Topic: Vase? Flower frog? Bank? Odd construction. What is it?

[krsilber]

I've been thinking about asking about this for a long time.  I actually no longer have the piece (though I have photos), but just now I saw what looks like the identical thing on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HandBlown-1950s-Vintage-Flower-Vase-Green-Clear-Glass_W0QQitemZ400003568809QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item400003568809&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

When I listed it someone wrote me and said it was a "bridal bank" or "bridal purse."  I have seen a somewhat similar but much more ornate piece in a book or museum photo that was described as a bank.

The peculiar thing about this was the way it looked like it had been made.  To me it seemed like the bottom part was a piece made at a different time, and added to later.  The colorless on the top and bottom seemed different - you can see it in the photo looking straight down, the bottom is slightly greenish grey.  The top rim of the bottom part looked like it had been chipped away to form the edge, and the ropes added around it.  It wasn't jagged or sharp, just not really even.

One thing I didn't have was a photo of the bottom, and it's good to see it again.  To me it looks like a cut-shut bottom on a pressed piece.  That would mean that originally it had a narrower neck.

Has anyone seen this kind of thing?  It seems an odd way to make something, but I was thinking if it was indeed some sort of bridal tradition somewhere to have a glass bank, maybe its construction was part of the tradition.  It's probably just a flower arranger though. 

Here's one of my few photos:

[KevinH]

My vote, with reference to Victorian Decorative Glass, British Designs, 1850-1914 by Mervyn Gulliver, is ... Flower Holder (aka Vase). Gulliver used the term, "with a stylised crown type top".

[krsilber]

Ach, one of those books I need.  Does it show any photos?  Or say who made them?

I just wrote to and got a reply from the seller, who confirms that the rim looks like it was broken off to make the edge, and that the bottom and top glasses look different.

[Ohio]

"Has anyone seen this kind of thing?:. Kristi you can run across these with swan bodies & the open lattice work...years ago they were thought to be by Duncan-Miller, but turned out to be incorrect. Ken

[Lustrousstone]

This sort of thing with the crown top has been discussed before - try a search under hatpin or hat pin I think. I saw two similar, but taller and less crudely constructed, in an antiques centre at the weekend. My vote goes for vase.

[Tigerchips]

...or maybe search using "crown vase", with the double quotes.

[KevinH]

Ach, one of those books I need.  Does it show any photos?  Or say who made them?

A search on the Board for "Gulliver" will show that several of us find the book useful as one thing it does have is lots of photos - but there are very few specific attributions!

[krsilber]

Thanks for the tips, everyone.  I did find a thread with "crown vase" that showed a somwhat similar item, though the ropes didn't meet in the center.  A vase does make sense.  Its construction still seems odd to me - one of those things that may always bug me a bit.  Funny that Christine saw two of them this weekend, when I rarely see them here.  Maybe it's European.  Or maybe I just haven't been looking in the right places!

[Lustrousstone]

Here's the thread I was thinking of

[krsilber]

Ach, thanks Christine!  Now why didn't I see that when I searched?!  The top does look a lot like mine.  Hmmm, first people were saying Victorian Stuart, then Frank comes along with French 1970s-1990s.