Something Fishy

[coach_555]

Gidday ! So here's the deal. When my grandmother moved into a nursing home my mother thought I would like to "take care" of my grandmothers fish. Easy enough.. I asked if the tank came with the fish ? My mother laughed and handed me a box . Inside the box wrapped in packing were these two green fish paperweights or bookends but definantly heavy glass very smooth and very cool to look at .

My mother told me that my grandparents purchase the fish the year I was born (1963) . There are no lables or markings on the fish but one is 10.5" tall the other is 10" tall, of course coming from my grandmothers home,they are in perfect condition, as if they just came out of the showroom. I have found out through research that they are Murano ( hence why I am here) Are they Murano? I have searched and only found a smaller version without the coral in the base and only a single fish not a pair.

Now for the value ! The one I found for salewhich is similer but not as fancy and smaller in size, The person had it listed in his antique store for $219 GBP which translates to $340 or so CDN dollars Is this even close to the value ? Is having a matched pair worth more ? Does the colour make it more or less valuable ? What about the "coral" inside the base? Is that something unique ? I have yet to see anythng similer Have you ?

So many questions to answer I hope one of you collectors out there can help me out

Thanks

[artifice]

Hi Coach 555 I dont think your items as murano in origin ,the coral you describe are glass murrines I see your fish as Czech or more likely Chinese in origin,take sellers attributions and values as a guide only l would say 70% of which are wrong or works of fiction leading to disapointment for some.Thats my opinion others may differ.Cliff

[otonoh]

I would agree, they don't look like Murano to me. I think they are Czech. If your Grandmother got them in 1963 then it is too early to be Chinese copies.
I would research Czech glass and see if you come up with something.

David

[coach_555]

Thanks Guys

I thought the "value" of the one piece being sold was really high Not being a glass collector I felt the pair were probably in the $100 cdn doller range not the $340 the fella was asking

As Czech glass pieces I would also figure they are copies or is Czech glass on par with other known manufacturers?

Cliff your knowlege of what I called coral actually being Murrines is great now I have to figure out what Murrines are seeing I have them in the base

Troy

[artifice]

Hi Coach 555 murrines are from canes of glass and cut into smaller sections as you see in your items base many varieties of murrine are made some destinctive helping to attribute an item to a particular maker .there are date murrines containing a year.they can also contain a letter such as P which denotes a company called Perthshire paperweights .There are some videos on y tube that detail how they are made.Cliff