Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Animals & Figurines => Topic started by: Arvo on February 10, 2017, 06:17:12 PM
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I could use some help with the ID of this cat figurine.
It has a Murano label (which is certainly not put there afterwards) on the bottom and is made of pressed glass.
The color reminds me of Sabino.
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It's hard to tell exactly what it is like with just one photo, taken from just one angle.
It does look a little like cat figurines made by an american company called Mosser, and I've searched under images to try to find an opalescent one, without luck.
You could try searching yourself, and see if what comes up looks the same as your cat.
(you might have to insist your search engine puts the double ss in the middle, it tends to default to Moser, a completely different glass company.)
I would personally be suspicious of a label reading "Murano glass" on any pressed piece.
Welcome to the board. :)
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Thanks! I'll dig.
I've also seen Fenton cats, but they all have another face. And they are sitting the other way round. :)
And we have that label on the bottom of mine ....
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The label is one I'm familair with, although I don't know if it is attached to a particular maker.
I just cannot think of one single pressed glass maker in Murano.
But this is not my area of glass!
There are plenty of other people here who I am sure will be able to help you a lot more than I can. :)
Thank-you for posting your great images directly to the board. It's much appreciated.
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Thanks again, chopin-liszt.
This is what I found @ pressed Murano:
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-murano-pressed-glass-chess-set-by-6013731-details.aspx
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That surprises me, thank-you for teaching me something! ;)
As I said, I'm sure somebody else can help you a lot more than I can. :)
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I found a few examples of pressed glass in the corners of Murano (esp in the age of internationalisation) but they are very few!
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You found them too, Jay? ;)
I have only seen Cesare Toso's dogs and a chess set and up to now.
I don't know if these figurines are made of pressed glass:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Murano-Alabastro-Opal-Glass-Art-Glass-Greek-Figures-by-Cesare-Toso-amp-Labels-/191600710125
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What's confusing me is you are both posting the same photgraphs of the same cat.
It's not two cats, one from each of you.
(I get confused easily. :-[ )
[Mod: As at 13 Feb, Jays thread was removed]
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it's MY cat, chopin-liszt!
But I talked about it with Jay. Didn't know he would post my pics here.
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I didn't know you knew each other. I had spotted you were both from the Netherlands, but it's a big place. ;)
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We don't. :)
I tried to sell the cat on Catawiki and he has a job there.
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And like you, Sue, 'Pressed glass from Murano' sets off a warning bell!
(I tell lots of sellers to ask for info on GMB but very often they don't do it, sorry to have been pre-emptive in this case)
Surely this item is identifiable, whether the label is right or not? It looks to be well made and if you made a press-mold then you would have made at least a few hundred of them, while the mold was set-up? We need a specialist cat collector?
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Who's Sue?
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I am. :) I do say so, at the bottom of my posts.
Like Jay, I think if a mould was made, there should be a fair few of these around, and we're both surprised about pressed glass and Murano together.
Pressed glass manufacturing tends to require a fairly big sort of factory, machinery and premises. Murano is a small island with a lot of individual hot glass works.
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Aaaah, now I understand.
Hi, Sue! :)
I have already asked Cesare Toso if the cat can be from their factory.
Now I want to KNOW. :)
Of course there have to be more copies of them, but mine can be the first of which someone has taken a photo (up to now).
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I had a similar sized elephant in this same glass that was pressed and had the same label. I sold it quite a few years ago. I think there are several shops in Murano that do pressing. Quite a few of the chandelier makers press some of their parts and could easily accommodate these small items. It doesn't take that large of a shop to do pressed ware. My friends used to do it with about 4-6 people or less and could make several hundred in a turn.
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:)
'allo Arvo!
Thanks for that info. Fuhrman Glass. It's always good to get such news from somebody like you who really knows about these things and has relevant experience, as opposed to my idle speculations.
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Thanks, Fuhrman Glass.
I knew it! I knew there had to be more of this kind of glass figurines. I kenw the label was the original one.
And I found on internet that Murano has made pressed glass.
Now is the question: who made it and when?
Hi again, Sue. :) We're learning. :) :)
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It only takes a team of six (or so) to make pressed glass or mould-blown glass efficiently, however the metal moulds for pressed glass have to be engineered and cast with some care and expense. This extra cost only pays off if you (intend to) make a good number of items. Likewise the technical skills for working with a press production are not the typical skills of the glass furnace.
This being said, I am suggesting likelihoods and not absolute rules.
Anecdote: In Belgium, the factory that inherited the pressed glass moulds from Scailmont (in the Manuverbel consolidations) found that they didn't know how to use them well enough to produce the required quality.
Moral of the story: skills can also be an issue.
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Skill is definitely a prerequisite for any glass production. I've seen some molds that even in the same factory could only be made by a unique "shop" of men. Other molds have been moved from one factory to another and have proved to be too much of a challenge for one over another. LIkewise, the design of the molds is very important, not every mold shop is equal to others. Some molds if made wrong will not support decent production. I know, I own some =that I bought when some factories have closed. In addition, the person ion charge oif doing the batching and the melt is crucial. Making some of these phosphate and fluorine glasses can be difficult to me3lt for decent production.
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I'm positive we have archived a highly detailed description of mould-blown glass-making from a former Davidson's worker, Adam.
I can remember reading it with my chin bouncing off the floor. :)
It's difficult and complicated and requires a great deal of skill.
Found it. It's well worth reading all of Adam's comments here, if you have an interest in mould blown work. He's a wonderfully clear and descriptive writer too. :)
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,570.0.html
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Thanks, Sue.
VERY interesting.
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:'(
It's just a real shame the diagrams vanished, but Adam's writing is so clear you still understand what he means. :)
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http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/murano-cesare-toso-lilac-glass-cat-307259386
??
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Completely different cat, I think.
Look at the faces. This Toso one is more cartoony and evil in it's facial expression, the first one is demure and much more cat-like.
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Absolutely not the same, but at least we've got Pressed Murano Cats in the crosshairs