Topic: Cut glass vase--interesting shape--any ideas re identity. ID = Walsh Walsh

[Scott13]

I bought this unmarked vase recently but haven't been able to find out much about it. Hence my request for help.
It looks a bit of a hybrid to me( wine glass/ bowl ).
I have established it's cut glass. Possibly cross-cut diamonds.
Ht: 17.5cms
Wt: 550gms
The rim is wavy/ uneven ( undamaged )
It has( now let me get this right ) a circular, concave, polished Pontil mark.
Any help in establishing an identity would be appreciated. Thanks
Scott
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[Lustrousstone]

Can we have bigger and more pictures, including the rim, cutting detail and the pontil mark.
Your file is only 14kb so you have plenty of size left. I find the best way is to crop the rubbish off a high-res photo and then resize so that the longest dimension is 700 pixels

[Paul S.]

the gremlins must have it in for me  ....   just when I go to post I get that little line of red wording staring at me.........    apologies for seeming to  double up on Christine's notes, but I'll let it stand.................

strongly suspect you're on to a loser as to provenance/attribution  -  don't know when this might have been made, but the shape and wavy rim look as though they might owe more to arts and crafts/nouveau styles than later periods, although bulges in the middle do occur in some deco shapes.              Of course this might have been made much later, and simply be another example of copying.
Always tempting to think that a piece of glass had its origins in the country in which you have found it  -  but this might have been from almost anywhere - although not unreasonable to narrow it down to Europe

Your diamonds look as though they might be cross-cut, but the picture is too small, and loses details when blown up, so can't be sure.    You are allowed a first dimension of 700, so you can see how much small this one is.

You don't mention wear  -  if this were really early C20 then the cutting would be very sharp and there should be substantial wear on the foot, and I think it would have been lead glass.       You're correct with your description of the depression under the foot.
Cut glass does suffer from damage and wear - perhaps more so than other types - and something like this if it did have a big age under its belt would be no exception.           If it's pristine then probably modern.

Cut glass has been made in prodigious quantities for a long time  -  much of it unmarked - and collecting the stuff comes always with problems like this, plus the added disadvantage of a lack of good books and it seems few collectors.

[Scott13]

Hi-- thanks for your replies, I'll send some more photos. I use the Minima app, hopefully this time the images will be a bit larger. If they're rejected then I'll have to downsize again but at least you'll be able to see ( admittedly with difficulty ) the rim and Pontil mark. I will get this problem sorted!
It certainly isn't in pristine condition.
There are areas which have been water stained. If looked at, at a angle these give off some iridescence. I realise however that even relatively modern pieces can be subject to this problem.
With regard to wear, the very outer tips of the cuts under the foot have been worn down to a mat finish; perhaps suggesting a bit age. This wear can only really be seen under magnification ( 10x)
Generally however the vase is in pretty good condition.
The glass seems to pass the " ping" test so I'm assuming it is lead glass.
When I saw the Pontil mark I thought of Whitefriars--but I've been unable to find it in any of the online catalogues.
It has a similar rim ( crudely finished) and general shape ( upper half) to my early Hartley Wood arts and crafts style bowl.
There are one or two minute seeds in the glass. There are also perhaps a couple of stones( if that's the right term)
I'm sure this is a piece that will probably retain it's anonymity for a long time---perhaps for ever!
Scott

[Paul S.]

yes, a lot better, and I like it, but then I'm biased toward this sort of thing, and I think it should be a keeper - the shape is definitely unusual, and      those long curved mitres must require skill to cut accurately.              With the wear you mention then it does appear very possible to have originated somewhere early in the early C20 - the radial cutting under the foot is very distinctive.

Not quite sure of your meaning re the pontil depression suggestive of W/F's  -  the only thing I've noticed with their marks is a tendency to be cut very accurately circular  -  but then I suspect other factories have done the same.              With some W/F's bowls prior to the '50's the ring when flicked usually gives a very long pure sound - unlike most other bowls  -  but this one obviously doesn't.

Water staining/corrosion in older vases can be a real problem and short of professional treatment seems impossible to remove - if only slight you could try - I think they're called Magic Balls  -  small copper coated ball bearings.        Put couple of dozen in with some Brasso and cerium oxide and shake for as long as you think necessary.    Might work, but if the surface of the glass is damaged then it won't - they were originally marketed I think to remove the residue of booze from decanters - not water staining from 100 year old vases - they have limited effect.             We've spilled shed loads of ink on this subject, most of which you can find in the archives.

[Scott13]

Hi, sorry for dragging this post up from the depths, however I've seen a John Walsh Opaline vase with a similar shape to mine on eBay and was wondering whether it could be a JWW cut glass equivalent ......Or am I clutching at straws---again!
Scott

[Scott13]

Hi, of course what I meant to say was whether you thought mine might be the JWW cut glass equivalent !
Scott

[Lustrousstone]

You're right. It's registered design 582840 (the shape, not the cut) and should have metal grill flower holder. Date about 1912+ Page 17 Reynolds

[Scott13]

Many thanks for your help and for the info you've provided.
I really wasn't expecting such a positive outcome.
I'll have to look for the flower holder now!
Regards
Scott

[flying free]

That's really interesting.  Thanks for that Christine.  I've always wondered who made those slightly wavy (fire-polished?) rims. I've had/ or have one or two pieces with that and have always been curious.  Do you know if others makers used it?

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