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Posted 10 months ago
Alfredo
(347 items)
Tom Dugan and his brother were nephews of the great British glassmaker John Northwood, of Portland vase fame. Therefore, they were exposed to the massive influx of Czech glass flooding England at this time.
Once in America, they determined to create art glass that would be accessible to the masses, unlike the high end Czech glass of the period. In advertisements, it was touted as comparable to Tiffany and "the finest imported glass".
I decided to test such a claim:
1.Extremely high end Loetz Ast glass, 14" tall, surrounded by Dugan look-alikes.
2. Stunning Rindskopf fan vase . . . and the Dugan look-alikes.
3. Rindskopf tricorn vase . . . and its Dugan version.
4. Tall 13 Kralik vase with striped frit . . . and a Dugan decor interpretation.
Remember the Dugan blue Starburst? Well, Kralik has a decor in which white frit is applied in bursts over green glass!
American Art GlassAmerican art glass refers to decorative household glass objects made in fac…
Art NouveauArt Nouveau architecture, furniture, jewelry, and graphics took their inspi…
Great articles, Al - I will be re-reading this many times!
Nice glass objects:)
Al: I have a Dugan in the same shape (and size?) as the one in #4; but it is in a decor I have never seen in Dugan. I will post it soon; and I'd like to know what this decor is called, if you happen to know. Thanks!
I f you are referring to the one of the extreme right on the last photo, I also have it in purple.
This is what I call a serious research; recognizing décor elements, comparing them, classifying, and in a particular point in time. As for Dugan, interestingly, not too many tall pieces were made. Glass itself is not an expensive material to work with, possibly big molds were more expensive to make. I would really like to know what they thought when decided between 4`` and 10`` or so. Dugan shapes and décor: this is exactly what glass is meant for and what was done in Ancient Rome and well understood by Dugan; glass is not a canvas to paint on it. The beauty of glass itself. In a word, I fell in love with this glass, and Al knows it is not only Dugan.
The yellow vase on the extreme right is now mine, purchased from Al. It is one of my favorites. I also have the fairly common purple and also one in ice blue which I believe to be rare.
The vase I was referring to IS the one on the extreme right; that as I learned is now owned by nrkrupp. I will post my "mystery" dugan in a few minutes. It is red.
Red, in that shape? I wanna it! But I bet Nancy does too. By the way, gang, she coauthored an article on Dugan with me for David Doty's Carnival website.
I cant believe I never saw any of these great articles you did with the comparisions to boot before I relized that I needed at least some of the Dugan line in my collection. For some reason I feel the need to convince myself that my collection is growing in the correct aspect of what I hope to achieve by it. Which is to have a little of every great glass company I can obtain in my lifetime and the information of where it came, the artist who created it and to do all of that in some sort of relevance and organization that is appealing to myself as well as those who visit my home. I know it seems like an impossible task, even to myself sometimes. But that is my end goal.
I'd rather not be a "jack of all trades". I know what I like and I can afford at this sad point of my life (retired, old, ill)--. So I say, Czech. If imperial or Dugan, not Carnival.
I totally understand and respect what you are saying. Im sure I sound like the total opposite in comparison. Even though I have always loved glass and would occasionally buy a piece here and there, I have only considered myself a "serious" collector for nearly a year at best. And by that I mean I have started to be selective in what I am looking to buy and searching it out as money and time allows. With my interest changing direction every time I discover something that sparks an emotion within me. I would love to have some antique Imperial, but that is way out of my range as they are becoming more rare or more coveted by collectors, I'm not sure which one. And like most of the glass I find an interest in, I end up disappointed to see that the really great examples of the better quality glass is only even further out of range. Which is another reason the Dugan glass was of interest. Some of the smaller ones are still affordable. Same thing goes for the majority of the Czech glass, to some degree at least I have put a few on the shelf this past year with the help and generousity of some here on CW. Sorry for rambling on like a fool, I am only trying to give a little background information for you to chew on, so to better understand my questions in the future. Thank you for taking the time to explain and share some of your information with me. I do appreciate your patience as I try to learn about what direction I will take next.