Topic: Plate etched bird design. Was: Any antique drinking glass experts out there?

[peejyweejy]

Cathy, my glass is done in exactly the same way, same breaks etc. They are, without doubt, a match as far as I'm concerned.

[KevinH]

I have produced a single image of the birds from the glass and the jug with both reset to approximately the same size and the one from the glass boosted in contrast to bring out more detail.

This is just for easier viewing of the two together, which hopefully highlights both the overall sameness and the detailed differences.

Click here for the image.

[peejyweejy]

How clever are you? The glass doesn't look as detailed as the jug. However, the engraving of the bird on the jug, I assume, is much bigger - but they must be a match.

[Cathy B]

Thanks Kev, that's marvellous!

Clearly they are not identical - you need only look at  the length of the beak to see that. So, whether they are from the same house depends on how they were decorated. If they made using any sort of etching involving a template (pantograph, for instance) then they are not. If they were hand etched, there's a possibility. My impression is that mine is hand engraved using a diamond point, but I'm no expert(!!!)

And that's just the etch - as Christine points out, the blanks may be completely different again.

This one is going to have to remain a mystery 'till someone finds a pattern book somewhere.

[krsilber]

Interesting couple of pieces!  They are both plate etched:  
1. the (negative of the) design is etched into a metal plate,
2. resist is rolled into the design
3. the resist is transferred to a special type of stretchy "paper"
4. resist then transferred to glass (in the negative of the pattern of the design)
5. rest of glass coated with beeswax
6. glass put in acid bath, etching the positive design

For different sizes/shapes of objects, it was necessary to make different plates, so they varied somewhat.  Definitely a set!  How interesting.

The jug looks very much like many that were made in the US in the 20s-50s, and etching was extremely common here.  Likewise, the stem could have been made by any one of a large number of companies.  It might be possible to pin it down to a specific maker if you're lucky.  What's the volume of the jug (in oz., if possible)?

Or maybe it's English, who knows?  This is a nice example of glass getting spread far and wide.

But then, the bird actually reminds me of a buff-banded rail, a common Australian rainforest bird.  That would fit with the terrain.  It couldn't be Aussie, Cathy?  Or perhaps American glass imported and etched?  Does it glow in UV?
 

[Cathy B]

Hi Kristi,

Great to see you back here. Ah, so this is plate etched. Is that how Cambridge etched their pieces?

Thanks for the explanation, it helps a lot. I really don't think it's Australian, because you very rarely see this sort of work here, and Marjorie Graham would surely have mentioned it if it were.

[KevinH]

Buff banded rail has legs+feet that are too short to project so far beyond the tail in flight.

[peejyweejy]

The bird could be some sort of Heron - night heron?

[peejyweejy]

Went with the heron hunch and came up with the following link - scroll to first item. I know it's a different type of heron and probably an older glass but the technique seems similar.

http://www.patternglass.com/Store/CeleryVase/index.htm

[krsilber]

Buff banded rail has legs+feet that are too short to project so far beyond the tail in flight.

I thought we were allowing the designer some leeway when it came to the bird.  When you look at it that way, the standing one couldn't be the same species as the flying one, either!    This BBR is showing a bit more leg.  Doesn't look sleek enough to me to be a heron or night heron...but artistic license and all, who knows?

Most of the etching done by Cambridge is plate etching.  There were probably needle and pantograph etched pieces in the early years.

The jug looks very like the shape of Tiffin jugs.  It's not an exact match with the ones shown in my book, but that could be because it's a different size.  Hard to say, though.