Posted 10 years ago
Michelleb007
(256 items)
I haven't been on CW lately because we were lucky enough to be traveling in Wales & England for part of July and August - it was was a wonderful trip. I was interested in looking around a bit in local antique stores for glass, because I have heard that due to varying import practices and trends, the UK tends to have quite a different selection of Bohemian glass than we find over here in the US.
I only poked around in a few stores (having our three year old with us!), but one we drove by in a small town we were staying in caught my eye, since I saw quite a bit of cranberry and other colorful glass displayed in the window. When we went back on foot the next day, I was quite stunned to see that the front window was full of mostly Bohemian glass! :) There were some Kralik, a Harrach, and quite a number of Welz pieces - small pitchers, double thorn vases, tri-lobed 'heart' vases, and other vases in identifiable Welz decors. Inside, they had several more cabinets of Bohemian glass, with more Welz. Yes, I did take a lot of pictures! Their prices were very reasonable (I honestly don't even know if they knew the glass they were selling was Bohemian) so I picked out my favorite.
This pair of beautiful 9-1/2" tall matching Welz candlesticks are in the Rainbow Honeycomb décor with an applied clear ruffled foot, and are in perfect condition. I love the elegance of their shape. This décor has been identified as being from their Victorian-era production, and I am very pleased to be able to add them to my glass collection.
BEAUTIFUL Welz!!
I need to take a UK trip as well.
scott
Thanks Scott! You should go if you can! :)
It is on my bucket list. I want to go to a darts tournament as well!
When I was in the Army, I was routed through the UK several times and always planned on spending a few days there in route to the US. The desire to get home quicker detered me from staying for longer than a plane change.
scott
Scott, I can understand wanting to get home as soon as possible! Now when you do go, it will be at your leisure. :)
Leave some for me ! : )
Sure thing, Marty! :)
Really nice michelle. Next time you're in the store bring one so I can see it up close.
Thanks so much - I will do that! :)
These must be the loveliest examples of this type of Welz glass ever seen, and found in Britain too!
sklo42, thanks so much for your kind comment; I was lucky to find them! :)
Decor is solidly linked to Welz.
The question comes from the guy who is on the record saying "Welz never made ANY glass"!
Here is a link to the Welz factory-- since you said they never made any glass-- what do you suppose was made in this Welz "Glasfabrik":
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/135786-a-large-glass-production-facility-in-klo?in=loved-by-scottvez
scott
In response to Alfredo's question:
It has always struck me as odd, and will continue to strike me as odd, that the expectation by a persistent select few, is that Welz research should be based on, and rise to a standard not applied previously to undocumented lines of glass from the same time frame and region.
For what it is worth, as a small example... There are a fair number of known Welz pieces which can be and are, quite clearly identified using known, and clearly documented Welz labels.... Labels I would point out, which are documented in the "Glasmarken Lexicon", the world's most respected and comprehensive publication on labels, signatures, and marks on glass.
In spite of known labeled examples, there persisted for quite some time to be comments in this forum that Welz did not even make glass.
We now have images of a large production facility.... one appearing to be especially large in light of the completely mistaken and unfounded claims by some, that they bought glass from others to export under their own name. Claims I would point out, which were made in light of existing documentation in both Truitt I and the Passau "Das Böhmische Glas" Band IV pg 186, regarding the fact that Welz produced glass.
Those Welz factory images can be found here:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/135786-a-large-glass-production-facility-in-klo?in=user
The apparently never ending rally cry for "documentation", still seems to illogically persist….. and yet, after almost 40 years plus of serious research.... I can not think of a single piece of Rindskopf ART GLASS, at least that I am aware of, found with any form of signature or label tying a piece of production to the firm....... I am certainly open to correction here if I am mistaken..... I am also intimately familiar with the EMPIRICAL research done to attribute a wide variety of their glass without supporting "documentation". Yet in light of this we apparently know and accept much about what Rindskopf produced, even without factory brochures to provide a road map......
"Hearsay" or "Empirical Research"... I guess it depends on your "motives" and "perspective".
My motives have always been to simply invest a large amount of my own personal time to develop a small idea of some of what Welz may have produced and share that with collectors that are interested.... On the other hand, I have never been at all clear on the "educational" motives of the "Welz detractors". Maybe at some point some of them will be kind enough to clarify it for the many that I am sure question it as I do.
Welzebub, thank you for clearly stating one of the issues that I find so frustrating about the constant questioning of Welz attributions. I believe in factual, careful comparisons of decors and shapes in order to aid us in identifying the production of *all* Bohemian glass makers, and I don't see why Welz should be singled out against using this method. For me, a careful, logical study of the examples of existing Bohemian glass we have, in order to learn more about its makers and origins, is one of the things I find fascinating about collecting Bohemian glass.
Thanks, Lisa! I treasure them as a memory of a great trip, too! :)
I wanted to add, by the way, that one of the things I look for in a piece that I feel may be Welz is the style of 'spatter'. In a lot of the Bohemian 'end of day' or 'spatter' vases the color accents or 'spatter' are smooth, without jagged edges, and sometimes even blend into each other. As a friend of mine pointed out to me, some decors by Welz often have an almost 'decoupage' effect of the individual glass accents being separate, almost jagged pieces - a bit like torn tissue paper. I think that characteristic is well displayed in this piece. You can particularly see this on the base of the base in picture two.
I haven't read all the comments yet, but this has to be them. They sure look like candle sticks :) theyre lovely & to have a pair!
Wow, where's that shop now? ;-) these are stunning. I love the ruffled feet.
Thanks Fran! Yes, these are the ones I was referring too - I am glad you like them! I'd be happy to give you the name of the shop if you are ever in England, too. :)