Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Sendhandfran on February 01, 2020, 04:17:12 PM
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Hi everyone,
I thought I'd got myself my first piece of Monart glass but when it arrived I quickly had a sinking feeling that it could be fake.
Having never held or seen any Monart in real life I'm only going by appearance and what I've read on ysartglass.com
My reasonings are,
The base has very little wear for a 1930s piece.
It doesn't have a button like pontil usually seen on Monart.
The colours change quite abruptly from oranges to browns.
And lastly, it has a low pitched short ring when tapped.
I believe these don't rule out it being genuine but certainly seem to be pointers.
I'd love opinions from more experienced eyes :)
If it's not an original then the size and shape suggest it's a deliberate fake, appearing, I believe, to be shape O size VII, at 24cm diameter.
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Hi,
Is the colour on ysart glass? Not all Monart has the same finish on the base and yours looks finished like a couple of pieces I have in front of me. All Monart I've pinged give off a dull thud too although some might ring I'm not sure.
Adam
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It looks fine to me. :)
They were not always consistent in how they finished things off - buttons were not put on things that were too finely blown to handle a thick hot blob being attached to make it, or it might have shown through and detracted.
If something has been carefully looked after or put in a cabinet (or cupboard) and left, they won't get wear.
If something sits on only a very fine ring of glass, wear may be on such a small, thin band, you cannot see it, but a fingernail run around the right area will find it.
How the colours are worked in Monart depends on who was making the piece, I seem to notice a certain refinement and subtlety in Salvador's work I don't see in the sons' and other workers' things, but can't tell the sons and others apart from each other.
The "thunky" ring sounds about right too. ;D
Any sort of "fake" Monart is kind of already known about and came from within Scotland a good few years ago now. In it, the colours and shapes are are not quite right, and I think it was only produced for a shortish period. It was not the glassmaker who put the fake names claims on it, - so it all got a bit dodgy and lawyers got involved and we're not supposed to talk about it or name any names.
If anybody was good enough to be "faking" this sort of thing now - they'd be an artist in their own right and have no need to fake anything. ;D
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Hi Adam & Sue, thank you so much for your comments. After reading about fakes I was sure this was one. I thought the glass looked a bit thin and too 'perfect' to be handblown, also it bulges on the inside which I couldn't see or find mentioned anywhere. But, after reading what you say I'm much happier about it ;D
I'll get the magnifier out and have a closer look for wear. Would you know what colour this is described as?
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A couple more examples which I believe are the same colour combo, always find this particular combination of 'autumnal colours' very pleasing.
John
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Just a note ...
The colouring of yellow and orange chips and cane lengths is also known in some of Paul Ysart's paperweights, forming the ground, but I have not seen many at all.