Posted 7 years ago
IronLace
(928 items)
This very large diamond quilted satin glass rose bowl is most likely a reproduction piece from the 1960s, made in Italy. I bought it regardless, as it is a large, impressive piece, & was a reasonable price. If it did not have the applied decoration, I believe that it would "pass" far more respectably as a Victorian item. Some 1960s - 1970s era air trap satin glass has poorly executed diamonds (relative to original Victorian items) that tend to be somewhat elongated &/or uneven.
It is made from three layers of cased glass - clear over yellow, with a diamond air trap pattern, & a white interior. The rose bowl measures 15 cm tall, 10 cm across the crimped top rim, & 6 cm across the base, which has a rough, snapped pontil mark. There is applied decoration of a leafy branch in green & clear streaked glass, also with a satin finish.
It is the applied work which is the giveaway that this is a repro of Victorian glass, as the same rather pedestrian, yet highly implausible, trailwork turns up on Italian repros of other Victorian glass, such as Burmese. Nonetheless, it is still an attractive item, & fits in well with my authentic Victorian glass.
Only an expert would know, this would fool me! Well done!!
Many thanks - it's simply been a matter of handling, & looking at a lot of glass over many years. It would have fooled me too if it didn't have the leaf trail on it! I do have a few more examples of Italian repros of Victorian glass - some have labels attached, which makes the ID easy. But also, the pieces tend to be what I call "fantasy" items, that is, they bring together attributes never seen together on authentic Victorian glass - eg. applied flowers on Burmese glass. There are other giveaways as well, such as repro rainbow satin glass tending to have a dark line separating the yellow from the other colours - real Victorian rainbow satin always has a perfectly blended colour transition. The most spectacular repro piece I have is a three trumpet epergne made entirely from millefiori canes. Will have to get around to posting that one sometime...
Please do!
Next week sometime, I promise! :-)
Thank you for info, Iron Lace. I am relatively new at collecting Artglass and
surely I have bought reproductions. Ugh!
Happy to be of assistance, Starrynight! I knew this was a repro, but went ahead & got it anyway. But it's definitely important to know what you're buying, because a lot of sellers don't know their stuff, & a few, unfortunately, are out to deceive. I think most mean well, but collecting is about being armed with knowledge as well as passion & an appreciation of beautiful things.
It's gorgeous and apparently many of the repos are, so all knowledge, all tips,
I greatly appreciate:)
As soon as I can figure out how to post pictures, I have a supposed
Webb MOP yellow epergne. Some diamond shapes square, other seem to be elongated. Glass is 1/8th inch thick, so borderline, I guess. White interior, kind
of chalky, but yet can still see through it. Confusing to me, if it is reproduction or not.