[Mod: edited Sep 2015 to add back lost images - now links to GlassGallery]Hi folks,
In connection with another task, I suddenly realised that I had photos of a plate with murrine faces ... and they are the same as in Ruth's vase and Ray's paperweight.
Full plateDetail of face canesPlease note that the basic glass in the plate is clear, but photographing it directly over a sheet of paper and using flash caused a blue tint!
In Ray's weight, many of the face canes show a "bubbly / blurred" appearance and exactly the same effect can be seen in the part view image of the plate.
The owner of the plate has given the following information: It was purchased in a "St Louis shop" in Paris around 1995 to 1997, where the shop owner said it was from the St Louis factory. Doubts about this were raised and later research pointed towards India. The owner also has beads with very similar faces purchased in Delhi, where the bead shop owner said that some general millefiori canes used in Indian work are "copies" of Murano-style ones.
If the details about the Indian work are correct, it is not surprising that Ray's weight may seem to have "Murano" canes as well as these particular murrine faces.
[I have posted a copy of this reply to the message for Ray's weight in the Paperweights forum.]