Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: flying free on January 23, 2010, 10:54:22 PM
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I have a vase that is lilac, transparent glass and is 12" tall but optically ribbed ( I hope that is the right description ^-^) inside. Outside it feels completely smooth inside you can feel the ribs which you can see around each side - 5 per side. It is the same shape as the vase on the right of this link photo and has an identical snowflake on the front.
This link had a link to an ebay item labelled as Opalina Fiorentina. I am wondering if this would be the same origin for my vase?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/glassie/italian002.jpg
Any thoughts appreciated. Many thanks
m
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i like them bart
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I like them too but would it be churlish to say I prefer them cased and opaque ;D
I was wondering whether this would be Opalina Fiorentina because all the ones I have seen are opaque - but I have seen one identical that measures the same as mine and is stickered as well.
However I then found another vase (different) in my searching that is stickered Opalina Fiorentina that is transparent glass. So hopefully mine is as well.
Here is mine for future reference.
m
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Does your lilac one change colour under different lighting? e.g. under fluorescent or low-energy bulbs. I'm idly wondering if it's neodymium glass...
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Hi Anne
Well.....at first I thought colour changing glass was quite cool ;D but now... I am beginning to really dislike it >:D
I looked at my lovely lilac vase tonight after you prompted and put near a low energy bulb this is what happens (see last picture).
I now have a fabulously heavy bowl that I can't put anywhere other than the hall because instead of being lime green it turns dirty pink under normal lighting, and a vase that I can't use in the hall because it makes it go a aqua instead of lilac >:( - Well, I guess that is the answer to your question ;D
I'm going to start taking a torch with me just in case I buy any glass ::)
m
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just to say, please excuse the photo which isn't very good, but it really does go a pale blue, quite a dramatic transformation.
And a question then. Does this preclude it being from Opalina Fiorentina and hence that this same mould was used elsewhere? or does it indicate that they were also using neodymium glass? From the little I have found it seems that neodymium was used in many countries.
m
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A photo tip: to stop your pictures going yellow because of electric light change your camera's tone or white balance setting when taking the photos.
If you can (a manual would probably come in handy ;D) you will probably be able to set the camera for tungsten lightbulbs (old fashioned lightbulbs) or fluorescent light (fluorescent tubes and low energy 'bulbs').
Your photos will then magically appear the right colour. :)
John
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Hi John
thanks :) I did get the manual and have a go, but I need to take it without a flash otherwise it just shows lilac and I can't alter the balance on the setting without flash sadly. I know, I am probably still doing something wrong, but at least I have now learnt why my lovely camera took such awful photos on holiday (son reset the settings and I hadn't a clue how to set them back again >:D )
m
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To make it work on my camera (flash is always turned off) I had to change the cameras mode from auto to portrait, then change the white balance setting.
With the flash off it helps to hold the camera steady so your photos are not blurred. A tripod can help to steady the camera (no tripod - try resting the camera against a wall or a chair).
John
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thanks John
I tried again tonight but to no avail. I think I will have to do it when no kids around to distract ::)
In the meantime though it goes from a lovely lilac to a mid aqua blue colour....really it does even though I can't show it ;D
m
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I almost dropped these the first time I saw them change colour http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,29702.msg161109.html#msg161109
John
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Nice example of colour change here:
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,1838.0.html
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Your vase contains neodymium which is responsible for the colour change. Search on neodymium / neo / diachroic / Alexandrite for other examples, explanations and discussions. Neodymium is sometimes used in conjunction with other elements.
I'm fairly sure that this pattern, or something very similar, has previously been identified here as being made by Stelvia. It is more often see in "opalina" glass, a type of glass which is somewhat translucent, though not what we would call "opaline".
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thank you Pete. I thought the maker was Opalina Fiorentina as per the link earlier in the thread, but I shall now go and look up Stelvia. Thanks so much.
m
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Hi, I think Stelvia is the manufacturer name, and Opalina Fiorentina is some sort of brand name, see this label which has both names (sorry I don't have a larger pic):
(http://www.20thcenturyglass.com/images/items/glass_labels/glasslabels_murano26.jpg)
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Opalina (the Florentine type) is a transparent colour cased over a semi transparent milk glass.
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thanks so much Wayne, Ivo and Pete - so... would I be right in deducing then that the maker is Stelvia and it would only be opalina (the Fiorentina type ;D ) if it were a colour cased over white.
So.... therefore this is (probably ) a Stelvia neodymium vase?
Ok, off to do some hunting around now. It's a huge piece of glass. I'm guessing 70's for age perhaps?
thanks again - it's much appreciated :)
m
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ah, just found two examples now - Wayne the one on the vase on your site is on a vase which is opaline glass but not cased over white, the other is this one on Art of Glass's photos which is on a neodymium vase but not the same shape as mine -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art-of-glass/4638992038/in/set-72157624133455382/
-the above label just states Stelvia and then on the ribbon bit of the label says 'Fatto a mano' (handmade? - haven't looked it up) rather than the Opalina Fiorentina of the previous label example.
m
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S.t.e.l.v.i.a.? I wonder what the letters stand for.
John
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somewhere on here Ivo listed a huge list of Italian glass makers. I shall go and see what I can find.
m
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hmm, I was sure the list was somewhere here but can only find Murano glass list at the moment.
I did find this link though - however Stelvia on this link does not have the full stops between each letter
http://www.leonet.it/firms/centrovetro/stelvia2.html
m
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http://www.centrovetro.it/ is the consortium - but I doubt if you can find information on early production from any of the members. Stelvia is now a highly automated tableware producer with little attention for a nostalgic past.
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Or perhaps it translates roughly to something like 'opaline glass from Florence'?
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Think of Brussels sprouts...
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:-X
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Oh gord - Ivo, I totally missed your reply and was answering Wayne's post suggesting Opalina Fiorentina was a brand name. Which was why my reply above made absolutely no sense.
Hi, I think Stelvia is the manufacturer name, and Opalina Fiorentina is some sort of brand name, see this label which has both names (sorry I don't have a larger pic):
(http://www.20thcenturyglass.com/images/items/glass_labels/glasslabels_murano26.jpg)
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This will probably only confuse matters further, but here is the vase which bears the label:
(http://www.20thcenturyglass.com/thumbs/2010/opal291010_label.jpg) (http://www.20thcenturyglass.com/auctions/2010/opal291010_label.jpg)
There is no white glass anywhere on the vase, although the blue glass does have a certain milkyness to it.
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Isn't that what's called opalina?
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Oh is it? Lol that would explain it then. For some reason I thought it had to involve white glass, sorry, my mistake. Looks like it was just me who was confused! :-[ :spls:
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No I was confused as well -
'Opalina (the Florentine type) is a transparent colour cased over a semi transparent milk glass.'
I took Ivo's comment to mean it was a colour cased over white (I thought semi transparent milk glass was white) but perhaps semi transparent milk glass just means translucent glass of any colour?
I would have called your vase opaline Wayne. Perhaps, given it is Italian, they call opaline opalina? But I can't see that it is cased? So I am also confused.
I thought a transparent colour cased over a semi transparent milk glass was opalino?
m
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Italians managed to confuse not only us, but to a large extent themselves too. Opaline is a French glass type and the Italian answer was Opalina vera (true opaline, made by V. Nason among others) and the much cheaper substitute Opalina Fiorentina - made by many producers. It is easy to make as it does not require complicated recipes, and there is an unlimited number of pastel colours. It is just not quite the real thing.
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Thanks very much for clearing that up Ivo!