Posted 5 years ago
IronLace
(876 items)
Over the last two years, I have been fortunate to obtain three examples of this rare type of art glass.
The handled vase was the first, a chance & cheap find at a local flea market. The double crimped vase & the basket were both eBay finds, purchased from sellers in the US.
As can be seen, the colour scheme in these pieces is consistent - a range of autumnal browns, tans, & ochres.
The width of the threads varies from reasonably thin, in the handled vase, to somewhat thicker, in the double crimped vase, & extra wide, in the basket. Perhaps due to the items being blown out after the threads were applied? Logic suggests this, as the basket, being nearly spherical, is the most "blown out" of the trio - hence why its threads have blurred & blended, looking more like abstract brush strokes.
In my collection, I have a large range of Peloton glass from a variety of makers. On some items, the thread are standing "proud" of the item, creating a wiry, vermicular texture. On others, the threads are melted right into the surface, integrating with ground (usually white, but sometimes clear, occasionally pink, mauve, pale blue, or yellow).
Each piece of this distinctive brown Peloton also has a neatly polished out pontil mark, which could be suggestive of a shared manufacturer.
One day I hope to have a conclusive attribution on these pieces. I am also keen to find more examples of this especially unusual glass.
WoW! That is what I had in mind, thanks for showing us your other white peloton pieces with brown. You can see how the basket brown application is more like splashes manipulated in several directions.
The peloton (yarn strands) is much more defined in the other 2 pieces. I wonder who made these? Very nice, thanks for posting.
For what it is worth, here are a couple of other examples.
http://www.kralik-glass.com/images/Peloton.jpg
Much appreciated welzebub, they are both fantastic items. I think I've seen that first footed bowl about for sale online for quite a while...the price rather high if I recall rightly. The "Siamese" conjoined rose bowls are fascinating. I would really like to get an example of this design, it so very distinctive.
The brown Peloton does seem to me to originate from a single source, despite the minor variations...whereas the other Peloton types with pastel or bright multicoloured threads have so many variations in shape, size, & finish, that many makers must have been responsible for them. I am going to post some more comparison images of Peloton soon, as it is an area of art glass that is worth more attention.
I acquired my first piece in 1996, a tall tree trunk type vase with arms. It would have had two hanging baskets originally.
I understand that there is a certain degree of conjecture about the origins of Peloton glass. Factoring in that it is a fairly rare type of art glass, & not often seen for sale, makes it even more challenging to both acquire & research. Harrach & Kralik were said to have produced it. English makers as well, I believe, which makes sense as there is a good deal of Peloton glass I have acquired from the UK, which has an aesthetic all of its own.
The double vase is a shape I have only seen the one time that I can recall. I have also seen an example of a version with 3 attached ribbed globes that are the same basic shape. That one was in a white satin finish ground. It is worth mentioning that Welz made several different examples of these types of vases, and they are found in several decors which are distinctly Welz.
The bowl does have a rim crimp I refer to as a snowflake crimp. This is a rim crimp that is successfully linked to Welz production through a variety of examples identified using additional supportable links besides just the rim crimp.
Do I think that all of these are Welz? I am not saying that, although I am inclined to think that there are some attributes that point to them as a possible source. It is an unusual type of Peloton glass. I have been looking at this brown Peloton decor for around 5 years now, and examples are few and far between.
I do not recognize any of your examples as Welz shapes, but I have only identified about 550 of their shapes. That is most likely a microscopic portion of their production shapes, which spanned a period of about 150 years, and likely incorporated literally thousands upon thousands of designs.