Topic: Signed Crystal Cut/Engraved Bowl Octagonal Edges

[luckytom]

Have this bowl with unusual engraved pattern its very heavy and thought it may be Orrefors but the code signature marks dont match anything i can find. Any help would be appreciated.

Thankyou.

[Paul S.]

certainly quality engraving - I like it.          Is there any chance the initials could be for Willy Johansson, and the last few letters be an abbreviation for the Hadeland factory? (Norway).      -  he appears to have returned to Hadeland after WW II as a full designer - although I've no idea as to when his employment with them ceased.             He was awarded a gold medal in the Milan Triennale in 1957.          Presumably the date showing here is 1960.
Could be very wrong of course

Ref. 'Scandinavian Glass 1930 - 2000 - Smoke & Ice'  -  Vigier & Pina  -  2002.

[luckytom]

I think that your right. I was looking for Orrefors designers with the initials W.O. but now i can see its WJ. What i thought was De de is actually Hde which would be an abbreviated Hadeland mark.....Thanks i couldnt see it for looking. Im off to see if i can find another example  of it to confirm for sure. The engraving is an unusual style. I think the image must be based on some tale or folklore at least im going in the right direction now. I think i need that book.

[Paul S.]

Unfortunately, the book doesn't show this particular design  -  it was just a case of looking for initials that matched those on your bowl, and we seem to have struck lucky on this occasion.
In view of the massive overall output of Scandi glass in the period covered by this book, it's content is obviously very limited in what it shows, and concentrates mostly on popular designs from the last 30 -50 years, with little from the earlier period..............   but it's very useful for modern designs.                 The book is worth the money probably for the brief but useful biographies of the various designers - the bibliography - plus pictures of the labels and 'signatures' showing names of the relevant designer - although these are doubtless not made by the actual designer - more likely just a factory worker.
I'd imagine this volume is probably fairly inexpensive on somewhere like Abe Books.

P.S.    some idea of dimension/size is always useful when showing glass

[agincourt17]

A new copy of the 2013 edition of the book is available from amazon.co.uk for just over £40 (including postage, shipped from US) or a used- like new copy from around £45 (including postage, from a UK seller):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SCANDINAVIAN-GLASS-1930-2000-SMOKE-ICE/dp/0764316532/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496397556&sr=1-2&keywords=vigier+scandinavian+glass


Similar range of prices from eBay UK.

Fred

[Paul S.]

thanks Fred  ............   unable to decide from the details whether the 2013 publication is in fact a new edition, or simply a reprint  -  probably just the latter.             There is the companion volume 'Fire & Sea', which covers coloured glass from the same period.

Despite their limitations they are very useful volumes, and probably worth the money provided you want more than simply a one off identification.