Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Murano & Italy Glass => Topic started by: glassobsessed on April 05, 2013, 05:29:19 PM
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This fish is quite light in weight and about 20cm long. Anita has one with a similar form in the Murano Zoo but there are enough differences that maybe this one is from another factory, the clear example here (top right): https://sites.google.com/site/muranozoo/fish-invertebrates-4
When I bought this one I passed up two more, same form, slightly smaller and blue. Some shark had been nibbling the tails.
My first thought was Salviati but that is probably just the gold leaf talking. Any ideas?
John
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They look similar to the Salviati menu or place card holders but bigger , possibly part of a table service .
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They look like the Fratelli Toso fish to me, but other people could have made them, too. I don't know if Salviati did fish with the large lips like this. However, there is a lot I don't know about this type glass. The eyes and mouth of yours are different from the FT fishes I've seen, but it may be another company -- I don't know.
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I have a fish vase similar style to your fish, and they seem very hard to attribute >> http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,50228.0.html (http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,50228.0.html)
The eyes in yours are quite unusual, though, so maybe that can be linked to a maker one day...
Michael
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Thank you JP, Anita and Michael for taking a look. If part of a table service I wonder what their function could be?
John
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Maybe thats why the mouth is so big to hold something .... like ice and tongs . :-\
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I've seen them called salts, and have even seen two of them with little spoons. Maybe it is what they are.
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Maybe not ice, it would be a bit small for today's 'standard' sort of sized cubes but salt would fit, the interior slopes away from the mouth so it would not flow out. Were the spoons you saw made of glass Anita?
Just a random thought but could you serve caviar in one of these fishes?
Thank you both, this little fishy is turning out to be a really fun item.
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I don't really understand why why come people call these fish salts. I believe the old salt dishes were ones that actually did hold salt. People could stab some piece of food, then dip it in the salt. Sounds like a great way to get high blood pressure to me. I can't picture trying to dip every piece of food into the fish's mouth. Meal would be a slow thing.
Caviar holder! Now that seems a perfect use for them. And the little spoons fit into that idea.
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I thought!!! too big for salt , Caviar did cross my mind or crushed ice the upturn would hold it in . I still go with part of a table service with the menu holders , I believe several firms made them . :-\
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I thought caviare was supposed to be served from a double walled container which held ice under the stuff. ???
It looks too delicate to be shoving metal utensils into it, and it doesn't really look that practical for salt.
But where on it is there something to hold a place card?
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The small ones are for place cards scroll back , they have a receptacle for it .
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http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,43465.msg242355.html#msg242355
another age, another fish, another technique but maybe same usage?
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they remind me of spoon warmers - but I'm sure we've had this discussion before and one wouldn't use glass as a spoon warmer - hot water/metal and glass not a good combination.
m
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http://www.alafacondevenise.fr/affichage_dyn_objets.php?action=showfull&vpic=123&gll=1&tpic=32&maxp=53&page=1
this is an old one here 18th century and called a table epergne.
I think the owner of the site has written a book on 15th to 17thc glass so I'd guess if it had another function it would have been noted.
It seems it is simply known as a table epergne.
m
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Sorry, been distracted by family issues recently.
I find it hard to see the function of this fish as a spoon warmer, it is too small, it might work for a teaspoon sized spoon but that is about it. Good to see another example M thanks, that one looks early 20th century to me but what do I know! ;D
John
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pretty sure the dating on that one is correct ;D - they have a flask on there that sold for Euro 38,000 8 years ago :o
m