Posted 9 years ago
Michelleb007
(256 items)
I happened to be going through my copy of the Silber & Fleming c.1887 catalog reprint the other night, and recognized one of the vases shown in the catalog as being almost identical to a Harrach vase that I have in my dining room. As you can see from the images above, the only difference is the protruding collar at the base of the vase's neck. Other than that, the overall height, shape and decor are the same.
I adore the Begonia leaves on this vase! Harrach did some wonderful decors featuring exotic Begonia leaves, and these are some of the nicest and most well done I have seen.
I have had this vase for several months, and haven't wanted to post it until now. It is a bit of a sad story; the vase was in perfect condition when I purchased it, but when it arrived in the mail, the vase had a v-shaped break out of the rim due to poor packing by the seller. I was so sad to see the damage, because the vase was really perfect otherwise - no wear to the enamel work at all. Anyway, after a few weeks I brought myself to try to repair it, and now I honestly don't notice the damage anymore (I think you have to be really level with the vase to see it.) I still wish it hadn't been broken, but I love it anyway.
You can easily buy used copies of the book 'The Victorian catalogue of household goods: a complete compendium of over five thousand items to furnish and decorate the Victorian home With an introduction by Dorothy Bosomworth' (a terrific, and large scale copy of the c. 1887 catalog), or download a free pdf copy of the same catalog from CMOG, here: http://www.cmog.org/library/illustrated-pattern-book-english-china-earthenware-french-china-ware-plain-ornamental
It is very helpful in identifying Harrach glass, since they feature a number of pages of Harrach's pieces in the catalog.
Very well repaired Michelleb007. I was so proud of my Wedgewood Onion pattern plate. Then I sat on it while it was on the bed. Broken quite cleanly in two pieces. A friend was a 'glue expert' - now the break is very difficult to see.
So sad when a beauty like that arrives broken... But your repair is so good it is still glorious :-)
Love too those begonia leaves, very naturalistic enamel!
What break? You did a super job!
It does momentarily break ones heart doesn't it?...but you have done such a great job on the repair...a very beautiful vase....:-)
And after all the eye goes straight to the exquisitely depicted leaves.....I wouldn't have wanted to part with it either!
Beautiful piece, that's about as perfect of a match as they get!
When I was photographing the section of the Harrach design books that had Silber & Fleming glass in it from that reprinted catalog, someone had cut and paste the original catalog examples from the S&F catalog into the drawing books, which was really cool because the drawing books only showed a shape and that's it, not how the vase was actually decorated.
Oh Gillian, I can just picture what happened! I am so sorry your plate broke, but thankfully you had a handy friend!
Thank you kyratango, Efesgirl, and inky - you are too kind. Thank goodness for superglue, and for time healing disappointments! :)
sklo, that's what I thought - the enameling is just too beautiful to hide away. Thank you!
Brian, thank you! That is so interesting to hear about the cutting and pasting - it must have been wild to see the original Harrach drawings, and then the other versions next to them with the example decors from the ads. I guess what is most intriguing is that Harrach thought it was worth doing, too!
thanks a lot for this post. I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you very much, kivatinitz - my pleasure! :)
That's a shame about the breakage, but that doesn't detract from what is a beautiful piece of Harrach!
Thanks, Rick - I am so glad you think so!