Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: shandiane78 on February 17, 2008, 08:45:50 PM
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Can anyone help with the origin of this vase? I feel like it could be from almost anywhere! The bottom is polished with a couple of scratches, but doesn't look to have much age wear. The vase is about 10" tall.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/purplevase1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/purplevase2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/shandiane78/purplevase3.jpg)
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Any ideas?
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I know it's hard, but you have to be patient. Not everybody comes on everyday, so you might have to wait a week or more before the proper expert arrives on the board. If I had to guess (and I am in absolutely no way an expert) I would guess possibly murano (given the scoops just below the rim and the bubbles) but someone will come along to correct me. ::)
Carolyn
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I would think it is from Poland - possibly by Makora. The giveaway is the weight; Polish glass is HEAVY. There are several factories who keep changing the production models 4 times per year, so the range of different vases is infinite. And they do the full range of hot glass trickery: inclusions, nail moulds, hot decorations, somersos - you name it.
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Thanks Ivo. For some reason I've been leaning more toward Bohemian, even though I bought it with hopes that it was Italian. I'm curious to hear some more opinions!
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Shannon:
I've a few pieces that have been similarly pulled/hot worked, including a few from Czechoslovakia (so the labels tell me), but I haven't seen any with bubbles. My first thought was Eastern European.
The other pieces I have are supposed to be from Scandinavia (Magnor?) and Canada (Chalet?). It would be interesting some time to run a thread comparing similar vases, as I find it hard to distinguish them by country of origin.
David
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I got rid of this a long time ago, but wanted to update with an ID! This morning I saw one on ebay with the label - Made in China, Crystal Brand
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I got rid of this a long time ago, but wanted to update with an ID! This morning I saw one on ebay with the label - Made in China, Crystal Brand
Excellent sleuth work! Some of the Chinese pieces are actually very nice. Do you have the number of the eBay auction or the keywords of the vase. I would love to save the pictures of the vase and label in my personal-use folder.
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Unfortunately, there's no close-up on the label. But the seller says what's on it. Here's a link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370164463102
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Shannon:
Thanks for the update. A very useful picture to keep. Thus ends my assumption of heavy = European (including Canada).
David
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Thanks for posting the links, Shannon. The label is a bit unusable, but the information is good. I like the red vase that you posted. I had no idea who did it, and didn't even suspect Chinese.
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Am I allowed to do this?
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But it (the ebay one) doesn't have the clear petals/scoops of the one originall sited (which made me think Murano).
Carolyn
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The angle of the photograph nearly hides the scoops under the rim. I checked and was able to pick them out. The bottom scoops are difficult to pick out with the dark color and distant photo.
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I'm still not completely convinced - there may be hope yet. :-\ The 'scoops' on Shandiane's piece are directly under the troughs of the ruffles, whereas on the labelled Chinese piece, they are under the peaks. The eBay piece doesn't seem to me to have as much mica (or are they bubbles?), the rim is a different shape with rounded peaks rather than rounded troughs, and generally, even allowing for a bad photograph, doesn't seem to have as good quality as Shandiane's.
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The two vases look very much alike to me in that they have the same overall shape, and have been worked using the same techniques: a ruffled top, where some of of the lips have been left more upright and others pulled down or out, a tool has been used to push the glass near the top, there's a slightly different shaped push at the bottom, and another tool created mark on the main part of the body. I'm also allowing for the variation that's inherent in the process. Shannon's picture is better and has more light in it which shows off the colour and the bubbles, as well as making it look like a better quality vase. It's the bubbles in the first vase that make me think that it could be Chinese, as I haven't seen bubbles like that in any European vases.
What I get from Shannon's recent contribution is that we have to add China to the list of place where these vases are/were made. It's relatively easy to identify the Czech Skrdlovice pieces because of the colours, the workmanship, and the use of the compressed air to soften the pulled and pushed sections. Yet there were (probably still are) other factories in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic doing pieces not unlike this. Marcus suggests Chribska, for example. Add Murano, and Sweden (apparently Aseda produced very similar looking vases), and Chalet in Canada and it often becomes difficult to identify a specific location as the origin of any vase.
I suppose my personal view is that it doesn't particularly matter at that point. I don't think a Murano vase is any better than a Czech vase (certainly not a Skrdlovice, obviously my favourite), and Aseda vase, or a Chalet. From the look of Shannon's vase, I'd put the Chinese vase in last place, but not by that much. For fairly generic pieces, which these are, I think, some times I feel we'd be better off focusing on the virtues of the piece itself, more than trying to tie it to a specific location. Would I like or value (aesthetically not monetarily) Shannon's original vase more if it were proven to be Murano? Of course, that's a very specific collector's (me) point of view. I'm sure sellers and other collectors would have a different viewpoint.
There was another thread on a similar type of vase, but with a very plain mouth, that you might find interesting. http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,19903.0.html
David
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I wonder what people make of this vase, which has just finished on eBay. 140303405813.
David
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I wonder what people make of this vase, which has just finished on eBay. 140303405813.
David
I think it is a lovely vase but...no clear scoops, not sommeroso, what scoops there are placed differently...Not convinced.
Carolyn
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I wonder what people make of this vase, which has just finished on eBay. 140303405813.
A strange hybrid! I think this one would be Italian, even though (to my old wrinkly eyes) it looks odd. I've got a vase out in the shed which you'd never think would be sommerso, but it is, with some age too. I hope I'm right and this one has wear to the base.
Edit: I had another thought. The Blais gallery is down at the moment, but maybe this one is Chalet glass? Looks like the top rim is cut, which is rather Chalet-ish? Don't know if they used Sommerso, but seeing the designers started from Italy...maybe?
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Didn't (doesn't?) Chalet sign theirs? :huh:
Carolyn
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Carolyn, Most Chalet is signed, although there is some disagreement on that as some people have said that 25% of the production left the the factory with only a foil or paper label. I don't think this piece is Chalet. Here's a link that seems to be the most coherent, if not necessarily 100% accurate, summary of Chalet history I've seen. http://antique67.com/articles.php?article=79 The article includes a link to a Chinese company that is producing reproduction Chalet.
I found the link in an ongoing, often rambling, discussion board. It's interesting reading as, although it's focussed primarily on Chalet glass, it also gives a clear indication of the problems face by collectors seeking attributions for their pieces or trying to create a history of a company. The thread has contributions from some of the founders of the company and their relatives. It also has links to some video clips shot at the Chalet furnaces in Cornwall, Ontario. The link is: http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/?p=594
David
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I wrote to Michel Blais in 2005 and received this reply:
Hi Max,
Not all Chalet glass are signed.
A lot of them(esp. ash trays) were made in assembly line when it was fashionable to smoke(before the 50's). There was an interesting article on Murano ash trays in Architectural Digest a few months ago.
Thank you for your enquiry,
Yu-Jin on behalf of Michel Blais Gallery
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Max:
True enough about the ashtrays, although some of them are signed. The good Chalet (the stretched pieces) are usually signed, certainly the ones in the Michel Blais Gallery are. He used to have a very nice gallery in downtown Vancouver with incredibly high prices for Chalet. The last time I saw the gallery he was operating in the basement of a Caribbean restaurant and much of his Chalet glass was displayed on the open beams above the restaurant. Quite sad and bizarre. BTW, his site is up again, although with a limited amount of Chalet on it.
David
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You know what David? I've never even handled a piece of Chalet glass! Isn't it a shame? :cry: I could really do with buying a piece - I think I'll start watching out for it actually. :) And I agree - it's very sad if Michel Blais doesn't have somewhere suitable to display his collection...it certainly seems that in the rafters of a restaurant wouldn't give the best conditions for viewing!
...But I suppose better than packed up in boxes somewhere? :-\
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I can never figure out why I'm somewhat attracted to Chalet, but I do have a few pieces. Handling them does make a difference, as they're quite substantial. There should be a few pieces in Britain as Chalet had a sales office in Britian for a short while. It might be very few pieces, however, as there must be a reason the sales office was open for only a short time.
You're right about better off being somewhat visible than in boxes. It's just than whenever I see them there, I'm reminded we're in an earthquake zone.
David
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I hope he uses Museum Gel then! It's bad enough with teenagers and cats, let alone earthquakes!!! :o