Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: SophieB on October 15, 2010, 04:13:58 PM
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Hi there,
I have acquired this lovely murano crown recently. It was advertised at 19th century Murano but I do not think it is.
I have never seen a Murano weight quite like it before (and so it could something else altogether). It is a hollow crown with a core/bubble of white glass. also aventurine was used profusedly...
I suspect that it is 20th century Murano (may be first part of the 20th century - circa 1930s - but this is a complete shot in the dark...).
Any information would be most welcome on the date and maker.
SophieB
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I agree with you, SophieB! Your weight is lovely and certainly does not look like the typical Murano weight. I've never seen aventurine used quite like that, and, with the aqua highlights, it's a nice effect (IMHO). Is the base concave with a pontil scar? From what I can see, there is a wear-ring that would not be consistent with a flat base. Hopefully someone will be able to fill in some of the blanks regarding your weight.
Good luck! ...... Lily :X:
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Hi Lily,
Yes, the base is not flat and there is a pontil scar (this is also odd for Murano...).
I don't know what to make of it. Let's hope someone out there has a clue!!! :X:
Sophie
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Sophie, your weight and the one in this link may have a connection in that they both have a pontil scar and concave base which is unusual for Murano weights. The aventurine is heavily used as well. (My experience in seeing aventurine in Murano weights is as more of a highlight.) A weight very similar to the one in the link sold on eBay about a month ago (same base, etc.). The seller could only say that he felt it was made within the last 40 years. If--and it's a big if--there is a connection, maybe someone can use the canes to direct us toward a possible maker. It's a long shot but, hey, that's part of this journey!
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-11185
Here's hoping ..... Lily :X: :X: :X:
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Hi Lily,
Many thanks for this. The weight may (or not) be related to mine. Difficult to tell.
Anyway I am not bothered. I really like my shiny crown...
SophieB
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Sophie, I had really hoped someone would have something to add to this thread. No matter what though, your weight is unusual (in my limited experience) and very interesting. Would moving this thread to the Murano section be of any help? I don't know how many of the Murano people visit the Paperweight category.
Lily ::)
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Hi all,
I am just trying to revive this post. I have located a weight which resembles my mysterious crown. It is illustrated in my newly acquired Campbell-Cloak 'glass paperweights of the Bergstrom art centre book' at p. 111 - plate 38 - item n. 251.
Am I deluded or is there a similarity? (Alan this is the weight I mentioned to you - what do you think?)
SophieB
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Yes, there is a similarity to the weight in the Evelyn Campbell Cloak book. Both use "heavy-looking" goldstone (aventurine) threads as well as coloured threads with aventurine edging. The attribution stated in the book says it was acquired in 1939 and is "possibly mid-19th century".
The same weight was illustrated in the later book Glass Paperweights of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum (item 235). The description was much the same as in the earlier book but with an addtonal comment referencing Hollister Jr, The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights where a cross reference back to weight in the Museum is accompanied by a statement about its possible 19th century Venetian origin: If it is, it is the finest Venetian weight ever made ...
The statement goes on to comment on the filigree used and makes a reference to the "Venetian balls" of even earlier times.
The problem is that 19th century Venetian weights (or "balls") were usually of the "surface decorated" millefiori types by Bigaglia (maybe also Franchini?). Later 19th century items tended to be mixed coloured twists with aventurine, also with surface decoration under a thin outer coating of clear, but of a more flattened profile.
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Hi Kevin,
Many thanks for this. This crown has had me baffled since I bought it. So I was a bit excited when I saw the picture in the Evelyn Campbell Cloak book. I know that a similarity to a weight which is itself only uncertainly identified may not be a great step forward but it is better than nothing.
SophieB
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is the weight you are referring to as similar, the same one as pictured in Sybille Jargstorf's book Paperweights on page 51?
m