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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Unresolved Glass Queries => Topic started by: Ivo on March 08, 2009, 06:11:00 PM
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Here is a satinated horse which jumped out at me today. It is 8"= 20 cms high, so quite a hefty steed. I immediately recognised it - it is in one of my books. But which one? I thought it was Chevalier for Baccarat (it has that sort of quality) but cannot find it there. It is also not Leerdam. And I've googled myself silly. A name, a name please. And don't spare the horses!
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... Fostoria .
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Thanks for an unexpected candidate. I checked the "useful & ornamental" book but Fostoria made 2 horses - colt standing and colt reclining; the tallest of these is 3.7/8" - so rather too small.
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Rearing horse #2564 = height 7 3/4 ;)
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Thanks - that led to a lot of googling. Horse bookends seem to be a complicated field, and these have been made at the very least by Fostoria, New Martinsville and Smith bros. in the 1940s - and possibly by others. Most items I see on the net are lacking in definition, and there is discussion on how to distinguish between the various makers. Of course, finding one of these in Europe is a rare occasion - no wonder I've seen it but not recognised.
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I've been through this process myself, and my pair turned out to be by New Martinsville.
The LE Smith version has a different, beaded mane as you can see here
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I don't have a photo of the Fostoria version I'm afraid, but it has a slimmer, less tucked head
Hope this is of help. :)
Alison
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Ivo, Replacements.ltd has a couple of Fostoria horses at http://www.replacements.com/webquote/FOSFOA.htm?s1=gbase&36288& that look like yours. It is the second link on the page. Unfortunately, it doesn't give a height.
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Thank you both Anita :hiclp: and Alison :hiclp:
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It's called a Bookend and is 7 1/4" high, made 1939-58. Reissued in 1991 in crystal for Fostoria outlet stores.
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http://www.debook.com/animal/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/cb040511ce439532b3e90605e16cd812.jpg
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ex Glass Zoo
The similarities to the coarser 1940s L E Smith (US) horse book end are remarkable, this is more likely to pre-date that. Further research needed.
Mary Pelt attributes to Libochovice1937 #39 on page 16 here
Sizes: 215mm (8½") high
Marcus to 'possibly' Jablonex, Czechoslovakia 1948-92.
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There are four characteristics of Ivo's horse that jumped out at me -- the noble position of the head, the tight mane, the long tail, and most of all, the slab-like base. Most of the common American pressed horse bookends have vertical development of the base. The Fostoria horse seems to have greater development of the back legs. The thick hooves give a look of real substance. Ivo's horse looks more like crystal than the horses by Smith, etc., do. IMO, it is a magnificent horse.
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Frank,
I'm sending you a scanned page from Glass Animals that compares them.
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They must all have a common root as they are so similar and are also found in metal and ceramics. I have had US base metal one that dated to the 30s and a german ceramic one that dated to 1920s-1952 latest.
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I was thinking the same thing. Somewhere there must have been a sculptor who made a masterful sculpture of a bolting horse - which was turned into bookends, losing definition and force with every new round of spinnoffs. Mine seems to be from a pretty good stable, seeing it still has both its eyes - but some pictures I see are of shocking quality. I find it also strange to find American glass from the 1940s on a market in Holland.... but then, strange things will happen.
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and then there is this...
http://www.desna-glass.cz/www/products-detail.php?id=58
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That one is credited to Mario Petrucci by the Museum of Industrial Arts Prague & they were also made by the Paden City Glass Company in WV (USA) from a mold leased from the Barth Art Glass Company also located in Paden City so there are obviously several molds.
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(http://www.debook.com/animal/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/cb040511ce439532b3e90605e16cd812.jpg)
ex Glass Zoo
The similarities to the coarser 1940s L E Smith (US) horse book end are remarkable, this is more likely to pre-date that. Further research needed.
Mary Pelt attributes to Libochovice1937 #39 on page 16 here
Sizes: 215mm (8½") high
Marcus to 'possibly' Jablonex, Czechoslovakia 1948-92.
I just bought this single bookend which most resembles the above picture - a 4.5 cm. high satinated base - however the position of the legs seems different, being more horizontal than all the others I have seen.
Any thoughts ?