have made similar items, does not necessarily mean they are fakes - just similar items.
I have recently discovered images of three aquarium block paperweights, and a couple of items with different subject material. Of stunning quality, all the aquarium blocks date to 1974, but these are the work of one of the most influential and skilled glass-masters in Czechoslovakia, Josef Rozinek. Yet, by no stretch of the imagination, could they be considered fakes, and as KevH rightly states, these are similar items.
Regards,
Marcus