TxSilver
09-17-2006, 06:08 PM
This has been a busy last 24 hours. Anytime I get a new piece of unknown glass, I learn so much about glass. I never find what I am looking for, but I find out a lot of unrelated stuff.
Something I learned that I thought was really important is that perfect glass isn't always better. In reading about Bianconi, I learned that the major Murano shops reproduced some of their earlier popular works. The original pieces often had ashes and "stones" from the furnace. They were far from perfect. Later pieces were nicer because production had been refined. This was surprising to me. I have sold a good number of Fratelli Toso pieces -- some mint, some ashy and stony. People paid much better prices for the mint pieces, even though the ashy, stony ones were most likely the originals. I think I'll start seeking out the ashy pieces for myself.
I've seen a lot of things on eBay that I wanted to write the sellers about, but didn't -- there were so many mistakes that I would have spent the whole day. The worst I saw was a few Holmegaard satin vases being sold as Moretti -- I hadn't thought of the similarity before. I saw AMark being sold as Barovier-Toso, though I can't figure out why. I saw a Chinese piece being sold as Dino Martens with a big price tag. On a less serious side, I saw familiar pieces of the Murano houses being accredited to other houses. It's a mess out there. I feel better about not being able to attribute some of my things. It is difficult.
Speaking of mis-attributions -- I read on the Fulvio Bianconi site that the heirs threaten legal action to people using the Bianconi name to promote sales of their object. They have an email on the site for people who want to verify that their work is Bianconi -- enjoyed finding that.
Well, let me quit rambling. I'm off to look for ashy glasswork.
Anita
Something I learned that I thought was really important is that perfect glass isn't always better. In reading about Bianconi, I learned that the major Murano shops reproduced some of their earlier popular works. The original pieces often had ashes and "stones" from the furnace. They were far from perfect. Later pieces were nicer because production had been refined. This was surprising to me. I have sold a good number of Fratelli Toso pieces -- some mint, some ashy and stony. People paid much better prices for the mint pieces, even though the ashy, stony ones were most likely the originals. I think I'll start seeking out the ashy pieces for myself.
I've seen a lot of things on eBay that I wanted to write the sellers about, but didn't -- there were so many mistakes that I would have spent the whole day. The worst I saw was a few Holmegaard satin vases being sold as Moretti -- I hadn't thought of the similarity before. I saw AMark being sold as Barovier-Toso, though I can't figure out why. I saw a Chinese piece being sold as Dino Martens with a big price tag. On a less serious side, I saw familiar pieces of the Murano houses being accredited to other houses. It's a mess out there. I feel better about not being able to attribute some of my things. It is difficult.
Speaking of mis-attributions -- I read on the Fulvio Bianconi site that the heirs threaten legal action to people using the Bianconi name to promote sales of their object. They have an email on the site for people who want to verify that their work is Bianconi -- enjoyed finding that.
Well, let me quit rambling. I'm off to look for ashy glasswork.
Anita