Posted 7 years ago
IronLace
(880 items)
This hand vase is one of the stars in my collection. In 2003, I first saw this particular vase pictured in a 1960s era reference book - "Art Glass Nouveau" by Ray & Lee Grover. It went straight to the top of my wish list, but I never dreamed that I'd be able to make it mine. A few years later, it turned up on eBay - it was from the estate of the collector credited in the book. So I put in my bid, & won...it was in the days of the so called "Live Auctions" that were briefly run on eBay, where items were auctioned simultaneously in the auction house & on eBay. So I had to organise the shipping myself as it wasn't handled by the auction house...that was a bit of a hassle & the vase took quite a while to arrive, but it was well worth the effort to get such a rare hand vase with an impeccable provenance.
The vase is made from triple cased satin glass with an air trap pattern in a raindrop design. I have only seen two other hand vases with an air trap pattern - a pair in pale pink satin glass - needless to say I bid on those as well but the price went way too high.
Not sure of the maker but whoever it was, they did a fantastic job - the amount of skill involved in this piece is so impressive, & it is absolutely flawless.
It measures 26.5 cm tall, around 13.5 cm across the widest point of the double crimped top rim, & 9.5 cm across the base, which has a ground out pontil mark.
Have added a new photo showing the accession label -Maude B. Feld 2139E.
Other sticker is from the auction house that I purchased the vase from.
Many thanks CindB!
I never knew they trapped air in this sort of glass. That's fantastic, and beautiful!
Yes, it's very unusual - most pieces with air trap designs tend have quite simple shapes - I'm thinking of the typical MOP satin gourd or stick vases.
Stunning! I have seen pictures of this vase before. There is an interesting article on the Museum of Glass' webpage on hand vases, featuring this vase!
Many thanks, aftica1 - I'll have to check out the article.
I've added an extra photo to the post, showing the accession label underneath. Interestingly, I acquired another piece documented in Grover's Art Glass Nouveau, & also from Maude B. Feld's collection, though this item no longer has an accession label. It is a Peloton glass biscuit barrel with a silverplate lid. This was purchased from a different source, but at around a similar time to this hand vase.