Posted 8 years ago
LOUMANAL
(436 items)
I know that CW member Welzebub has written a long and detailed opinion on the ROYAL ART GLASS label and especially on its association with WELZ Glass. I recently uploaded a Clown-hatted Candy dish in a similar Tango decor that did not have this label but that was identified as a Kralik product. This 7 3/4" tall by 5" wide candy dish has the same treatment with an inside clear layer, a bright yellow inner layer and a spatter layer radiating down from the finial and up from the under-base ending along the sides of the bowl. Finally, there is a clear layer on the outside. The finial shape is very similar to my other Tango covered dish listed last week. It is unmarked. The paper label appears to have been gilded but has darkened with age. Welz or Kralik?
The finials, although similar, in my opinion are not similar enough to claim same origin based on their shape. Finials by themselves are notoriously bad reference points for attributions, unless extremely distinctive in form, and even then they are only partially useful.
I have prepared a comparison that the link will show this finial and the Kralik example side by side:
http://www.kralik-glass.com/images/FinialCompare.jpg
Spatter decors of this style are extremely difficult to attribute based on appearance alone. The more simple the color palette of a decor, the more difficult it is to attribute accurately, unless the shape can be accurately identified.
4 layer casing is a technique used by almost every glass producer of the period and region. It is not a technique that can be used in any manner to identify a production house. Any claims that have been made in this forum implying that it can be used in that manner, are really not in any way, supportable.
The label would seemingly point towards Welz as the maker.
Have I seen this decor in a Welz shape before? No.
Have I seen this shape in a Welz decor before? No.
All that means is that it is potentially one of possibly hundreds, if not thousands of unidentified Welz examples that can still be found, the majority of which will most likely remain unidentified.
Great find! Here are a few others:
http://cf.collectorsweekly.com/stories/6ABv7My9Z98qIMfeOTwxjQ.jpg
http://cf.collectorsweekly.com/stories/hkvlGC4BfVHdgwWcjCDG-g.jpg
Thanks welzebub! The real similarity was the spatter treatment ie..; from top of lid radiating down and from the under-base radiating to the cup sides. The yellow tango colour is much lighter than the other candy dish I listed one week ago. I saw the side by side finial comparison; they are different. Appreciate your input! BOB
Thank you charcoal for the links......it's quite possible that these candy dishes had labels at one time. After over 80 years, labels are/become rare.
Thank you blunderbuss2, surfdub66, aura, Caperkid and sklo42 for the loves. BOB
If you think about the production of these pieces. The lid is blown from the bottom of it, and the bottom is blown from the top.... So in essence, the spatter is applied in the same manner to both pieces of the covered dish, but they are designed to sit in opposite directions of each other.
Top down / Bottom up spatters are not all that unusual in this type of covered piece. Less common than full spatter examples, but not uncommon in the whole scheme of things.
Rare indeed, and a terrific find!
Important piece.
One of the things I've learned about Czechoslovakian glass since I've been here on CW is that similarity has little to do with attribution. I'm in no position to decide who made what but am I the only one who notices a huge difference in the frit make-up between these two pieces in question?
http://cf.collectorsweekly.com/stories/gjjr.IrR57htzyiIRZk2Sg.jpg
http://cf.collectorsweekly.com/stories/zXs-QRzns4.fqdLdsqNd8Q.jpg
No, you are not the only one noticing that. :-)
I also agree but there are so many interpretations of characteristics out there that unless new catalogs are found, we'll be assuming and guessing forever. Bob
Thank you artfoot for your comments and love and thank you IronLace, fortapache, vetraio50, mikelv85, inky, IanBrighton and surfdub66 for the loves. RER
I suggest that we simply follow reasonable leads that present themselves, and other than that, we simply accept that a very large percentage of this glass will simply go unattributed.
Thank you philmac51 for the love. RER
Thank you Glassiegirl, antiquerose, Vintagefran, roddyq and kivatinitz for the loves. RER
Welz
I have been working on the Welz shape library so that I can post it online for reference. It is quite a big job, as there are over 500 shapes that I have identified as having been produced by Welz. this is likely a fraction of what they produced.
In doing so I accumulated a set of images, starting with two distinctive décors produced by Welz, and ones I believe to be markers for their production. In addition to those two decors on a specific shape, I came across an interesting spatter on the same shape. In this case it is a vase, and not a covered piece, but I think that the similarity to the décor on your covered piece here, adds additional support to the idea that this is Welz production with an appropriate Royal Art Glass label.
http://www.kralik-glass.com/images/Shape171.jpg
Thank you kralik1928 and welzebub for the information! Bob
I would add that bottom up spatters are among the most difficult décors to attribute. In almost 10 years of studying Welz production, I have identified very few examples, and those were based on shapes.
I do not think that the decor on the covered piece and the ribbed vase in the last link I added are exactly the same, but similar enough to be a possible pointer.
Hmmm, maybe the Royal sticker isn't as dependable as it used to be...