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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: vidrioguapo on February 27, 2012, 03:55:54 PM

Title: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 27, 2012, 03:55:54 PM
Trying to help out a friend with an ID for this.  It is 8 inches tall, has square slabs of deep cobalt blue and clear layers around a central clear tube.  Flat polished but very scratched base, sorry no photo as she did not send me one.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/emmismith/Miscellaneous/Bluesquare.jpg

any ideas?
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Ivo on February 27, 2012, 04:01:19 PM
Looks very czech to me and a top piece. Massive and fragile - just great.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 27, 2012, 05:45:47 PM
Whoops, something has happened to my photo, let's try again

Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 27, 2012, 05:57:15 PM
Ivo said

Quote
Looks very czech to me and a top piece. Massive and fragile - just great.

Thanks for a prompt reply Ivo..............I've looked everywhere I can on the internet but can't find this vase.

I don't know where to begin with a maker,  help, where are all the Czech people when you want them? :-[
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: wolkenreb on February 27, 2012, 06:07:01 PM
Could it be a one-off?
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Anik R on February 27, 2012, 06:41:54 PM
Interesting piece... same concept as here:  Ivan Stepan (https://picasaweb.google.com/Jindra8526/IvanStepanOhenSkloKovSpolutvurceVystava?authkey=Gv1sRgCMzK7-S75pam9QE#5431814064568317666) and  here (https://picasaweb.google.com/Jindra8526/IvanStepanOhenSkloKovSpolutvurceVystava?authkey=Gv1sRgCMzK7-S75pam9QE#5431814586325382082).
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 27, 2012, 07:02:24 PM
Thanks for replies so far.  It does look like Ivan Stepan Anik, certainly the same sort of style.  Did he work for one of the major glassworks, or maybe was(is) an independent glass maker?  Will be doing some more "Googling" on this name later.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: flying free on February 27, 2012, 07:20:07 PM
they all remind me of Danny Lane pieces  :)
m
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 27, 2012, 09:17:18 PM
Can't find much by Googling.  Danny Lane images are all of his HUGE sculptural stuff, no vases.

And as for Ivan Stepan, have come across a few images, but so far nothing close to this vase. Mmmm.?
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: bOBA on February 27, 2012, 10:37:18 PM
Jindrich may be able to add something to this thread when he sees it later in the week. It certainly looks very Cz modern glass style. As Emmi suggests, the Stepan pieces look slightly different. Stepan designed a few nice pieces for Beranek Glass in Skrdlovice after 2000 and is still a relatively young blower/ designer who is still exhibiting and trying hard to make a living in glass, but he may not have made this piece, I hope Jindrich recognises this particular item ........


Robert (bOBA)

 
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 28, 2012, 08:20:17 AM
Thank you Robert for your comment.  It will be interesting to hear what Jindrich has to say too. I had not heard of Ivan Stepan before Anik mentioned the name, and from my Googling, the little I could find indicated to me he is a Contemporary glass blower.  Does he have his own studio? Or is he attached to a factory?

It is a very attractive piece of glass indeed. I am curious as to how it is made/assembled if anyone can throw any light on this.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: bOBA on February 28, 2012, 07:13:13 PM
I had a word with Jindrich and he did not recognise this piece. It looks a good quality piece to me though, whoever made it.......... not particularly helpful from me, I'm afraid,

Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on February 28, 2012, 07:28:04 PM
Thank you Robert, but is it believed to be Czech, or is there some doubt about that.?
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: astrid on March 17, 2012, 10:20:16 AM

The combination of cobalt blue and clear is not uncommon in Czech glass, and the style fits, but I can't think of a way to exclude other artists and regions, particularly if it's relatively new. If Jindrich and bOBA have never seen it before, it can't have been mass produced. But a modern studio piece would most likely have been signed. Too many holes to attribute it with certainty, I think.

Astrid
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: heartofsklo on March 17, 2012, 10:36:28 AM
It reminds me mostly of one of the art glass lamp bases.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on March 17, 2012, 04:49:39 PM
As I have now acquired this piece from my friend as I really like it, I am even more keen to try and find its origins.
I too would have thought it would be signed if it is a studio piece, but unfortunately it is not.

I thank you all for your comments so far, but would REALLY appreciate it if you could notify any more info should you come across it in the future.  Whatever it is, it is  quite stunning.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Tigerchips on March 17, 2012, 09:50:44 PM
Something similar here but not quite the same.... http://blog.sub-studio.com/category/glassware/page/5/
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: MuranoArtGlassChandeliers on March 18, 2012, 07:49:13 AM
Hi

This piece is not something that the Chinese produce as it the stepped cut surface is so typical of classical Czech and even Scandinavian glass.  By colour, I would say that it points to being Czech but a stunning piece none the less

Dean
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Mosquito on March 18, 2012, 08:11:58 AM
I'm afraid I have to disagree with Dean here; there are many pieces made here in China which are constructed in a similar way (though it seems they are rarely exported to the west). The combination of blue and clear class would also not be unusual for Chinese production. The piece reminds me somewhat of some desk sets constructed out of fused slabs of polished crystal that I saw when visisting wholesale markets here back in 2007. That said, I've never seen this exact model before, and, as yet, there's nothing to say definitively that it is Chinese. I simply want to say that it would be unwise to rule out China at this stage.

For comparison, here are some Chinese vases which, while far from identical, share a similar aesthetic:
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/479305885/Blue_Texture_Crystal_Vase.html
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/206093012/crystal_vase.html
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/341338660/K9_Crystal_Vase.html
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/439857709/HOT_SALE_beautiful_crystal_vase.html
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/368657321/crystal_pencil_vase_CR_005.html
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Mosquito on March 18, 2012, 08:23:28 AM
Hey, think I've found it!

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/437758623/exquisite_crystal_vase_with_flowers.html

 :)

Pujiang Wanbaolai Crystal Factory

...and it's from Zhejiang Province - not surprising as I first saw this style in wholesale markets around both Wenzhou & Hangzhou.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on March 18, 2012, 11:29:38 AM
Thank you Steven - I am not at all disappointed that it is Chinese, as it is a stunning vase.  In my view one of the best of Chinese if you like this geometric style, which I do.

I had an inkling it would have this attribution, so I acquired it from my friend with an open mind.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Andy on March 18, 2012, 11:48:05 AM
What a lovely piece, i wouldnt be disappointed either, although i cant believe they can make them for the price on the link :o

Emmi, i thought you were more of a knobbly than a geometric  ;)

Andy
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on March 18, 2012, 11:52:04 AM
 ;D  Open mind Andy, surely that says it all!  I like things that "make a statement to me" and that's all that matters.
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: vidrioguapo on March 21, 2012, 06:58:40 PM
Hi Moderators, perhaps this is a good one to move to the Chinese section as it has been positively ID'd?
Title: Re: Chinese? Czech? Don't know
Post by: Anik R on March 21, 2012, 09:23:46 PM
Emmi, I think it's a fabulous piece, and the fact that it's Chinese makes it all the more interesting -- a step forward in breaking the sterotype that Chinese glass is synonymous with poor quality.

Display it proudly.