Posted 9 years ago
Vintagefran
(83 items)
Hi all,
A lovely early tortoiseshell art glass pot.
It appears to be made of 3 layers, a technique, as described in the link below, thought to have come from Germany. It was patented in London by Pohl & Wittman in 1880.
The amber colour is seen darker in the middle. It's smoother on the inside so I'm guessing that's the clear glass layer. The outside is rougher, uneven with lumps and bumps from the bits inside, possibly the coloured layer, but I don't know for sure.
I'd love to know more if anyone can say.
I've not seen any tortoise shell glass like it or that comes close to its beauty. The amber isn't an even colour throughout, it reflects orange and golden colours.
All comments welcome.
Thank you postcardcollector for the info :)
It IS "tortoise shell"art glass.Without seeing it in person--but I venture a guess, top might be pewter??A beautiful piece. 3 cheers!
A prize!!!
Tortoiseshell glass was made during the 1800s and after by the Sandwich Glass Works of Massachusetts and some firms in Germany. Tortoiseshell glass is, of course, named for its resemblance to real shell from a tortoise. It has been reproduced. Many of the tortoiseshell glass pieces are from the late nineteenth century.
You do find the most interesting things!
Thank you postcardcollector. That's fascinating. Do you think this could be older than the '30s then? I only guessed that really because of the fashion for tortiose shell & faux tortiose shell at that time. Peggy, I'll buy almost anything if it's cheap enough and new to me. It's shame this has a crack I didn't spot when I bought it, but it was so cheap and is so attractive I'm not worried :)
I believe it is earlier than the 1930s.
wonderful yes tortoise shell is very old I also read while looking for the little box I posted several month ago.
Here's a link to a great web page for all different types of glass, inc. Tortiose shell.
http://theantiquarian.us/Glass%20Types.htm
(Posted for my own reference, or I'll never find it again :)
Thanks for the link Vintagefran!
A pleasure kyratango :)
My mom had a valuable vase with same pattern (almost) like yours. Glass was heavy and thick!! I think you did WELL, and just keep it. Love it! Enjyt it! Even with the crack it is quite a masterpiece.
Nice add, OAS. As I recall, we had a spate of tortoiseshell glass vases on CW a few months back?
Thanks oldandsilly & Katherine. Interesting. A friend thought it could be Edwardian, I thought the '30s & now its moved right up to the '60s! Where are those vases now? Lol I had a look through art glass & couldn't find them :-S
Hi oldandsilly and Katherine. I came this on eBay by American maker called Two's Company", from around the '60s & '70s, do you think the vases that used to be posted were by them?
Their tortoise shell looks more similar to this than most others I've been able to find. Which hasn't been many.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301676855069?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://toastandtables.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/come-out-of-your-shell-get-dish-on.html
Fran, sorry all I recall is the pictures because I thought they were some kind of leopard decor and someone posted that they were tortoiseshell, and offered some other examples, I remembered because I came across a piece later that was tortoiseshell and thought it looked too modern so I didn't take it. Not having the expert eye some of you have, it's mostly a guessing game on these things, lol. I'll have a look and see if they aren't posted to my likes. :)
Okay, have gone back and these are some of the threads I recall although there may have been more and then the members left and their stuff disappeared with them. I seem to recall a vase that was cream with brown spots, and another piece similar. Anyway, these are what's left from around the same time period, FWIW. And I see OAS commented on one of the pieces. :)
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/42619-ruckl-green-shimmy-decor-988
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/158019-unusual-fan-vase?in=loved-by-katherinescollections
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/159216-sklo42-same-shape-almost-different?in=loved-by-katherinescollections
Only the middle one has the tortoiseshell reference, but the others were posted around the same time and had a sort of similar look, or were linked, again FWIW, and these weren't the ones I remember, except for the second one, there were more, sadly gone now.
Thank you oldandsilly. Luckily this was ever so cheap, I guess the shop noticed the crack which I didn't. I didn't get it expecting it to be old, or anything, so I'm not disappointed. I'd never come across glass looking like tortoise shell before. It's very beautiful, I can't take my eyes off it, and I guess rare (around here at least).
Katherine, thank you for the links and doing all that work. Thank you thank you! Typical that there was a spate of tortoise shell glass and I missed them all :( I found some Mdina tortoise shell as well but they were all marked, so it's not Mdina...As I didn't get very far with the glass, I thought to try and find similar lids, which may have helped place it, but I've found nothing like that either. For now it remains a mystery..
Katherine, I've been puzzling over what you mean by FWIW, I can't work it out. Please put me out of my misery. Lol