Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Scandinavian Glass => Topic started by: glassobsessed on March 22, 2009, 05:19:21 PM
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Hi all,
I had the good fortune to find and buy for a song this Kosta vase recently (17cm tall). I have been able to work out which glassworks (Kosta - easy enough) and that it was hand formed by Vicke Lindstrand I think in the 50s (LH 1444). What I have not been able to find any information on is the "/27" inscribed under the rest of the signature - see second photo, would this refer to colour, shape or design or for some arcane reason just to wind up glass lovers?
Any help greatly appreciated, John.
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LH (hand-formed by Lindstrand) with the 1444 paces it within the 1958-59 time frame. Don't know what the /27 stand for unless its a style number. Ken
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Nice find, no matter how much the song was worth! I assumed that the number after the main number indicated a variation of the model or series, like Orrefors does. For example, the variations in the Dusk series, have NU 3538 followed by a slash and then number. However, when I checked my Lindstrand's, none of them had that extra number, including a couple that have the same off-centre core. I wish there was a good book on Kosta codes, as I've mentioned a couple of times here.
David
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Good morning, congratulations on your beautiful vase!
I have a small pastel green ashtray LH 1128 with a slash followed by what looks like 27, it's very badly done, I wonder does the 27 mean green....
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Thank you all for your input on this question, my singing is terrible, thankfully my luck is better.
I did perform a search of the glassmessages board and elsewhere on this subject and had noticed that there seemed to be gaps in the information readily available. Hopefully at some stage we can find out a little more and come up with some answers though sometimes I think the 'chase' is as much if not more fun than the 'catch'. However, if anyone does have more information please do not let my sentiments stop you from posting an answer!
In hope and with thanks, John.
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I have it from a reliable source that the number following the slash refers to the year the item was designed (not produced).
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If it were an alpha designation & the piece was engraved it would refer to the pattern that was used for engraving. This is fairly common on Lindstrand Ice paperweights & on his Seaweed Vases that came with various engravings. The date source I use is below & it also appears in one reference, but nothing on the slash. You might try emailing Great Glass. Trying to find out exact info on Kosta is frustrating & It may take some time to pin it down though because it took me quite some time to find the date on a Kosta 627 vase that supposedly didn't exist. Kosta Sweden isn't all that great answering emails & I tried Kosta USA...took an email & a phone call, but I did get connected with someone who contacted the factory & the historian put it on his list...took something like 8 months to get an answer & I had given up, but the info finally came through.
http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/swedish.htm
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Thanks guys, I would be surprised if the vase was designed/conceived in 1927, then again, there was plenty of remarkably 'modern' design taking place in the 20s and 30s that still looks contemporary today (especially in architecture and furniture), so why not? I think Lindstrand may still have been a student in 1927, certainly a young man and probably full of design ideas.
I am not sure if I have the perseverance to contact the factory etc, sometimes mysteries can have their own magic. I have been speculating on what the code might mean. The /27 could refer to a good lunch that Lindstrand ate that day or the number of people who he greeted on the way to work, admittedly more than unlikely but still fun for me.
The part of me that likes to categorize and order would still like an answer though, perhaps that will overcome my laziness at a later date.
Thanks again, John.
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Swedish Glass Factories shows LH 1444 in the 1959 catalogue, so in principle were designed between late 1954 and late 1958. [interestingly the 1959 catalogue shows a load of BH [Elis Bergh] pieces, which were designed between 1929 and 1950, but not the Lindstrand ones].
I thought it might be height, but LH 1444 is shown as 180mm (LH 1445 235mm and LH 1446 300m).
LH 1444 apparently came in green and red, but there's nothing in the catalogue to suggest colour codes (as Orrefors used).
The only other observation I have is that occasionally in the catalogue it shows the volume of the vase in cc - 27 could be about right, though why they only mark a few is anyone's guess
Gareth
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That is an intriguing possibility, I will find some sort of measure tomorrow to check the volume of the vase, John.
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taylog1 I envy you. I've always wanted to get my hands on a copy of Swedish Glass Factories: Production Catalogues, 1915-1960, but have never found one that I could afford. I have a Bergh with the script Bergh not BH & its another problem child as it has Kosta L.R. #640 Bergh...the L.R. is a stumper & the only thing I've found is it was a 1934 design, but have wondered if it didn't carry over into the 50's because I was told his designs were carried for over 25 years of production...on & off. .
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Add my voice of envy re Swedish Glass Factories, whose name Taylog so casually drops. There was one from Holland on Ebay this weekend that went for about 260 pounds. I'm still kicking myself for not going higher. (I think the seller had been offering it as a BIN for way more for quite a time.) Is it worth that much, Gareth? If so, you'd think someone would do a cheap reprint.
If the people who signed the Kosta and Orrefors pieces had only known how much attention we would give to every number, I'll bet they could have had some fun. We should run a contest for the most likely, least likely, and more creative but possible explanation for the "27." Or is that what we have been doing?
David
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Re. Swedish Glass factories I bought one last week, new for about £125. I couldn't believe my luck :chky: Would you be interested in the name of the website.. it's here in Denmark.
best wishes, a40ty
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a40ty:
Yes! I'd buy it in a flash at that price. Could you send me the website either in a reply or through the email button? I have Danish friend here who could help should I need translation help.
Thank you!
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Here you are...
http://www.boggalleriet.dk/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=glas&lookin=subject&osCsid=fc4b1b815c84e4d80afe0f552edc140c&x=32&y=2
:)
You know, I think I'll put it where other people can see it too.
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Just to add to the confusion we sold this mini Lindstrand vase recently....saw an identical one on ebay without the additional "/228" a week later...?
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LH 1444/5/6 - here's the red version Red (http://www.goteborgsauktionsverk.se/AuctionArt.aspx?vId=182027)
Good price for the Swedish factories - £260 is too much (although one also went for same price on Tradera recently) - my guess is that they won't last long.
I give up on the numbering ! :rn:
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Hi all, just a quick note re. the numbering. I regretfully don't know what 27 stands for, but it cannot be the design year. In 1927 Vicke Lindstrand had not even started working with glass, he started working for Orrefors in 1928, and for Kosta in 1950.
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Hi:
The same green vase is pictured in the Mark Friedman book on Scandinavian glass, p. 83. He says it's signed Kosta LH 1444 alone (that is, no /27 after the 1444). There go the theories that /27 is for green or the volume the vase contains.
DF
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I thought that volume might be a long shot and have had trouble finding a suitable measure.
Out of curiosity does anyone know how many ml in one cc? I thought of weighing the water contained by the vase to find the volume (1 litre of water weighs 1 kg) but my brain started to frazzle so I went for a hunt around Cardiff's charity shops instead.
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Er, one, they're the same thing.
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Thank you Christine, I can not quite believe that I have just weighed the water held in the vase (not that accurate without electronic scales) and it weighed around 80 grams.
I will not be weighing any other liquids to determine relative densities! (Unless I am very drunk which is rarer than rocking horse doo doos).
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Hello. I have a Vicke Lindstrand purple vase and it has the number LH 1451 with a small k underneath
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here you can find the basics
http://www.glassfromsweden.com/how-to-date-kosta-boda.html
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I too have often wondered at the /number or .number on Orrefors and Kosta glass. Since it does not make much sense to have 27 numbers of this vase I suggest that is unlikely. Similarly 27 versions of the shape would also seem unlikely.
So I pondered a while and have come up with what may be a possibility or two.
Possibility 1 - that seems somewhat unlikely, as duplicate numbers seem to exist, is that it was the 27th of that shape made.
Possibility 2 - is that it is an inspector's number. That is a person who inspected it for its correct shape, colour, etc. then engraved it with the appropriate number plus their own number verifying that it was saleable as a first.
Ross
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maybe a good photo would help?
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of the vase also