Topic: Neodymium + sommerso glass bear - Help with ID - Seguso?

[chopin-liszt]

I found a da Ros bear, John identified it for me. 

[glassobsessed]

I think Cenedese is a good bet for this bear, inevitably there will have been other makers who used a colour combinations like this. One that springs to mind is Seguso Vetri D'Arte but on first glance their bears appear a fair bit more cuddly than this - more of a toy teddy bear kind of form. As likely as Cenedese could be I would be reticent to attribute the design to Antonio Da Ros, his work tended towards the abstract a bit more than maybe this does.

John 

[chopin-liszt]

You have far more experience with Murano and da Ros than I do. Thanks for the word of caution.

[JayM]

Hi John, thank you for joining in! I think that's a reasonable conclusion, thank you all so much for your help!

The bear I saw was definitely from the same maker but had no signature or label so I could not ID it as Da Ros.

If it is not too much to ask, I noticed two small areas on the back of the piece have been carved and polished. Do you think it was common practice for companies to try and correct any imperfections such as bubbles through this method?

I can tell this was a fast job (not enough carving with finer grain before polishing, the carved area does not match the curve in the piece properly).

It might just be a later, private restoration...

I attach a picture of the carved area. Also, the biggest imperfections you can see in the carved area are actually the ones on the bottom of the piece (that was the best angle to photograph). So the carved area does not show any bubbles or deeper scratches, just the grain of the tool used for carving, such as a carburundum or diamond wheel). Thank you all 

[flying free]

I wondered if it might have had a tail that broke off?

Then I looked at Kinkajou but I don't think the likeness is right for those.  The ears would have been set further to the side on the head and the eyes might have been larger - or at least if I was making a likeness for a Kinkajou I would have done that 

Then there are Sun Bears which have a very long tongue and eat honey:

https://cdn.britannica.com/12/232812-050-918C866F/Sun-bear-Helarctos-malayanus-tongue.jpg

https://www.chesterzoo.org/our-zoo/animals/sun-bear/#:~:text=A%20sun%20bear's%20diet%20consists,%2C%20termites%2C%20fruit%20and%20honey.&text=Their%20tongues%20are%2025cm%20long!

They have no tail though so perhaps it's just where the pontil was removed ?  And the base polished flat to enable it to sit upright?

[JayM]

The tail possibility really makes sense, since the bigger from the two carved areas is placed exactly in the bottom-middle of the back.

Thank you M, it just didn't occur to me that could be a possibility!

As per the animal, the Sun bear really fits well I would say. I guess unless I come across a publication with this piece I might have to live with the mistery of not knowing 100 %. 

Thanks for all the hints

[flying free]

but a Sun Bear doesn't have a tail.  Perhaps that's why it's polished the way it is though?  Hmmm.

[glassobsessed]

I noticed two small areas on the back of the piece have been carved and polished. Do you think it was common practice for companies to try and correct any imperfections such as bubbles through this method?

Yes seen that few times over the years, usually but not always close to the base on an item. Given that they are not all that unusual perhaps the items were originally sold like that, a quick fix used to hide a small production flaw.