Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: sdelzer71 on September 02, 2014, 08:55:36 PM
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Heres a beautiful (I believe) candle holder? It almost looks like painted glass since it is semi opaque , but again could be porcelain. There are no markings on the base.
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It looks like Burmese glass, perhaps Webb. Shine a UV light on it
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if it's possible to disconnect the metal parts, then where there are holes/cuts you should be able to determine which it is.
The flowers/leaves do look to have been painted on, but the pink and yellow appear to be within the material.
Think it would need to be quite thin porcelain to be translucent.
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Tough call between Webb Burmese or Mt. Washington shiny Burmese with Smith Bros. decoration.
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Looks like glass to me.
It's a very unusual and rather wonderful piece. :)
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Thanks everyone for the great input. Unfortunately cannot take the brass fittings off to see if it is glass or porcelain. I have added some pictures of it lit up with a flashlight . Maybe this will help. It does look like glass with painted on leaves or vines?
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It IS glass.
Those that know about this sort of lovely old stuff currently cannot decide if it was made in America (Mount Washington) or in the UK (Webb's). Both are very highly regarded makers.
Burmese is the name given by Webb to this combination of colours, which is produced by heating the glass a second time - it's called heat-striking.
It is probably radioactive (very mild stuff, nothing to worry about and it's all trapped in the glass) .
If you turn an ultra violet light on it, it should glow very bright limey green.
But your piece seems to have ribs of colour - that would be a very difficult thing to produce with heat-striking - normally it's a graduation of colour from base to rim.
Over to those that actually know something about these makers!
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Ribbing is entirely possible. http://lustrousstone.co.uk/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=990
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Actually Mt. Washington named Burmese first as Frederick Shirley obtained the patent in 1885 for Mt. Washington's formula in the U.S. & Mt. Washington gave permission to Thomas Webb & Sons to produce Burmese in England in 1886 who in turn used the Mt. Washington name Burmese.
Personally I am more inclined toward Webb than Mt. Washington as I cannot locate any shape(s) even close to this from Sisk while the Webb shape(s) illustrated are far more free flowing.
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Should have added that while I am at it here is a comparison of a very good Murano Mt. Washington Burmese copy compared with an original Mt. Washington Burmese vase. The original in the middle one. Now not everyone carries a blacklight around & frankly most pocket model are close to useless so the most important factor is a reaction of the Uranium Oxide in real Burmese to a blacklight. To the best of my knowledge not a single example of a Murano copy (and there are tons of them around at least here in the U.S.) has ever been found to react to a blacklight. What a Murano copy will react to is a very bright light (as in a high intensity camera flash) & while not visible in any type of normal light a bright closeup flash will show a single faint white streak (not unlike a lightning bolt) appearing.
Mentally picture a John Doe at a glass show or mall & he spots what appears to be a nice piece of Burmese complete with an intact original Mt. Washington label (and yes these were labeled) on the bottom but unfortunately a blacklight is nowhere to be found so he takes a leap of faith & gets burned at the stake. Now if only he had taken the piece to any lamp in the show or mall with a 100W bulb & placed it within an inch of the naked bulb while slowly rotating the piece to see if the magical white lightening appeared....
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It certainly sounds an interesting piece of glass, but I think Ken (Ohio) is being a little over dismissive re his comments about pocket u.v. torches. :)
Whilst we'd probably all agree that key-ring sized torches are not for serious field work, there are torches that fit in the pocket - don't weigh a ton/tonne - and are within budget. These function adequately even in bright daylight, and you can usually find a less bright corner of a shop or boot sale area to decrease the daylight and help with the blue light.
I do like the imaginative turn of phrase........ "so he takes a leap of faith & gets burned at the stake." - I don't think there's many of us who haven't singed fingers at some time or another :)
Kenneth M. Wilson's book makes for very interesting reading regarding Shirley's British patent of 1886 which he sold to T/Webb for £100 - although his real cleverness seems to have been the gift of some Burmese to Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice - surely the ultimate in lost leaders, bearing in mind what this did for subsequent sales.
According to Wilson the name itself originates, apparently, from the fact that yellow is a favourite colour in Burma, and this fact was discussed with Shirley, who settled on the word Burmese, in view of the prominence of yellow in the glass.
Not knowing much about the stuff, I get the impression that most pieces I see have a satinized or plush finish, but there is what appears to be a less common high gloss surface finish on some pieces that is described as 'regular' - might this be the type of finish that looks to have been produced on the op's candle stick?
As a Brit. I feel a little piqued that it appears most/all of the original T/Webb Burmese pattern books are now in the Corning ;) ;)
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Fenton made some of their version of Burmese as well. Not the quality of Washington and Webb in my opinion but it will give a glow under a black light as it contained uranium as well. I have had some of their cullet of this glass and have reheated it and made some items from it. Very tricky to work with and getting it to strike properly.
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Pairpoint made Burmese in the late 30s into 1940 under Gundersen then again in the late 70s under Bryden. Not alot though, just sporadic small runs.
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It does look like glass the more I look at it, with painted on flowers. I went out and bought a black light to check some of the other pieces I have which I believed were vaseline. Its has a beautiful glow to it when the light is on. What would I describe it as? A candle holder? and what kind of value should I put on on? ???
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Yes that's Burmese
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What would I search for to find out more information on this? Thanks
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Is this the one in the James D. Julia sale?
http://jamesdjulia.com/item/2136-367/
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Similar, Christine. But the one in the Julia sale does not have the "flora decor" on the base.
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Oops missed that
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There was I, busily searching that auction, because I'd seen it too (after you sent me the link to enjoy). I should have checked first. :)
http://jamesdjulia.com/item/2136-367/
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Editorial comment only. This outfit approx 8-9 years ago attributed a collection (approx 20) of vases marked DK as Durand Kimball & of course they were all marked with the well known PK logos (where admittedly the P can look like a D)plus the glass was nothing like Durand Kimball production. Always nice pics & good stuff but for such a well known operation we on this side of the pond do not pay much attention to their in house estimates. Will say though that it filtered down the pipeline that they withdrew the entire collection the day of the auction so they are on the up & up. Was a bit amusing though as a year later one of the many antique guide books published yearly had about 5 pics of the withdrawn lot ided as Durand Kimball attributed by this op.