Posted 3 years ago
Russell117
(98 items)
Victorian vaseline whimsy piece. Nice green colour with opalescence at the top and with crystal petal feet and handle. Broken pontil and there are thorn projections scattered around the body. Body also has some vertical optic ribbing with a slight twist. Height is 19 cms. Circa 1900? Bohemian origin? Displays well.
I've got one just like this in a very pale blue, found in a Salvos store. Hard to say if this one is Bohemian or English, though.
Yes, IronLace, in terms of origin it could go either way. When we talk of Cyril Manley, some people disputed his attributions, especially Bohemian glass for English. He was one of the main guys that British auction houses and insurance companies called in when determining where certain glass items came from. I can think of a few pieces in his book which have been incorrectly identified. So, if he had problems, what hope have we got? However, it's still a great read and I take it off the shelf to go through all the pictures and captions several times a year. With regard to the whimsy above, the Victorian glass makers made the same item in the same or different colours in reasonably long production runs. It never ceases to amaze that an item, that I think is a unique piece, can be found again and again. This was a birthday gift which I was happy to get. One more thing - note that the thorns are pointed in the direction of the feet to prevent someone spiking their fingers or hands if they grab it by the body - your hand would naturally move downward to pick it up - that's my rationale anyway.
I had to double check my shelf-- have a similar one!
scott
Hi scott, many of these old items were made in fairly long production runs. This style-shape was made in at least blue and vaseline green. Could there have been other colours? They are very nice baskets!