Topic: Can you ID this hanging Duck Decanter circa 1920's?

[penern]

Hi, does anybody know who manufactured this duck decanter or anything else about it? Thanks so much for the help.
Here is the link to the image: Duck Decanter

[David E]

Welcome to GMB.

Can't help with the ID, but a great item and I look forward to finding out who made it

[Frank]

Thse have been around for a long time by various makers. Sold in places like Harrod's and Asprey's - I have a cat somewhere, that has one of these in. Will look for it but don't hold your breath.

[penern]

I made a typo. It was supposed to be hanging decanter NOT handing decanter. Does anyone know where I can find images of similar items? The one I have came from my granny in South Africa. It may have been a wedding present.

[Frank]

Fixed the heading. I found my Aspreys, Harrod's and Mallett catalogues but did not find the image! It could have been in a book.

Is the metal silver? and hallmarked?

[Max]

If you're looking for similar items, I found this duck decanter in: Millers 'Collecting Glass' by Sarah Yeats, special consultants Mark West & David McCarron.  ISBN 1840001927.  I realise it's probably not even the same country of origin, but thought you might like to see it.

http://i6.tinypic.com/1zb6rmv.jpg

Although yours looks more like a pheasant to me!

Hopefully it's alright putting that link on, if not, I can delete this.

[Frank]

Max, I think in this context it is fair use particularly as you quote the source. The link will be deleted if we are asked to do so.

It is really annoying me that I cannot find my reference, I know these are familiar to me. I will ask Andy McConnell author of Decanters to take a peek.

[penern]

I don't see any marks so I think the metal is pewter. Yes I think it is a quail, I call it a duck decanter only because I see this often as a generic name for wine type decanters. The head is hinged and the glasses are tiny liqueur glasses so I imagine it was used for liqueur or port. Since granny's family was British, I should imagine the decanter is British or European.

[Max]

I'm glad the photograph I took from my book was useful to you.

[Andy McConnell]

Frank has kindly drawn my attention to this item. This was probably because he knows that I am to stage an exhbition devoted to 'The 20th Century Decanter' at Glass Etc, our shop/complex/gallery in Rye, East Sussex, England, from late-August to October.

The show is timed to coidnece with the publication of my new book, '20th Century Glass, to be published by Miller's in august. I am also the author of The Decanter, An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650' [ACC, 2004].

Now to the business at hand. I would be prepared to bet that the pice in question in Bohemian/Czech. The colour and the wacky odd-ball design are certainly right.

Alexander Critchon, a London-based Scottish silversmith is famed for the series of animal-shaped claret jugs, made in association with a model-maker, John Curry. These are extremely sought-after, and a kangaroo version recently sold at Christie's for over £20,000. However, these were made in the 1880s whilst the piece illustrated on the site is of inferior quality and probably dates, possibly from the late-1920s, but more likely the '30s.

The only fixed source of decanters, or more accurately, claret jugs of this type and date is the Karel Palda glassworks in what is now Novy Bor, Czech Republic. When Palda celebrated its, I think, 50th or 100th anniversary in 1939 [-ish], it published a colour catalouge of its huge range of pieces. these include a series of differing animal-shaped claret jugs of similar style to that on the site. Several of these pages [including the one featuring the birds, hippos, etc] appear in one of Truitt's 'Collecting Bohemian Glass' [both Schiffer]...but we have just moved and all my reference books are currently inaccessable.

That's the best I can offer...before klnocking off after a long day.


Good night everyone!

Andy