pelican or, pelican't

[moe537]

Hello, My father in law recently gave my husband and I this pelican as a housewarming gift. As the story goes, it was hand carried back from Murano sometime in the 80's by his ex-girlfriend. I'm curious about it's authenticity and history. I'd appreciate any feedback. Many thanks for your time!

[spartina]

Hello, Welcome to the forums, love the pelican and any murano bird really....
Is that a (partial?) label attached? Can you post a closeup of it. Labels are immensely helpful in tracking down maker and even artist.

PS love the thread title!

[TxSilver]

It looks very Murano. And that label looks promising. Could you describe the label, or as spartina suggested, take a picture of it?

I love the pelican :)

Anita

[moe537]

Thank you so much for the replies. I will post a new photo of the label soon. In the meantime, the label is white paper with a blue outline around it. The number 8883 is printed. It actually looks like something a typewriter might have done.... for all I know, it could be a price tag! I am clueless about this stuff, but after poking around on this site, I am becoming increasingly intrigued by the world of such lovely glass! Thanks again. ~Kerri

Okay, the label photo is attached. I think this one is a bit better. I also included a couple more photos (as it turns out, he is something of a ham) ;)

~Kerri

[TxSilver]

It looks like a Fratelli Toso label to me. I can't see the area between the two main lines of the frame very well, but the form is similar to one of theirs. If you want to check, the label it looks like in on the Losch's page at http://www.the-loschs.com/signatur.html

Anita

[madcat]

Very unusual & pretty.

[moe537]

Thank you, everyone for your replies. TxSilver... thank you for your input and for the link. The label does look similar to Fratelli Toso, but not exactly like what was pictured. Can you tell me if this makes it unlikely to be Fratelli Toso, or if it is worth digging around to find more label examples?

~Kerri

[glassman]

Was the pelican purchased new or vintage while in Venice? Many paperlabels predate the 80's. Barbini had used a similar label at one point, but by the 80's they changed over to a foil label.

[fossilfly]

I have almost 100 images of different Murano labels, I will see if it matches any. Toso and Barbini had both used similar labels, but as Alex mentioned, they generally were used before printed foil or plastic labels.

Speaking of labels, I have been meaning to add a gallery of Murano labels to the site for about a year, maybe this is a good time do so--it would be similar to the Losch's site mentioned previously, but categorized by Mfr.

[TxSilver]

Barbini -- this is a good one to consider. It does look like some of the things I've seen attributed to them. If Barbini did pelicans, I wouldn't be surprised if this was an example.

I love a good mystery.

Anita

[moe537]

This is getting fun! Thank you all for your replies and contributions toward finding our pelican's place of origin. I will try to find out if the piece was bought as vintage in the 80's or, not. Thanks again!

~Kerri