What is this fish?

[PAPPY29]

Got this beautiful glass fish bowl from an estate sale. Any clue to what it is or what it is worth. The people who owned the home has passed. Any help would be great!

[spartina]

Hi Pappy29, Welcome to the Murano Glass Forum! Ive seen a similar piece listed on ebay as Murano, without any specifics on who made it. I would venture it to be generic murano glass.

[TxSilver]

I've seen things similar to this, but I'll have to backtrack to see if I can find anything again. I wish I could remember all the things I see. I envy people with photographic memories.

Anita

[Mouser]

I also have one of these fish bowls. The color and free form style of the fish remind me deeply of Seguso - Sommerso works.

Really, if anyone has a clue if these are Murano we'd like to know.

Here is a pic of mine I recently acquired:

[Mouser]

I'm new here.. and wondering why my last post didn't show up yet? It's been several hours.

[Mouser]

Interesting... this one showed up right away.
Well, back to topic, I have a similar fish bowl and am wondering if it could be Seguso. It is very similar to the 'biomorphic' free form bowls he did in amber and green or amber and blues circa 1930-40s.

I'm including pictures (again) hopefully they'll show up this time. The bowl is 12.5" long by 8.75" wide by 3.75" high

[TxSilver]

Mouser, I don't see your first post anywhere. Maybe you can try it again.

And welcome!

Anita

[Mouser]

I posted with 2 pics this morning/afternoon. They haven't shown up yet. I posted again this evening with 2 pics... they still haven't shown up yet. Dunno why it's taking so long.

[fossilfly]

I posted with 2 pics this morning/afternoon. They haven't shown up yet. I posted again this evening with 2 pics... they still haven't shown up yet. Dunno why it's taking so long.

Due to the amount of spam, threads by new members are sometimes auto moderated by the forum. I found 2 posts that were being held, and released them. They should be visible on the forums now.

[Mouser]

Thanks, Fossilfly... in fact you can probably delete the first as I gave measurements in the second. Best not to double post and use server space.

[Mouser]

Hello again,
Now that the pics are up here, I was wondering if anyone has a clue if this (these) bowls are even Italian. I just left 2 glass collecting groups after being berated because I believed they could be from the Murano area artists.

I've had several of those members tell me it could be anything from Tiffin, Chalet, Chinese, American etc., but a few others thought it might also be Murano region.

The fish reminds me of Seguso biomorphic bowls from the 30s-40s. So do the amber to green and amber to blue colors and stretched ends.

I'm relatively new to glass but am a quick study. I'd love to list this on eBay but really don't want to list it incorrectly. I may have to list it as unknown, which will drive the price way down. Unfortunately all the Murano and Venetian artists' books are really pricey.

Any help is appreciated.

[TxSilver]

I have seen glass like this many times, but never with an attibution. The clarity of the glass reminds me of some of the pieces that has a JI Co label on them. One of our members wrote that JI Co is an import company, so it doesn't really tell us anything.

The base of the bowl looks well made. Someone put some time into it. Many of your Chinese pieces are not finished well. Workers are concerned with productivity, instead of art. Your fish is a fine fish plate, so I would rule out Chinese.

Venetian and Canadian are good possibilities. Wish I could be more help.

Anita

[Mouser]

Thanks, Anita.
I'm Googling JI Co and getting a lot of Asian company names, stock trading, textiles, etc.

But it's a lead. I also need to do a thorough search on Chalet. Just not too many websites for them.

[spartina]

Thanks, Anita.
I'm Googling JI Co and getting a lot of Asian company names, stock trading, textiles, etc.

But it's a lead. I also need to do a thorough search on Chalet. Just not too many websites for them.

Heres a link with a gallery of Chalet glass, Ive found it very useful in the past.

[Mouser]

Heres a link with a gallery of Chalet glass, Ive found it very useful in the past.

Your link didn't show up, Tina.

[spartina]

Sorry, here you go.

http://www.mblaisgallery.com/dynamic/artists/Chalet_Art_Glass_Glass.asp

[Mouser]

Yep, that's one of my fave Chalet sites. I've been all over that one, but no fishy, LOL.

[TxSilver]

I spent a lot of time today looking at Venetian glass on eBay. There are several bowls listed as Venetian that have the same type of glass that your bowl has -- unfortunately, no fish right now. One of the bowls had the JI Co sticker on it. Sorry I am being redundant, but I have the feeling that the bowl fits in the generic Venetian catagory (not an insult because it is good quality). I have seen some people sell the bowl as Fratelli Toso in the past, but it was a misattribution.

If you want to retrace my steps on eBay, you can put in "Venetian Bowl" and "Venetian Glass" into eBay. (There's a few really nice things for sale. It is difficult not to hold up the bid paddle for all of them.)

Anita

[Mouser]

Tina,

I did find a few with similar bottoms and stretched ends with the blended colors under "Venetian" and also from the mentioned "J.I. Co.".

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-VENETIAN-ART-GLASS-ABSTRACT-BOWL-J-I-CO-ITALY_W0QQitemZ110122211363QQihZ001QQcategoryZ994Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
item # 110122211363

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Venetian-glass-fish-shaped-bowl-12-3-4-inches_W0QQitemZ130104602916QQihZ003QQcategoryZ994 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
item # 130104602916

The last link above, is for a fish bowl just like mine (different color combos) and is stated "Venetian" and has "most of the label".

HOLY COW!!! Why didn't that bowl show up in my dozens of searches?

Tina you're amazing!

Thom

[Mouser]

Anita, thank you too! I owe you a big cup of coffee (or something)!