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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: collectar on August 24, 2008, 04:59:01 PM

Title: Bohemian Glass - pressed glass, clear and frosted vases
Post by: collectar on August 24, 2008, 04:59:01 PM
Hello
I have two vase's that I have been told are from the 1800's. I believe they are Bohemian. One is crystal and the other is glass. The tops have been ground and they appear to have come from the same mold.
Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: Frank on August 24, 2008, 08:41:50 PM
Can you add a bottom view?
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: Anne on August 24, 2008, 09:40:00 PM
Collectar welcome to the board. :)

Which of the two vases are you thinking is crystal?  They both look like glass to me, one being clear the other being a frosted finish.
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: collectar on August 24, 2008, 10:59:01 PM
Hello
I have been told , the frosted one is glass and the clear one is crystal. Here is a top view and bottom view.
Thanks
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: Anne on August 24, 2008, 11:18:48 PM
I suspect we have a word usage difference here. Crystal to many of us on the board would mean lead crystal, whereas I suspect your informant was using it in terms of clear glass as used in the USA.
(See discussion here about the use of the word crystal: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,21107.0.html)

Are there seams down each side? I think I'm seeing something like a raised line from top rim to base.

Datewise, I'd be thinking more mid to late 20th century than 19th century but others may be able to comment more. 
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: collectar on August 25, 2008, 12:37:58 AM
Hello
 Yes there is a seem. I have added a picture. They were handed down from grandmother to grandson. The grandmother received them from her mother. That would put them in the 1800's. The vases came from Romania.
Thanks
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: Lustrousstone on August 25, 2008, 11:02:53 AM
They are both pressed glass, one has been treated with acid to give a frosted finish. There will be no difference in the composition of the glass. The number of generations is no indicator of age unless you can match dates of purchase. My children are both adults and their great grandparents died in the 1960/70s and were born in the late 1890s. I would have said these were early to mid 20th century if not newer.
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: Cathy B on August 26, 2008, 05:09:46 AM
It's not quite clear in the photos, but the rims are not polished, are they?
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - Crystal ?
Post by: Anne on August 27, 2008, 03:06:12 AM
They don't appear to be Cathy and the top post says ground rims.  They do make me think in terms of packaging glass - the sort of thing that pickles etc came in many years back - intended to have a later life as an ornamental item.
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - pressed glass, clear and frosted vases
Post by: collectar on August 28, 2008, 01:39:07 PM
Hello
I talked to the people they came from and was told they have been in there family since the 1800's. They said they were hand blown into a mold.The tops are ground. I came across an article that states " old clear bohemian crystal will yellow with time, this yellow can be removed by heating". The one vase has yellowed.
Thanks
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - pressed glass, clear and frosted vases
Post by: krsilber on August 28, 2008, 09:30:51 PM
Interesting pieces.  Judging by the lack of uniformity in the thickness of the glass, they are mold-blown, as you say.  They sort of look like packaging, but it seems like there's not much place to put a lid or a label, so I'm inclined to think they aren't.  It almost looks like the yellowish color was intentional on the non-satin one (I have lots of 19th C Bohemian glass, and none of it is anywhere near that yellow; most isn't yellow at all).  If they came from Romania, they aren't Bohemian.  Interesting examples of old Romanian mold-blown glass.  I'd be surprised (and impressed!) if anyone here could tell you more about them than you already know - I know of no documentation for that sort of thing.
Title: Re: Bohemian Glass - pressed glass, clear and frosted vases
Post by: Pip on August 29, 2008, 08:50:23 AM
I came across an article that states " old clear bohemian crystal will yellow with time, this yellow can be removed by heating". The one vase has yellowed.
Thanks

Hi, your clear vase isn't crystal - it's glass - your vase is probably intentionally yellow as opposed to having got that way over time.