Topic: Black & White Hound Dog

[TxSilver]

I picked this little dog up for a couple of dollars. It is 4" tall and looks alot like Seguso's black & white hound dog. It doesn't feel like glass, though. It feels a bit like a billiard ball or maybe carved rock.

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9135
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9136
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-9137

It has a thin strip of glue on bottom that looks like it may have had a label, such as Made in Mexico, China, Hong Kong, etc.

I have seen a few dogs that look like this one on eBay lately, most that really appear to be Seguso. The question is how to know the difference by looking at a picture. (One thing I noticed is that the Seguso hound dog in Pina's book has black over the eyes, while my pooch has white. My pooch is also 1/2" shorter than the size given in Pina.)

Anita

[chuggy]

Certainly an Archimede Seguso dog, they are made from pasta glass. Both Javier and I have fairly extensive collections of these and yours is OK and original.

[bidda]

once again, i was poking around on the web and thought you might like to see this ebay auction 130191910424. it appears to be the same dog as yours, Anita. i don't know the seller so cannot vouch for their accuracy but, interesting, just the same

bidda

[TxSilver]

It is certainly good news that it is a Seguso dog. The glass feels so strange and the bottom looks so peculiar that I doubted it was. Do any of pieces in your collection have the same finish to the bottom?

Bidda, the eBay dog looks like the one in Pina -- 4.5" with black wash over the eyes. My little pooch is 1/2" shorter and doesn't have the black wash. I couldn't find any ridges on the eBay dog's base. Otherwise it looks the same. I haven't owned any pasta glass before, so I don't know how it feels. Each piece of glass is a new education.

Thanks, Chuggy and Bidda.

Anita

[Laura Friedman]

The photo of the base makes it look blue. Is it flat, true black or a dark blue?

I agree that the dog looks a bit "off" for Seguso.  I hope you don't take offense, but I've never seen such a clumsy shape in this line.

[aa]

The lines on the base look as if it has been ground on an 80 grit flat bed grinder or 80 grit linisher (or possibly 60 grit).Equally an 80 grit diamond wheel would give this kind of surface. Normally after grinding on 80 grit, one goes on to 140 then 300 and possibly 600 (which is "pre-polish"), but the grit sizes vary depending on location. A polished surface is achieved with pumice on cork, followed by cerium on felt. So it may be that there was a reason that it was only taken to the first grinding stage.

Quite often people don't realise how much work goes into bringing the base of a piece up to a high polish!

[svazzo]

The photo of the base makes it look blue. Is it flat, true black or a dark blue?

I agree that the dog looks a bit "off" for Seguso.  I hope you don't take offense, but I've never seen such a clumsy shape in this line.

Hi Laura,
Glad to see you here again...
I agree, I believe Paul and I had talked about this on another topic, but I dont believe this is actually a Seguso piece.
I have seen 1 whale and a duck made in this similar style, neaither of them had eyes and th ebottom of th epieces were roughly ground too. I could swear I saw the whale with a Scandi name on the label. I havent seen another labeled since. This was about 2 years ago, and it was listed on Ebay.
I know Leslie Piña has this same dog in her book, but if you look at my pieces shown in the book , and then this example, the styles are totally different.
Maybe we will find another piece like this with a label and it will be cleared up, but I dont think its originally Seguso for now.

Javier

[TxSilver]

Laura and Javier, I am inclined to agree with you for all the reasons I wrote earlier in the thread. I don't know if the dog in Leslie Pina's book is Seguso. I believe that it is not the same dog -- size and color around eyes different. Little differences can often help to spot a copy. I guess we'll have to assign this dog to being made of unknown material by an unknown company until someone can spot one with a label.

Well, the dog had a day or two of being Seguso. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the loss of his title, though. His chin is still up. 

Anita

[Artofvenice]

Hi,
"Pasta" is how we call some opaque glasses. There are several "pasta" colours in the canes catalogue by F3. In the Murano slang not exactly every opaque colour is called "pasta", but several ones. You can see some pieces by Ohira of the collection "Pasta Vitrea" (see this link http://www.artelibri.com/dettaglioLibro.aspx?idlibro=12083), the Japanese artists who has his glassworks blown with this kind of glass by local glassmakers here in Murano.
Also the bead makers use a lot these kind of glass canes, expecially to make the core of "sommerso" beads (opaque core, silver/gold leaf, more clear glass outside).

Sincerely

Alex

www.artofvenice.com

[aa]

Thanks Alex. When we see the word "pasta" in English, we normally think of it as relating to something to eat....which is obviously one of the meanings in Italian, but would I be right in thinking that the literal translation is "paste"?  You mention that it is used as slang for several opaque colours. Has this come about because it is  used in the context of "paste" or "pasta" the food?  Do you think it was originally because of its similarity of colour to the food?