Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: kwqd on June 05, 2020, 11:32:22 AM
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This vase was identified as by Zelezny Brod Sklo by the person who sold it to me. It was really inexpensive, so I decided to buy it as a research opportunity. It has a date, 1980, and two lines of text inscribed on it. One line appears to be "ZBS". The other is indistinct and is something like "B.ll." or "B.lh", perhaps the artist's name. I know that ZBS was made up of several factories, but not which factories were active in 1980. I also cannot find mention of a glass artist whose name fits the indistinct line of the inscription. The vase, itself, is well executed, but the decoration not so much, which gave, and gives me, pause as most ZBS glass I have seen from this period was pretty sophisticated, though I have not seen much with an applied design. Any opinions on whether this is ZBS, what factory may have made it, which artist could have made it and is the indistinct line of text a signature, welcomed!
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It doesn't resemble ZBS glass. It seems that the seller came upon that name as the nearest thing they could find to the signature, but the signature could easily mean or be read as something else. I don't think ZBS signed their glass anyway ( happy to be corrected on this if people know of exceptions). Personally I'd probably try a different avenue on this one.
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Thanks for your comment chasdevlin. That was my original assessment, too, but I received a bit of push back on my conclusion, so thought I would run it by the folks here. I think it is American studio glass. No idea what ZBS stands for but the "S" could be studio, school, etc. The seller was in western Washington State, so I was thinking it might be by a student at the Pilchuck School, or some affiliated school or studio, etc. Too bad they botched the application of the design. It could have been a really nice piece. BTW, some of the artists at ZBS did sign their work and I have a couple of pieces which are signed, but I think they did that while doing personal studio work using ZBS' facilities. Agree, though, I have seen nothing remotely resembling this vase from any of the ZBS factories. Some ZBS factories did make opaque figurines, though i don't know which ones.
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did they botch the application of the design? Your photographs are very hard to see but I'm not sure that is applied enamel decoration. It looks as though it is coloured glass applied on hot glass. So it may have been marvered on - it looks like pelaton glass in some ways - I can't remember the term for it but if the design was made whilst the glass body was hot then it will be a different kind of difficult.
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Thanks for your comment. Yes it is colored glass applied on hot glass. If you look at the image in the upper right corner of the top image, the artist made several right angles with lines of green glass and stopped, which IMHO is very awkwardly done. Several are very thin lines, but one is very heavy and continues around the vase, which can be partially seen in the image in the lower right corner of the top image. To me, that is jarring and ruins the flow of the decoration. It looks like the artist did not clearly think about how they were going to apply the decoration and just winged it. Not sure why they did not wrap those lines up more gracefully. The rest is pretty well done. I added another image which may show this better.
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I think it's beautiful. The surface is iridescent I think. It reminds me of paperweights for some reason.
I've been looking through a list of Czech glass makers beginning with B but can't find anything so far. ZBS maybe right. It may have been a style/fashionable piece for that time perhaps?
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Thanks! And thanks for trying to identify it. The surface is more pearlescent, I think. It is a really nice little piece to hold. It is only 4.5" (11.5 cm) high x 4" (10 cm) widest diameter and weighs 1.5 lbs (680 gm). It is a little chunk.. I don't know what to make of it. Good for throwing at a burglar!
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is it missing a stopper then? Perhaps a 'paperweight' perfume bottle?
Kind of like this sort of thing:
https://www.google.com/search?q=pulled+feather+perfume+bottle+iridescent&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB719GB719&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4r8a1g_vpAhUHmBQKHUOKAWMQ_AUoAXoECAsQAw&biw=1366&bih=657#imgrc=FayrWDAOPAez_M
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oh this kind of thing might have been what I was thinking of:
https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Cooper/45/282845/H0086-L15742054.jpg
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Possibly. My gut says no, though. There is not much depth to the neck of the vase and it would be a pretty deep perfume bottle, 4.5" to the inside bottom. I remeasured the total height and it is a bit over 4.75". An applicator would be pretty wobbly, which I have seen before, though. I will have to cogitate on this. No sign of wear to the neck...
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The technique I'm thinking of is I think called Marquetry. The design and iridescence reminds me of some pieces of Norman Stuart Clarke glass for the London Glass Blowing Workshop where he worked along with Peter Layton.
However, I don't think the signature is for either of them, or the initials for the LGW:
examples here
http://www.glassfairs.co.uk/Exhibition/May%2017/exhibition.html
(scroll down for Pondlife vase)
and here a blossom vase
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanjaras/102252480
I think the flower on your vase is representing pansies.
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Could definitely be pansies. I don't think my piece is up to the standards of Clarke or Layton. I found some examples of marquetry by Kralik that definitely gave me an even lower opinion of the looks of my piece.
https://www.pinterest.com/jerichohair/kralik-marquetry/
Thanks for your continued efforts.
BTW, I have this vase posted on CW and the images are a bit better:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/282802-studio-art-glass-vase-1980
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Gosh, I think it's lovely. And the one green strand that goes around the vase - that's to balance the pansy on it's own otherwise it would be isolated. The green strands join at the back where they have been 'pulled' to form a feather or wave. I think it's an artistic and very balanced design with a front and a back. The shape, technique, colour combination and the iridescence are all lovely :)
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Well, maybe I will take it out skeet shooting rotation, then! ;D
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Definitely preserve it :)
It's a similar/same technique but a very different design idea to the Kralik Bambus/Marquetry vases (I also think they are fabulous).
To me it has a Japanese influence maybe - it's balanced in form and design execution and has that lovely plain, beautifully iridised background. I love the form and the neck.