Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: keith on September 16, 2009, 08:14:29 PM
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Have been trying for some time to track down who was responsible for,I mean made these,suppose I'm hoping there is a fishy expert out there,somewhere,Keith.
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I'm so glad I'm not the only one who likes these fish!!!! They are ugly but I love them. I started with one huge one I bought for a pound and now I've lost count. I have them across the tops of my kitchen cupboards, big ones, small ones, fat ones and long ones. We did discuss them a few months ago on here after I said the colours on a vase I was trying to identify were very like my fish colours. I was told they are not all Murano but a lot have been copied in other countries. How to tell the difference I don't know. Some are better quality than others. I may be wrong but I seem to remember someone saying the copies were Polish. Cheryl
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Hi again, I have found the thread about the fish, it was said the copies are Romanian (not Polish) They were made from the 50s to the 70s so still lots for me to buy then!!!! ;D Cheryl
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Slightly off-topic, but these yucky (sorry! :-[) fish are completely responsible for my line of work today. I used to buy them up for 5p at church jumble sales back when I was a blonde mop-headed cherubic 8 year old and I got everything for nearly nothing - and then sold them to dealers for £10-20 each at carboots on a Sunday because they were inexplicably in fashion 20 years ago. Excellent way of making pocket money. I used to do the same with antique books and vintage toys later on, but it started with these fish.
Unfortunately jumble sales fell out of fashion, as did the fish. *sigh*
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I sold a small blue speckled one recently, which had an old "Made in Romania" sticker on it, so that confirms the Romanian possibilities. The ones with silver or even gold colouring in them (if you have any) are most likely to be Venetian.
Stu.
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Thanks for the replies,I've also heard the Rumanian connection,I think that there are some quite modern ones that have a blueish tinge to the clear glass.Also got an internally silvered one(saw an identical one in London a few months ago at £186!!!!!)don't seem so many about recently,I've also got some vases with similar colouring,glad that I'm not the only one that likes them,Keith.
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One question to Tinker-Taylor,the one with the sticker,are the clear glass parts,clear,or do they have the blueish tinge I mentioned on my previous post?Keith.
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Actually, even though I sold it a while ago, it still seems to exists on ebay. You should be able to view. Click below.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320383981930&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:GB:1123
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I was talking to a lady on a car boot who says she sells the bigger fish for £80 at antique fairs, but asks £30 at car boots. I personally have never paid more than a fiver even for a big one. Quite a lot I see have damage to the mouth, I always get my husband to check anything before I buy as he spots faults I don't find till I get it home. Cheryl
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You've got me closely studing my fish, (a worrying thing to admit to!! ;D) I have five little ones, four have clear fins and tail and the pale green one has pale blue fins and tail.
cheryl
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After looking at Tinker-Taylors fish on ebay I'd say it has a different look to it when I compare it to mine,what does Mrs Vulture think?Keith.
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The idea of someone selling these fish for anything near £80 makes me feel queazy :mrgreen:
Here's a proper work of art I sold recently - a Seguso fish - and it only made £40! >:(
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320413137683
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I'll let my prejudices glow unabated by saying that glass fish often seem to bring out the worst in designers, some Murano and FM excepted. My prize for the nadir of fish design, though, goes to Alta glass, started in Alberta by a Czech immigrant. Similar fish, a little more detailed, I think, are still being made in the Czech Republic as well. See http://www.aaczechglass.com/ Look at Modern Art Glass, page 5. I can't seem to get a direct link to the page.
Keith, I hope you find the person responsible and make him/her fess up.
David
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A few of these fish were among my first batch of sales on ebay a year or two ago, they fetched much higher prices than I had hoped for (a giant red white and blue striped one made twenty something quid) so I celebrated with a beer. Yes you guessed it, I broke a fin off the largest fish while trying to pack it (I have no tolerance for alcohol). :cry: The buyer turned out to be very reasonable even before I had refunded him his hard earned.
I now never drink booze if I am going anywhere near a piece of glass. :angel: Apart from the one I am drinking out of, of course. ;D
John
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Thanks to all for the responses,when, if ever, I found out where they are from I'm not sure if they deserve a medal or a fine,(I'd say medal)Keith,
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What really scares me is those two flowers! Something distinctly phallic about them both.
Carolyn
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The one on Ebay looks the same as my five, the stripes are maybe a little clearer on the Ebay one. Mine all have a mark underneath where the label was. And I'd say definitely a gong to the designer, must have made them a lot of money as they sold so many. Perhaps they were given as presents to people they didn't like very much. ;D I have one smallish fish that is blue all over, bit different to all the rest. My son calls them my schoal!! cheryl
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Heres a picture of my blue fish, hes all one colour on his body but unlike all my other fish he has a textured pattern to represent the scales. The fins and tail are the usual sort in clear glass. Hes 10 inches long.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w97/cheryl1300/cherylpics033.jpg
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Just found the Mama of all fish,see my new post,BIG FISH,Keith.
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Hi Keith. I recently got one of these, bootsale couple of quid. Not sure if i like them or not, but it was cheap & cheerful. This one does have bluefish pointy fins. May i ask do you think its modern Romanian?
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Hello, looks a bit more green than blue, the body colour looks like the 'older' ones, difficult to say but I'd say not new, well very new, ::) ;D ;D
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Hi Keith & thank you. I was going to say greeny blue ( or maybe bluey green would be more accurate :) have you seen any with pointy fins like this, i notice yours, and others I've seen, are wavy. When you say old, how old do you think?
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Haven't got one with pointy fins, all mine are different, this first one is quite new, I believe, the 2nd one,like yours, are I think late 50's-70's. I'm going on how long I've seen these about, some of my aunts had them in their windows years ago until they became 'unfashionable' and my aunts are getting on a bit :o ;D ;D
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Thanks Keith. Interesting to compare them.
Thats how i remember these too, on old relatives window sills, lol.
Its grown on me, i rather like it now. I like that its so big and can be stood upright. Funny how ones tastes can change. I find myself liking glass, ceramics, figurines, all sorts of 'granny' things, i wouldn't have looked twice at in my youth.
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Apart from the pointy fins on mine i notice yours (and other similar ones) have a wider mouth. Mine also has fin handles. Have you seen that before?
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Hi Keith.
Here's a photo of the other side of mine.
The fins look a bit greener in this one.
I guess turquoise or light 'bottle' green would best describe it.
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Oops wrong photo..
Sorry Keith, i don't know how to delete a comment.
Here's the other side :)
Its the other photo where the fins look greener.
Here they look a bit bluer.
I guess best described as light 'bottle' green
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I see some of yours have fin handles too. Loved your comment 'responsible' for. I guess you either love 'em or hate 'em, or they grow on you. i always thought i hated them, yet, when i saw this standing impressively upright i couldn't resist getting it. I agree with Mrs vulture its nice & certainly grown on me, there's something grotesquely alluring about them a bit like the 'cheesy' figurines i quite like now...Aaarrgg I'm turning into a grandma!
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Mrs vulture, Cheryl, hello :) this is my first fish, & like your first its a biggy & cost no more than £5 from a boot sale..snap :) only i hope it doesn't develop into a fish obsession!
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I've 8 of these, one with a silvered interior, a green one that maybe Italian and one I think is by Walsh so I can't really say that I don't like them can I ? ::) ;D ;D ;D
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8! I guess you must rather like them :)
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I'd forgotten about this monster,16 inches long, still no idea where from :o ;D ;D
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Now those I have seen, brand new, in interior decorator style shops in London within the last 10 years or so. I am positive the paper labels read "Made in Poland".
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Cool. I've never seen anything like it.
You must have an aquarium full!
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With the other animal weights it's a bit of a zoo here,
Sue; this has a bit of wear, I'd have thought 60's-70's but if Poland it is then that's fine, ;D
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I now have 12 fish on top of my kitchen cupboards!!! I have sold all the smaller ones on the car boot. One of my favourites is completely dark red with clear fins and white eyes. My son has a couple of these too. ;D. I'll post a picture when my husband comes in ( I can't do it myself , he's told me so many times how to do it!!!! ).
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It might have been more within the last 15 years than 10. I haven't been "down there" for about 6 years.
I remember them distinctly - I really liked them so I did check where they were from.
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Hi, here's a couple of photos of my fish. The first picture is of my big fish, they are all about 22 inches long. The second picture is of the smaller ones. I got them down for a clean today. I am trying hard not to buy any more but if I find a pretty one going cheap I buy it and then sell one of the less pretty ones. Not to everybody's taste I know, but I like them, :D. Cheryl
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Lol, lovely Cheryl. I'm not sure if i saw one again i could resist it, but then i only have one..at the moment :) i see yours all have wavy fins and clear glass, though the colours look very similar. Do you think they're from different countries or eras?
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Sendhandfran, be careful , I started with only one fish and before I knew it there were loads of them!!!! ;D. My fish all look very similar in design, just different colours and shapes. When I sell them at the car boot they always get bought quickly. I think they have some age to them, but no idea who made them. You would think that being there were so many made it would be easy to pin them down properly to a country or maker. Cheryl
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Thanks Cheryl. I like your idea of exchanging a better one when you get it. You should end up with some nice fish. ATM I'm happy with one. I don't come across them often though (so I'm not surprised they get snapped up) only once before i saw a lovely long fish but with a big nasty long price tag to match it :(
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Cross reference with new post by Christine with detailed info and pictures of Romanian glass fish
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,68772.msg382642.html#msg382642
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hello to all fish collectors.
i read all 80 and more quotes, but no one mentioned the german company WMF company for the fishes. I think all glass collectors know them with IKORA and MYRA Glass, but in 1931 they made fishes in alle sizes and shapes as well. You see it in the nice book WMF Ikora & Myra glass . Your fishes are all not from WMF, but this might be interesting to all fish catchers ::)
Monika