Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: Janet on May 04, 2009, 11:28:35 AM
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Hi everyone,
I bought this vase at a carboot sale about 2 years ago. I have had no luck identifying it and seen nothing like it until today when browsing ebay i came across a Val St Lambert lamp base that looks a similar shape. It probably isnt as i believe Val St Lambert are usually signed, but not sure. anyway it has sparked my interest in trying to identify this vase again.
It measures 14cm high and is quite heavy at 1.2kg. The base is flat with scratches and age related wear. I hope someone can help please?
Thankyou,
Janet.
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Hi,
I've certainly seen Murano lamp bases that look like this, usually in red, a friend purchased one at an a Welsh Antique fair last weekend. Also check out this completed Ebay auction which claims to have a Murano label attached 200330779104.
Bryn
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The Murano lamp bases usually measure 10-12 cm in diameter and weigh around 1kg. They generally have far fewer ribs (or none) and a series of largish air bubbles. Also, they are usually coloured and then thickly cased with clear glass.
Your vase does not have many similarities with the lamp bases, Bryn is your monitor playing up?
I did find a lamp base as Bryn mentioned (it is the first I have seen with an engraved number on the base and green), here is a photo of a different red one.
Sorry I can not be of more constructive help.
John.
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If it were a lamp, would there not be a hole in the base for the cord? I've assumed that these were candle holders, although the couple I have are somewhat smaller.
It looks like it could be Murano to me.
David
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A lot of the lamps are not drilled the cord comes off the side of the metal fitting .
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Thankyou for your replies, that gives me something to go on.
I did wonder wether it was indeed a lamp base as there is no hole in the base for the cord. Also the cavity is large, more like a vase would be. Having not seen a Murano lamp base close up, i wonder are the bases hollow like a vase or with just a hole to snuggly accomodate the brass fitting?
I agree it does look similar to the Murano ones, and mine is thicky coated in clear glass but no bubbles. Were they made without bubbles at all?
Janet.
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The Murano lamp bases (as in photo of red one) are usually hollow with a hole in the bottom, they often have a groove for the flex so that the base sits squarely. I do not know if they were made without air bubbles.
I do have a lamp base (origin unknown) which has no neck like your vase/lampbase but it is a little 'rough' around the neck as this area would have been hidden by the light fitting, so did not require a fine finish. Is there much difference in touch or appearance between the body and the neck on yours? I am clutching at straws here, this is not very definitive.
This lamp base of mine does not have a hole in the bottom but it does have a hole in the side for a flex, this hole may have been added after manufacture - it is slightly rough around the edges.
I will add a few photos of it later.
John.
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Thankyou John, photos of your lamp base would be very helpful.
The neck on my base/vase is very well finished off, its smooth with no roughness at all. There are no scratches or marks either where a metal fitting could have been attatched.
Janet.
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I bought this without any light fitting on it and adapted (butchered) a fitting and then stuck it in with clear silicone, so far it has not set fire to anything.
This may not have started life as a lamp base but I would guess it did.
John.
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Hi:
Johnphilip was right about not all lamps being drilled for the flex, as I remember seeing some just like that (I have to say, though, that such pieces don't look very elegant, imho) Also, I think I was a little off in suggesting a candle holder, as I the scale is wrong. One way to see if it were possibly a lamp base is to check whether the opening is the standard size opening required for a fitting, not that I know what that is.
However, we may be focussing too much on function rather than form. Glass light bases were made all over and establishing whether or not it is a lamp base doesn't help too much in identifying the origin of the piece. I did another quick look at similar pieces I have (photo attached), and the ones I think might be Murano have bubbles are are sommerso. The ribbed one in the picture has 18 ribs, despite being much smaller than your piece, so ribs don't rule out Murano. The ribbed lighter base I have (same basic shape, but with an additional base polished on the side, and which has Murano label) has a lattimo core covered in gold foil and then cased in clear. I guess what I'm suggesting is that the shape could well be Murano, but I'm now less certain about the colour. Sorry for being so tentative. I hope for you, like me, the fun is partly in trying to figure things out.
David
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What a good idea John!.Your lampbase looks great, i bet it looks lovely lit up. I think i will be paying a visit to the local DIY store myself tomorrow. :)
Thankyou for going to so much trouble with the photos, thats very kind of you.
Kind regards,
Janet.
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Hi David, Yes that may be an idea to check if they were all made with a standard opening size to accomodate the fittings. After looking at the photo's of your lamp bases though i am pretty sure mine is a lamp base also, the rim of the opening also looks to be finished the same.
Back to the suggestion that mine may be Murano, i agree the shape seems to point to Murano. It 'feels' like it could be. There are 16 ribs on mine.
The colour has me baffled also. As seen in the images it is a lovely orange colour that has a greenish tinge to it especially towards the base. The orange colour does seem to have a slight metalic reflective golden 'glow' to it somehow if that makes sense.
Janet.
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Have you got a UV light to shine on it to see if it glows a very bright green. If it is cased, as you say, it may be that the casing is uranium glass. If it is not cased, it may be that it is amber uranium glass, which I suspect would rule out Murano
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Janet:
Sorry, I should have included the size of mine. They're about to 3 1/2 inches tall, which rules them out as lamp bases, but leads me to think that two of them are candle holders.
Excellent suggestion re UV light from Christine.
David.
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Glass obsessed - your lamp is in fact a small bowl, Kirkhill Glass, made by John Airlie in the early 1970s You can find more about him on the Scotland's glass website.
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And Shiona should know! Welcome ;) :fwr:
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Shiona, thank you very much for your help, I have just had a look at some of your fathers work (my ignorance is way broader than my knowledge). I do like the heavily pulled decoration that he used on this and other work.
Are you sure this piece would have been a bowl originally? The neck is quite small (1.5 inches, more like a vase).
Anyway, whatever it was or is, it is lovely.
Many thanks, John.
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Dear John, glad to help. Dad usually sold these as posy bowls, so you can just as easily call them vases. They look lovely with a few snowdrops or the like in them, but they are murder to keep clean! The trail decoration is a feature of Kirkhill Glass. Lovely to know it has a good home. Shiona
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Thank you Shiona, I tend to ignore dust until it becomes really obvious, then when I have cleaned everything I wonder why I let it build up for so long.
Janet, my apologies for hijacking the thread you started!
In case anyone else is hunting for an item of Kirkhill Glass, I bought this on that well known auction site where it was described as Murano (if you look long enough almost everything is). I have since seen what must have been another Kirkhill Glass item (taller vase in very similar style) also described as Murano. Probably worth looking under Whitefriars too (if you have the time). Sorry if I am stating the obvious.
John.