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Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => British & Irish Glass => Topic started by: Leni on December 01, 2010, 12:52:18 PM

Title: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Leni on December 01, 2010, 12:52:18 PM
This bowl in Webb's 'Sunshine Amber' Uranium glass is intaglio cut with a scene of a river bank.  The lower half is water, and above are rushes and reeds, a tree, the sun (with a smiling face! :sun:) and a little bird in the sky.

Does anyone know which shape this footed bowl is, and who would have been the designer / engraver?  I thought Webb's 'Gay Glass' only came in four types; plain, rippled, bullseye and 'Waterlily', which was the one which was cut with - I thought - a floral design.  So what is this bowl, please?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: chopin-liszt on December 01, 2010, 02:18:12 PM
Utterly glorious beast, Leni!  :sun: :thud: :sun:

"The sun has got his hat on,
hip-hip-hip hooray,
The sub has got his hat one
and he's coming out to play."

This song would have been popular around the time this was made, and wondered if this might have been in some way inspiration for the unusual and fascinating cutting in this piece?

I see a little bird in flight as well as the sunny face!
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Frank on December 01, 2010, 03:11:39 PM
Love it, used to have a vase with the design, Parkington relieved me of that  8)
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: chopin-liszt on December 01, 2010, 03:38:29 PM
Ah-ha - so it's not a "one-off", although it's not one of the normal standard 4 ranges.
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Leni on December 01, 2010, 04:09:31 PM
Doh! :pb: What did I forget - again? :spls: The size!  ::)  In case anyone is interested, it's 6.25 inches (16cm) tall and 7.5 inches (19cm) in diameter.   

Thanks for your comments, Sue & Frank  :) 
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: keith on December 01, 2010, 04:15:07 PM
It's beautiful Leni :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: dirk. on December 01, 2010, 04:42:36 PM
It´s so lovely it makes me gay!  :mrgreen:  :thup:  :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: claretjugcollector on December 01, 2010, 08:01:52 PM
hmmm ...http://www.liveauctioneers.com/bonhams/item/166225 piece indeed !!

similar ?

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/bonhams/item/166225
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Lustrousstone on December 01, 2010, 08:17:12 PM
There are obviously no botanists at Bonhams; that's the standard water lily design.
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Leni on December 01, 2010, 10:41:43 PM
hmmm ...http://www.liveauctioneers.com/bonhams/item/166225 piece indeed !
:o :thud: at auctioneer's estimate!  ::)
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Frank on December 02, 2010, 01:50:32 AM
These are really mega loveluies, it is so rare to get production glass from that period with humour included, I always regretted parting with mine but Parkington was good at bribery and what he forced me to sell my best pieces to him at was quite obscene.
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Leni on December 02, 2010, 10:17:53 AM
Thanks again for the  :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: comments  ;)  ;D

Christine has informed me that the 'Gay Glass' range was designed by Thomas Pitchford.  Frank, do you (or does anyone else!) know anything about who would have been responsible for the cutting of this design, or what it was called, or anything else about it?  It doesn't seem to be one of the four designs, plain, rippled, bullseye and waterlily, or did those names just refer to the shapes?  :huh: 

Any additional information would be great!  Thank you  :)
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Lustrousstone on December 02, 2010, 11:15:06 AM
Waterlily is cut Plain. Ripple and Bullseye are mould effects. The Gay range of shapes seems quite large.
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: keith on December 02, 2010, 04:20:50 PM
A Bullseye,as Christine says,one of many shapes.....
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: chopin-liszt on December 03, 2010, 12:52:23 PM
 :tsk:

Getting back to the fabulous vase, according to my reading (with extra close-up glasses and a magnifing glass) there seems to be the number 45897 under this shape of vase in the image of the catalogue on p.141 of Hajdamach's 20th century book.

We know it's Webb, we know it's Sunshine Amber, we know it's not the intaglio cut of Waterlilies which is the "normal" standard in the Gay Glass range.

We know Frank had one, now with Parkington, so it's unlikely to be a complete one-off, (unless this turns out to be the same vase).

So has anybody any idea where this fabulous cut originated, who may have designed it, who cut it and was there somebody behind commissioning this unusual design?
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Leni on December 03, 2010, 02:09:30 PM
We know Frank had one, now with Parkington, so it's unlikely to be a complete one-off, (unless this turns out to be the same vase).

 :o :thud:  Not Impossible, I suppose, although I would have thought it a bit unlikely!  What in fact happened to the rest of the Parkington collection?  I know from Frank's Monart Glass page http://www.ysartglass.com/Ysart/Monartglass.htm that a large part of it was sold in 1997 and 1998, but was that only Monart & Vasart pieces?  If so, what happened to the rest?  :huh: 
 
Quote
So has anybody any idea where this fabulous cut originated, who may have designed it, who cut it and was there somebody behind commissioning this unusual design?

That's just what I was hoping to discover, Sue  :) Thank you for bringing the thread back to those questions!  I wish someone could answer them, or at least give me an idea where to start looking for answers!  :spls: 
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Frank on December 03, 2010, 02:22:44 PM
A sizeable chunk went to Broadfield house, presumably the chunk on loan in the V&A stayed there. Some got distributed privately and the rest went in a two day auction at Christies, the two catalogues are themselves collectors items as their coverage of British glass was great. A fair amount got broken or damaged by the auctioneers. There were some minor errors of attribution in the catalogues.

No idea who designed it but there can't be that many options, I presume it was made after WW2??
Title: Re: Webb 'Sunshine Amber' with intaglio cut river scene
Post by: Paul S. on December 03, 2010, 04:40:57 PM
'A fair amount got broken or damaged by the auctioneers'...........streuth  -  well they certainaly won't be handling my collection ;).   One or two may be understandable  -  but 'a fair amount' sounds deplorable for an auction house of that repute. :o