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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: seanduxbury on March 01, 2015, 03:09:55 PM

Title: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Japan?)
Post by: seanduxbury on March 01, 2015, 03:09:55 PM
Hi.  Hope someone can help.  Found this twisted vase in the North-West of England and am hoping someone might be able to ID it.  It measures 16 cms tall x about 12 cms in diameter across the widest part and is heavy almost 1200 gms.  Unsigned, it has a polished pontil so my first thoughts were possibly Whitefriars but I'm now 90% sure that it isn't.  Any help on who when or where would be really appreciated.  I've attached 2 images, one of the item and one of the base.  If anyone wants more detailed images please let me know.  Thanks.
Title: Re: Has anyone any ideas about where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from
Post by: seanduxbury on March 02, 2015, 11:35:41 AM
Just found this on ebay - is this it?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Czech-Bohemian-Skrdlovice-Glassworks-Spiral-Twisted-Glass-Vase-by-Rudolf-Beranek-/151600788744?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item234c1c7508

Title: Re: Has anyone any ideas about where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from
Post by: bOBA on March 02, 2015, 03:06:14 PM
Hi, on the right lines.... They are both, very likely, nice Chribska pieces

Robert (bOBA)
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: Anik R on March 06, 2015, 07:07:24 PM
Hi,

Of course, I may certainly be wrong, but I'm inclined to say your vase is more likely Japanese than Czech.  Perhaps worth looking into.

Anik
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: seanduxbury on March 06, 2015, 08:27:53 PM
Hi - thanks.  The thing that has worried me about this vase and its Czech origin is the polished pontil.  But the only examples I've found that are similar on the web both claim to be Czech - see these links (I know they are ebay)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191509901547?clk_rvr_id=789866064399&rmvSB=true

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Czech-Bohemian-Skrdlovice-Glassworks-Spiral-Twisted-Glass-Vase-by-Rudolf-Beranek-/151600788744?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item234c1c7508

If anyone has any pointers for Japan I'd really appreciate it

Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: Lustrousstone on March 06, 2015, 08:44:05 PM
The fist one is definitely Skrdlovice but it's quite different to yours. I'm not sure why a polished pontil mark should be worrying though
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: seanduxbury on March 06, 2015, 09:12:34 PM
Still trying to learn about glass and the only pieces I've seen with labels in our local auction houses have sheer polished bases not polished pontils, so I've assumed (probably wrongly) that these sort of pieces from Czech should have similar bases.  Unfortunately the Mark Hill book I have only shows the  pressed glass bases.  I've tried to get hold of the Sklo Union book without success (can't afford the new version) so is there any other reference book I should look at?
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: Anik R on March 07, 2015, 06:12:01 AM
The vase in the first link is Skrdlovice (but by Jaroslav Beranek and not Jan).  I don't recognise the second vase.  Your piece is not Skrdlovice -- Robert spent many years studying Skrdlovice and he would have told you it's Skrdlovice if it was. 

The majority of post-war Czech art glass has a perfectly smooth and highly polished base with no sign of where the pontil was attached. All Skrdlovice and Chribska pieces I've handled had perfectly smooth bases.  Though it's not visible in your photo, if your vase has got an indent from the pontil, then I would say it's definitely not Czech.  Also, 'swirls' in Chribska tend to go down from right to left rather than left to right.

Mark Hill's "Hi Sklo Lo Sklo" is a good start.  Marcus Newhall's "Sklo Union" book is very good, but it only addresses pressed glass production.  I can recommend "Beranek & Skrdlovice: Legends of Czech Glass" (by Robert Bevan-Jones and Jindrich Parik, published by Mark Hill) for a better understanding of Skrdlovice designs and designers -- if you are serious about Czech glass and wish to learn more, it's well worth the money.  Also, Jindrich's Ceskoslovensko Sklo website is worth visiting.  http://www.cs-sklo.cz/

Anik  :)
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: seanduxbury on March 07, 2015, 02:08:44 PM
Thanks - all excellent information.  I think I can safely conclude that this is not Czech as there is a indented polished pontil.  So as suggested perhaps I should look towards Japan - date wise maybe 1970's?  Maker - I haven't got the foggiest idea where to start.  The research I've done so far indicates that in the 1960's & 1970's some of the Japanese glass companies hired Czech and Murano designers to teach their own design teams but that's about all I've been able to find so far (and that took several weeks from a previous post I made).  I can't find any sort of reference guides (either web based or printed material) on Japanese glass, just occasional posts on forums such as these.  If anyone has any information or pointers it would be much appreciated.  BTW this vase was a £4 charity shop find so I feel it's already paid for itself through this post.  Sean
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: seanduxbury on March 08, 2015, 02:37:10 PM
After spending several hours trawling the web to try and find some info about Japanese Glass, I think I might have found a possible maker.  Sanyu.  I found this vase on a website (see link below) - not like mine I know but does show some similarities and does have the polished concave pontil.  Any thoughts anyone?

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/122737-sanyu-glass-japan-vase



Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Chribska?)
Post by: bOBA on March 08, 2015, 08:05:24 PM
Hi Sean, I think I was partly mistaken.

I knew the vase was not Skrdlovice, thanks for the emphasis on that Anik).. (I did once see a Vizner whirlpool vase from Skrdlovice with a concave polished pontil rod mark and it is a strange recollection I still cannot explain it and maybe there will never be another.... I also saw one Chribska vase with a polished concave pontil, but I now I am correcting myself (see below) and it was likely a good quality Japanese vase. I always associated the green version of this vase as Chribska. But unless the contrast of the photo is way out, the red looks odd for Chribska and quite-very possible for Japan. The hot worked pieces from Japan such as the one you have located are not currently well researched-documented. We have had issues before where the similarity in hot working technique to some Czech techniques made confusions, there are threads on here I am sure that we discussed this ages ago. The colours were different on the Japanese pieces. I think you are probably on the right track....

(This is good forum progress, thanks to all, I hope this clarification is helpful!) Good luck with finding more Japanese evidence, it is out there somewhere.


RObert (bOBA)
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Japan?)
Post by: KevinH on March 08, 2015, 11:05:44 PM
I have tweaked the title to show "Japan?" rather than the previous "Chribska ?"

Hopefully a bit more investigation may soon shed a definite ID on items like these.
Title: Re: Any ideas where this twisted Red Glass Vase is from. (ID Japan?)
Post by: seanduxbury on March 17, 2015, 11:46:57 AM
Hi All.  Just found this new listing on ebay US.  It looks similar (and it has a SANYU label).  Thoughts anyone?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NARUMI-FANTASY-ART-GLASS-SANYU-GLASS-FACTORY-CONTEMPORARY-RIBS-DESIGN-BLUE-VASE-/171722515039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27fb75a25f