Posted 4 years ago
BHIFOS
(415 items)
Another one I couldn't resist he is over 550mm long. The lady I got him off found herself in a old closed down factory in Central Europe and there were crates of them covered in straw. She managed to catch a few, must go back one day and get the name of the country she found them in again, my memory seems to be failing me too Ho2cultcha!
The most prolific maker of fish was Romania.
The shop I brought this from was closed and empty when I went back in January 2022 so I didn't think I would ever find where it came from.
Today I travelled through it for the first time in a year and a bit and usually you take a bypass and miss the main street but today I was early so went through the main drag for a look and very surprisingly it had reopened.
Seems the country she found it in was Romania but didn't think they came from there, She thought more likely Czechoslovakia.
I too have a shoal of these which I remain ambivalent about . I admire them and love them but think they have a certain charming ugliness !,
Yours looks in fine condition like new quite a find. I too was told mine most likely Czech .
Bernard, I think Romania could be spot on, as there was a whole lot of "Murano" style spatter glass novelty items made there in the 1970s - 80s era such as fancy baskets & hand vases (I have a few of those) in this sort of colour scheme. Also, another thing that adds to this attribution is that I have a book on art glass baskets which shows a item in this style with a made in Romania sticker. The hand vases in particular tend to get attributed to Murano but I have seen one with a made in Romania label. However, this is where things get really interesting - they were made using a Victorian era mold which was of Bohemian origin!
To me, this fish ornament is very much in an Italian - esque style but the Romanian ID adds up in my opinion.
BTW this fish is a big unit! :-)
Thanks for the information Marin. It is always good to have some published and therefore hopefully accurate material to point to items origins. Funny that the lady at this antique shop didn't know about their being Romanian art glass as she is no mug and has travelled and collected for herself and her shop extensively and her husband is European. She herself is from Aussie and most of the stock in their shop they brought over here from their previous place in Australia.