Topic: Opalescent Glass Dishes, For Charity!

[Gill]

Hi everyone, I promised my local charity shop that I'd try to find out about these for them. There are two of them. They look like ashtrays to me because of the indented bit in the rim but seem rather large for this, about 7 inches across. Rather nice, any ideas about age or maker please?

URL: http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7939

URL: http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7938

[Anne]

Gill, could they be cigar or pipe ashtrays perhaps?

[Cathy B]

Does anyone else think Murano for these?

[Gill]

Thanks for your replies so far, cigar ashtrays sounds quite good, are they murano though?

[Hotglass]

Murano > I would say yes, probably. The curled rim to form a rest for cigarette or cigar is most often seen in Murano. Fratelli Toso and other did quite a lot of items in opalescent glass including this pale blue. The tooled petaled base rim reminds me of an Archimede Seguso candle holder with similar tooling marks. That item has also been seen in opalescent glass. The top rim is unusual for later Murano and the thinness of the glass makes me think this could be earlier; 30's -say mid 50's. The only proviso is that Murano styles have been copied for many years. Documentation or physical examination by an expert would be needed to be 100% sure. I'm 90% Ed.

[Ivo]

I'm the other 10% and say maybe not. The finish is quite rough, more like something you'd expect from Romania than from Murano. The style is Murano, but if it was actually made there - I have serious doubts.