Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: heartofglass on January 22, 2007, 02:32:26 PM
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My obsession with hand vases is fairly well-known, but does anyone else out there collect them too?
I mainly collect glass ones (nearly 100) but have a few ceramic ones.....I'm interested in hearing from other hand vase collectors & especially would love to see photos of your collections. :)
I'm in the veryearly stages of planning a book on hand vases (& other hand shaped ornaments) & getting in touch with other collectors is part of my research process.
I don't mind whether you collect them in glass,ceramic,or any other material.
In case anyone wonders what on earth I'm talking about, a hand vase is a vase shaped like a lady's hand holding a cornucopia or trumpet shaped vase. Most typically seen in opaque milk glass but there are loads of different types.In glass, they may be either pressed or mould-blown. Also made in parian porcelain & slipcast ceramics. I also have one made of brass.
There are also dishes,bottles,comports,toothpick holders, paperweights, & ring holders featuring hands.
They were first made in the Victorian era but continued to be made through the 20th C.
Known makers include John Derbyshire, Portieux, Gillinder, Duncan, Fenton, Jain, Akro Agate, Westmoreland,as well as various Bohemian/Czech & Asian manufacturers.....no doubt there are many more makers to be discovered. If you have any info/documentation on other manufacturers of hand vases, I'd be very interested in that, too. :)
Come on guys, give me a hand! ;D
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I collect them as part of my Carnival Glass collection, so I only have a handful of Hands! As well as a range of marigold ones (all different) I also have two cranberry "flashed" ones (iridised).
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Hi Glen, :)
thanks for letting me know about your hand vases! Would love to see a pic if you have one. :)
The carnival ones are great-I've got 3 marigold hands by Jain & also 2 iridised (not strictly carnival though as they are opaque cased glass with iridised finish) ones by Fenton.
I don't have the cranberry flashed ones you mentioned....do you know who made them? They sound interesting.
Any other "handy" folks out there?
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Marinka - I also have a tiny Fenton "Hand" that I had forgotten about :-[ It's purple...and richly iridised.
The cranberry Hands are pictured in "The Art of Carnival Glass". If I get the chance later today I will scan the photo from the book to show you. I don't know who made them for certain.
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Hi Glen,
the purple one sounds nice....think I recall seeing one like that on Ebay last year...as I was already bidding on a few other things I didn't go for it....regret it a bit now as I haven't seen another! ::)
Purple seems to be one of the less common colours in hand vases.
Sorry to say I don't have your book, :-[ as I'm not really a carnival collector (the hands are amongst my few examples of it).
I look forward to the photo! :)
Thanks again!
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I've scanned the page in the book, but I'm sorry it's not come out very well. Anyhow it will give you a rough idea of what they look like, at least.
http://www.geocities.com/carni_glass_uk_2000/CrbHands.html
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Aren't those stunning! Beautiful beautiful, Glen.
On the subject of who collects hand vases, well you can count me in for collecting absolutely anything if its made of glass.
Here in my study I have one of those small hand vases that look like spill vases, in blue. The Newbound book on Milk Glass calls it "Beggars Hand" by Vallerystal-Porteiux. I think I have a white one of those and one or two bigger hand vases in my studio.
If you are interested in writing a short article about hand vases for the Glass Museum, do let me know.
Best wishes
Angela
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Glen,many thanks for the photo! :) Wow, these ones are really pretty,I'll have to start searching to get one (or two :)) of my own, now!
Great to hear that you also have some hand vases, Angela. :) I have 4 of these Beggar's Hands....they are so cute. I actually got two of them for free, from two different sellers I bought hand vases from! It's very nice to get a little extra surprise in one's packages every now & then.
I would be totally honoured to contribute an article on hand vases to the Glass Museum!
Wow, that would be so cool...I remember when I first started surfing the net around 2000 & I found the Glass Museum...it quickly became my favourite site.I never imagined that one day I might have a chance to contribute to it.
Just wondering...how many words should I write, & how many pictures should I include?
I've written an article on hand vases for the Newsletter of the Glass Collector's Society (in Australia) a few years ago, & I'm just in the process of drafting an introduction for my book, so I've got a fair bit of material to draw upon for an article. Also have lots of photos of my hand vases,too.
Do let me know what your requirements are for the article, & how I should go about presenting it...I've never done anything like this before, :-[ - unlike many of the very talented writers on the G.M.B!
B.T.W today I just took delivery of 2 wonderful & rare Fenton Rose overlay hand vases from the 1950s. Very excited as they are hard to find...& my favourite colour, pink! :)
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Look forward to your article Marinka and a picture of your new hands would be nice ;D
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The length and number of photographs can be as long and as many as you would like. Probably best if it isn't too short; say at least a dozen pictures.
If you can send it to me as a Word document and the pictures as jpeg's either all copied on a CD or sent attached to an email (not too many at a time) that is the easiest for me.
And if you have a book coming out, we'll put a link to your book as well as your own website.
Take a look at some of the other articles to see the sort of thing. This is a good example:
http://www.glass.co.nz/Venini.htm
Best wishes
Angela
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Hi Angela,
thanks for that! Now I know what to do I will make a start on it very soon.
The book is very much a work in progress....I don't have a publisher yet, just the idea! So it could be a while before I'm able to post a link to it, but having the article out there on the Glass Museum will be good publicity & help to popularise hand vases,& thus create more interest for the book. Hopefully it will also bring some more collectors out of the woodwork so to speak. I know there are more of them out there.....the ones bidding against me on Ebay for example! ;D
I would love to be able to include photos of other people's hand vase collections in the book....& I'm also just curious to see what else is out there in collections! ???
Hi Christine, :)
Sadly I'm without a camera for a little while so no photos of the new hands but as I got them on Ebay I will post a link. Will post pics of them in situ in a few days.
Also here is a pic of some of my hand vases....there's a bit of everything here....Victorian to recent ones by Fenton. Enjoy!
(http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/normal_hand-collection2.jpg)
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Here's the link to the Fenton Rose Overlay hand vase....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220063762139 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220063762139)
There is another one identical which I also won.
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They're lovely, thank you Marinka 8)
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Thanks Christine, :) glad you enjoyed them!
Well, I've been quite busy working on the article for the Glass Museum, & I feel sort of ready to submit a copy of the text (I'll do the photos separately-I want to set up some special arrangements & also I'm waiting for a couple more hands to arrive so I can include them too ;) ) for your perusal, Angela.
As your email is hidden, could you please email me & I'll send you a copy. Then you can check it out & let me know if it's okay or needs any ammending.
Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
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Fab collection Marinka.
I don't collect them, but I do have 2 of which I know nothing about. :-\
(http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10026/thumb_hand.jpg) (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-4719)(http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10026/thumb_handtop.jpg) (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-4715)(http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10026/thumb_hand2.jpg) (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-4718)(http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10026/thumb_hand2top.jpg) (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-4716)
:o Click to enlarge :o
Unfortunately the second one has 2 annealing cracks on the interior (they cannot be felt, just seen).
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Wow Della!
These hands are fantastic-& I've never seen ones quite like them! :o They are really unusual.
Did you buy them locally?
The mould looks sort of like the Fenton mould for their large hand vases but these certainly aren't Fenton!
I'm going to to make a rough guess & suggest a Central or Eastern European origin, but it's only a guess... ???
I haven't seen any hand vases with an interior spatter decoration, & the black-amethyst lining on the other is also highly unusual.....they've definitely got me puzzled...but utterly fascinated too!
Thanks so much for sharing them! :)
Thanks also to Frank for considering this thread worthy of a move from the Cafe....I'm honoured! :)
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Hi Marinka,
Thanks for your reply. ;D
Yes, I bought them here in Holland. The amber coloured one is 8 3/4" tall and also has a layer of white glass between the amber and the amethyst. The white one is just over 8 1/4".
I am glad that you haven't seen anything like them too. It makes mee feel a little better at not being able to identify the maker ;)
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Hi Marinka,
I will admit to a fascination with the ceramic hand ring/jewellery holders. I could only find 4 with ease
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10086/smallerDSCN0667.jpg
but if any of them would be useful to you I can let you have whatever photos you need.
The lefthand (sorry) one is John Buck, the one on the right is Limoges, and the other 2 are unmarked as so many of them are. I love the black one best of all.
Good luck with your book.
Kind regards
Cat
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Thanks, Cat :)
these are really nice! :) I only have a few ceramic ones,as my collection tends to specialise in glass, but I will definitely include ceramics in the book, to give it a broader potential audience because there are so many ceramic hands out there.....& I figure that if a collector is into hand vases they will probably have glass & ceramic ones, so I'm certainly interested in pics of them. There's such a wonderful variety of hands out there, & it's really interesting to see what other people have in their collections....such fun! :)
My mum has a small but growing collection of the ceramic hands, in fact we went out shopping in our favourite charity shops the other week & I found her a nice ceramic vase with 2 hands holding a heart-shaped vase for only $1!
It is my dream to one day get a glass hand vase at a charity shop for a bargain price.....I live in hope! :)
Many thanks for all the contributions, it is much appreciated. :)
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OHHHH, I have a lot to learn!! I just passed up one of these glass hand vases for a couple bucks thinking that it looked too "interesting" for me... didn't know it had any importance in the history of glass...but I guess every piece of glass has some kind of history, probly some more interesting than others... I hope all your expert glass collectors don't mind a complete novice collector lurking about your sight!! :) It's so fun learning all this stuff from you though!! I spend half my day on here!
Sarah (Sarsi ;D)
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Hi Sarah, :)
welcome! We are happy to have novice collectors "lurking about" as you will learn a lot on this board. I've been collecting glass for years & I'm still learning!
Sorry to hear you passed up on a hand vase....they are "interesting" as you say, & maybe not to everyone's taste, but I'm mad about them & want to raise their profile a bit. They were made by so many makers & in so many styles that there is something for everyone.
And next time you see on a hand vase, buy it! :)
(Just don't bid against me on Ebay,though! >:D)
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I am also a collector of Hand Vases and currently have 149 different ones... I have been collecting for 25+ years... attached are just a few pictures.. I have many Parian, Fenton, Asian & Bohemian... also 6 different left hand vases... I am glad to see there is another collector that has such enthusiasm for this unique item... Mitch Incarnato, Pacific Northwest, USA
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Hi incarnato, welcome to the Board.
Unfortunately you have forgotten to add the images you mentioned. Or are you having trouble doing so?
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I tried to attach pictures even a single one said it was too large a file... any suggestions?
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Look in the "Board Info, Help & Announcements" forum for:
TECHIE TIPS: Resizing images to fit the board (http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,34093.msg154302.html#msg154302)
Or just go straight to www.picresize.com which is easy to use and produces very good results with low Kb for the final file.
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and here are some more... and I do have more scattered about the house... Hope you enjoy
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and some more
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When i was a very young child many were found on graves or under the canopy on tombs
holding flowers ,i used to believe that was their purpose , i used to walk thru the Graveyard to school , no not quite Victorian times .
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Your first lot of pictures was great, the second lot are too small to see details :'(
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Hi,
Thanks for sharing those pictures. Wow, you have a beautiful collection. I suspect that collecting hand vases is an addiction. I know I only had a couple of small ones when this discussion started, but I have added quite a few since then.
Best wishes
Angela