When it comes to Welz production, specifically trophy vases and the family of products in the style commonly sold as “Victorian” and “Stourbridge” my inclination has always been that it is, to a large degree, a style of glass produced interwar and not so much "turn of the century".
We do see some styles of this product that was possibly produced in the Victorian era as evidenced by the Hosch catalogs showing "Lifelights" and similar products. Some of these products were possibly produced for a long period of time. It is also worth mentioning that the Hosch page at the Fairly Lamp Club site which shows some similar style production, is a page which is from an unknown and undated Hosch source. Some of the other pages shown there are included in a Hosch Monograph by the West Virginia Museum of Glass, which dates those pages to the 1906-1912 timeline.
One thing that has always puzzled me a little is the small quantity of this style of product in the US, and of that which is here, the almost complete absence of provenance marks indicating it is Czech in origin.
There is evidence that companies such as Harrach developed product lines with specific markets, such as the UK, in mind. With this idea in mind, I have looked for a very long time for any form of “evidence” which would help to support this concept for Welz. So far nothing has come to light.
That being said, let’s look at the “timeframe” for this style of production. Almost every example of this glass I own, and have seen or examined which was found in the US is unmarked as to country of origin. Many of my examples of Welz production have come out of the UK. My desire to try to get some indication as to the timeline for at least some of this production has been hindered by the fact that with the UK as a potential target market, individual pieces of glass did not need to have a provenance mark or label indicating country of origin. As a result of this, the search for supporting evidence has not only focused on the UK, it has also been a focus in the US.
As a practical part of my research, in addition to images graciously provided through my website by users appreciative of the information, I am constantly contacting collectors and sellers such as eBay, Etsy, Ruby Lane, and many brick and mortar auction houses asking permission to use images of theirs in my research. As I have said before, it is not possible to buy every piece of glass one sees that would be useful from a research standpoint.
One of the first examples of a marked vase was an example which was generously gifted to me as a result of an effort to help someone with a large quantity of glass they were attempting to identify. That example, as seen in the first picture as a variegated décor with black handles, was marked with a “Made in Czechoslovakia” stamp on the underside of the base. Unfortunately this example was lost when I had a shelving unit collapse. An example of this form and in a solid red décor with black handles was displayed in the Tango Exhibition in the Czech Republic which started in 2011.
As I have mentioned before, one of the aesthetics developed by Welz was a very distinctive use of colors. Through a series of links using easily recognized shapes, several quite distinctive spatter style decors have been identified as Welz production.
In the second image the top trophy vase is a shape, again shown in the Tango exhibit in 2011-12. It is seen to the far left in the first Welz case image in a variegated yellow decor. Although shown in a yellow variegated décor, this one in my collection is in a unique Cadmium based spatter décor. Not only do we find a unique shape, we also find a unique combination of colors used in the spatter décor on the piece. Below that trophy vase we find examples of three shapes I have linked to Welz production. A tri-lobed heart shape which has been found in a wide variety of decors. The green honeycomb décor found on this example has been linked to Welz production through a wide variety of shapes and example. Next to this example is a different shape found in the same unique décor as the trophy vase. Lastly, a shape found in the collection of a friend in the same décor as the trophy. Three unique shapes in a couple of distinctive decors.
Below this row of examples we have 4 individual pieces. These examples are not in my collection, but in the collections of fellow collectors. The tri-lobed heart is an image used with the sellers permission. Each of the first three examples share a shape with the identified Welz examples in the row above, and share a common décor with each other. I am confident attributing these examples and this décor to Welz also.
That brings us to the last example in the bottom row. This example shares the unique color décor with the other three examples in the row. It is also a shape and style which is commonly represented in the UK market as being Victorian glass of English origins, mainly Stourbridge.
So now we come to the third image, a piece of glass in a more subdued spatter décor, but in the same shape as the bottom right example in the second image. These pics are used with the blessing of the seller, as the vase was actually sold when I located the example. In this example we see the same shape, and a spatter décor using, once again, a fairly unique blend of colors. The most important aspect of this piece for me is that it is actually marked with a stamp. This stamp helps to firmly establish two irrefutable facts. Those facts are timeline, and country of origin. The stamp on the bottom of the piece, which is shown in the right side of the third image, is Czechoslovakia. This firmly establishes that at least some of this product was imported to the US, and also indicates that at least some of the product (I personally think a lot) was actually produced after 1918.
The last image is of a different shape linked to Welz through multiple decors. The lower right décor appears to be the same décor as the tall marked example in image 3. The other decors can also all be found on multiple unique Welz shapes.
So, is this single marked piece, coupled with the variegated red trophy proof of all of this? Absolutely not… but it is at least a starting point to build from to increase the picture of production imported to the US that in my opinion, was produced by Welz and others. The marked spatter example is the first of it’s kind I have come across in many years of looking, so it does at least provide a glimmer of hope that persistence may uncover more information regarding this idea. I am fairly convinced, by the sheer volume of this product in the UK, that Welz, like Harrach, designed for a target UK market.
These two marked examples do prove that at least a couple of pieces produced by Welz in this style, were produced post WW1…. and to me it is a good starting point which I have looked to find for quite some time. I have known of the trophy vase for a couple of years, but the other style of production has been much more elusive as far as establishing at least a partial timeline post 1918. Will these two be the “end all and be all” in relationship to this question of production time period… absolutely not, but it does at least help to confirm a very small portion of my working theory, and I will at least settle for that at this point. If I am nothing else when it comes to this research, I am patient, and have always found that to some degree patience always pays off. I am certainly not in a hurry to figure this out. I am really only interested in avoiding mistakes, if that is even possible.
Topic: Welz Victorian Style Glass - Establishing at Least a Partially Modified Timeline (Read 533 times)
