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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: rosieposie on July 10, 2010, 11:05:16 AM

Title: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: rosieposie on July 10, 2010, 11:05:16 AM
Good morning all!  :sun:

I think this beautiful glass bird is a Wedgwood piece dating from the 70's, but any help in identifying it and possibly even the maker    Stennett Willson??  would be very much appreciated.  I have seen several in the past in browns, creams and beige, but never a pink one.....it is the same colours as the pink speckled Wedgwood hedgehog I have.
Over to you experts.....
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Lustrousstone on July 10, 2010, 11:08:35 AM
Base picture?
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: ladysmt on July 11, 2010, 05:30:09 AM
Your long-tailed bird is definitely from the Wedgwood Glass factory in King's Lynn. It is one of Ronald Stennett Willson's designs - RSW73. This design was made in sapphire blue, cream with brown speckles, white with brown speckles and yours, white with pink speckles. Depending on the finished quality it may not be etched. Seconds weren't but sometime in the past it had a sticker.

There is reference to the bird in the book, "Wedgwood Glass", but no photo. The book is available from enquire(AT)marg.co.uk (England) or whosaid99(AT)hotmail.com (in Australia). 

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Enjoy your bird. With the long slender tail it's lucky to have survived undamaged.  
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Lustrousstone on July 11, 2010, 05:56:39 AM
And would you be the writer of the aforementioned book? If so welcome Susan.

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Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: ladysmt on July 11, 2010, 06:47:18 AM
Yes, it is my book. I still have a few copies as does Margaret. I hope it's helped you're collecting and identifying Wedgwood glass pieces, with or without base etching.
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: keith on July 11, 2010, 12:03:49 PM
.....also welcome,would you be so kind as to cast your expert eye over this one please,
                                                                                                Keith.
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: rosieposie on July 11, 2010, 01:25:15 PM
Huge thanks to everyone that has helped with this :fwr:.....I feel very pleased with myself that my 'hunch' was correct, but assurance from the experts is always gratifying, so thank you GMB once again, and particular thanks to ladysmt. :kissy:.

I think I will have to get the book.

Keith,  I think yours is the same, as it is that type (might even have been yours?) that I wrote to an eBayer about a little while ago....was that you??
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: ladysmt on July 11, 2010, 01:53:42 PM
Keith, yours is the cream with brown speckles. Now all we need are people with the sapphire blue and the white with brown speckles and we'll have the whole set! :hiclp:  (I hope the smiley works!)
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: keith on July 11, 2010, 02:08:07 PM
Many thanks, ;D
           Keith.
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Paul S. on July 11, 2010, 04:42:22 PM
just for the record and hopefully also for interest, these Stennett-Willson 'long tailed birds' are not too dissimilar from a design by Vicke Lindstrand, produced in the early '60's  -  and it may well have been that Stennett-Willson copied the earlier design.  The main difference in style being that the Lindstrand birds (from what I can see) have the head to one side, whereas the English ones appear to all have the head looking down.   There are other smaller differences, but this trade mark 'erect tail' is common to both, and at a quick glance by the less knowledgeable (like me) it may be possible to confuse one with the other.    There is a picture of an example from each designer on page 88 of Miller's 20th Century Glass.  Apparently, the commercial value is about the same for both designs, allegedly.   It is intriguing to wonder why, when virtually all of the animals that were produced are shown in the book, that an image of this iconic bird - probably worth more than most - is absent.  :huh:   I would also add my thanks to Susan Tobin for producing a very valuable addition to the glass collectors range of books (excluding the enigma of the missing long tailed whatsit) ;D  
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Alfies Dad on July 12, 2010, 05:16:35 PM
Hi, I like these wedgwood birds alot, thinking!!! how much of my hard earned cash would it take to own one of these delights???
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Paul S. on July 13, 2010, 02:24:37 PM
if you look here   http://www.wedgwoodglass.co.uk/  ...it will give you some idea of prices that were current about 2 years ago.    Does anyone know if this site is still active??
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: jakgene on July 14, 2010, 03:12:58 AM
the Wedgwood glass site is still active. I have bought a couple of things happily from them within the last year , and they sell through ebay too.  I think their seller name is vetus_purgamentum .  There are items listed at the moment but no Wedgwood that I could see. you could email them and ask - the Wedgwood glass site doesn't get updated that often but they often have other items available  Also www.marg.co.uk sells Wedgwood animals, and Susan's book I think,  - she has no long tailed birds on the site at present though and that has been updated recently, but still worth asking.


JAK (Wedgwood collector  ;D) And I don't have a long tailed bird yet either  :X: still looking  - guess they didn't fly this far very often.....
West Oz



Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Paul S. on July 14, 2010, 08:31:59 AM
thanks for your helpful reply Jak.   It would appear that this particular piece is certainly far less common than most of the other 'animals/birds'.    Maybe the production 'run' was smaller.    Couple of years back I was offered two in a charity shop for something like a quid ...but one had a broken tail, so I kept only the one, and I think I will hang on to it. :)
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: rosieposie on July 22, 2010, 03:28:53 PM
On behalf of the gentleman who was going to sell this piece, but with your expert help, has now decided to keep it,  :thup: I would like to thank you all for your input, advice and immeasurable help.
You never fail to impress me with the generosity you show with sharing your knowledge.

Thank you all so much. :ghug: 

rosieposie. :rah:
Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: jakgene on August 16, 2010, 12:39:52 PM
In case anyone is looking for one - the Wedgwood Glass site mentioned above now has several long tailed glass birds for sale -£65 - £85. And I finally bought mine two weeks ago from USA. It arrived today and is lovely!

JAK

Title: Re: ? Wedgwood glass bird. Help please in identifying.
Post by: Paul S. on August 16, 2010, 12:56:52 PM
thanks JAK  -  kind of you to post this information.