Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: mrvaselineglass on August 28, 2008, 10:52:53 PM
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I got this in the mail today and got it's 'glamor' shots taken. I am thinking it is John Walsh Walsh, but would sure appreciate any opinions, one way or the other. It has a nice iridescent shine too! thanks!
Mr. Vaseline Glass
http://www.vaselineglass.org/walshvase3.jpg (http://www.vaselineglass.org/walshvase3.jpg)
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Loetz or Kralik perhaps was my first thought, but only a thought :mrgreen:
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vaseline opalescent (yes) ...
Dave — Well no, actually!
... and, Christine, it's Walsh. It screams Walsh at me. No criticism, Christine, as over 75% of the Walsh I buy is described as something else.
So what is it if it's not vaseline opalescent? It is Walsh canary or yellow Mother-of-Pearl, comprising a plain canary or yellow glass with a very thin layer of white opal flashed? on the inside. I believe it was made by taking a tiny initial gather of white opal, possibly a lampshade glass, and then casing this in the main coloured glass, sometimes building up the thickness required with clear crystal or opalescent glass. Hayhurst notes three variants of Mother-of-Pearl, green, flint, and straw opal, to which should be added this canary, yellow, or vaseline, and a relatively uncommon ruby (cranberry), but factor in the possibility of combining opalescent glass with coloured glass and it is not quite that simple. Certainly the Walsh master craftsmen were unsurpassed at combining a relatively small number of types of glass to produce a myriad of effects. Almost all Mother-of-Pearl was iridised.
The little leaf comport or tazza on the right of the photograph here (http://www.vaselineglass.org/art105L.jpg) is a fine example of Walsh flint Mother-of-Pearl, the attribution reinforced by the use of the ribbed pattern mould shown in the drawing submitted with design registration No. 582840 of 28 April, 1911, see Gulliver p.286 or Reynolds p.17, so we know for certain that this fairly commonly seen pattern was in established use by then. See also the example shown in Gulliver on p.109 top right.
The best examples of Walsh glass I've found for showing the white opal layer clearly are some examples of the cornucopia shown in Gulliver on p.91, and, yes, it is Walsh flint Mother-of-Pearl, although the white opal layer on the illustrated example is so thin as to be almost invisible. On some examples the white opal layer around the rim has broken up into a crackle effect, clearly showing its nature as a thin layer.
Finally, note that sometimes the white opal layer draws back slightly from the cut rim, particularly clearly on your vase, Dave. This characteristic of Walsh Mother-of-Pearl may explain the rim on the vase illustrated in Gulliver, p.109 bottom right.
... and, off topic, but worth mentioning as a cautionary note. Note the completely different construction of the naturalistic feet of the cornucopia and comport. The cornucopia has feet pulled from a sandwich of pierced discs, possibly three per disc, whereas the comport has the feet in pairs, applied as a moulded (pressed or pincered with a very clear mould line) sausage, pulled to make the feet. It would be easy to assume that one of these techniques was the way that Walsh master craftsmen always did it, and to use this assumption as evidence of a non-Walsh attribution for the other technique. It just illustrates the importance of obtaining several distinct pieces of evidence to support an attribution, and the importance of not making unfounded assumptions.
Phew, that was a marathon!
Bernard C. 8)
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Bernard: thank you for the confirmation. I was pretty sure it was John Walsh Walsh, but wanted a second opinion.
I do have a question to follow up on your post. You showed a pic of the mother-of-pearl piece by Walsh Walsh, but there were two other pieces in that same photo. My question is about the tazza with looped stem on the left side of that photo. I have a pair of these, one yellow uranium opalescent, one amethyst and clear. Both are a match. I have also seen the one in Manley's book that is etched (he attributes to Webb) and have always had my doubts that it was a Webb piece.
http://www.vaselineglass.org/2walsh.jpg (http://www.vaselineglass.org/2walsh.jpg)
I am generally not a 'purple glass' collector, but added it to my collection just because I already had the uranium yellow opal version.
(I also appreciate your lengthy reply to my first post - thanks!)
Mr. Vaseline Glass (Dave)
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Dave — Hajdamach also illustrates the acid-etched tazza on p.316, but with a more general "Stourbridge" attribution. I can't add to that.
... and I forgot the obligatory MOP health warning.
Please note that Walsh Mother-of-Pearl is quite distinct from the modern US collectors' term mother-of-pearl, usually abbreviated to MOP, which means air-trap, and apparently originates from one US glassworks' trade name for air-trap, much in the same way as Davidson's Pearline with a lowercase "p" has become a generalised term for the style amongst UK collectors.
Bernard C. 8)
Dave — please would you send me an email as I can't find your email address, and I would welcome your opinion on another type of glass.