Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: pamela on December 07, 2007, 09:43:54 PM
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M743
UGB
I have tried more than twice to present a photo, hopeless
Can anyone give me a hint please?
tia
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smaller photos:
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oops, working on it, another one
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the shape:
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How unusual to think of UGB glass being silver overlaid. I always thought it was more utility glass than something that would be used in a silver casing. Pamela, is the silver real hallmarked silver or is it silver coloured, pewter perhaps, or one of the other silver-coloured meals whose names I can't just call to mind.
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Looks like an upmarket whisky bottle.
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Hi Pamela, what is the mark on the metal at the base please?
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Thank you, Anne, Sue and Frank!
What does UGB stand for? United Glass Bottle manufacturing co? ;D
To cut the story short: this item originates from Shanghai, China, where my parents-in-law lived during the Thirties and Fourties. They returned to Europe in 1950 resp. 1951.
The silver pattern is in fact very Chinese, showing dragons, clouds etc.
My fil also gave work to the orphanage in Shanghai by ordering huge embroideries. Maybe he himself liked this bottle and has had it decorated this way to give it a better look - I know he liked Whisky 8) Unfortunately he passed away in 1982 already and I cannot ask... :'( My mil wouldn't even recognize it today, very sad about her.
The silver is stamped:
SILVER and ZEESUN.. (may read 'Co')
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Pamela, that is fascinating, thank you for telling us the story, and what a great piece to have in the family. (Do you have pictures of the embroideries as well?)
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Lacking an answer I finally googled UGB tonight - surprise, surprise - that's why nobody answered my question regarding UGB - I had just tried to interpret, but now I know, it is United Glass Bottle Manufacturing Co. - never heard of before and don't know anything about them except Wikipedia meanwhile :-X
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Basically a conglomerate of glass factories starting around 1910, various variations in the company name but UGB was fairly constant. Some better known brands Sherdley, Ravenhead...
Naturally they kept merging until there was only one left... pop... (http://www.debook.com/gifs/Mailflush.gif)
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Pamela, I'm sorry I thought you knew it was United Glass Bottle, otherwise I'd have said sooner. We've discussed various bits of UGB production on the board before and Heidi has an interest in their glass. (Where is she by the way, I thought she was due back by now?)
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Hi, everyone.
I'm back, but between catching up at work and Christmas preparations have been pretty swamped. So many apologies to those (especially David and Anne) who haven't had responses to e-mails.
Pamela - I have more information on UGB (later United Glass, now part of Owens-Illinois), which I've picked up along the way of researching its two tableware subsidiaries (Sherdley and Ravenhead) and which I'll share here as soon as I have time (hopefully this evening or at the weekend). I've never seen anything like this bottle before - as Anne said, most of their production was pretty utilitarian. So I'd be inclined to agree with your theory that this was an ordinary bottle embellished by local craftspeople in Shanghai.
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Thank you so much ! Armin knows, it's from China and will never believe it is real silver unless I take an acid probe/proof at the bottom - I should do that really and inform you too about the outcome ;D
Heidi, can you date this bottle pleeeease? (earliest possible 1932 - latest 1950)
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Design was registered late 1930, but it's not shown in the Blue Book or on the Great Glass website listing.