Large Swan similar to FM Konstglas but different beak

[eglass]

Hi you all!

LOVE this handsome fellow that we found recently on our trip out of town.
No mark or label (of course) and I at first thought it looked like the work of the brothers at FM Konstglas because of the body treatment, but when comparing theirs to mine it looks like mine has a different beak.

Now I wonder. Any ideas? This one is 9.25" tall, and about 8.5" long.

Also, I've always wondered but I guess have never asked - what do they call that lacy, webby treatment inside the glass on pieces like this?

Thanks!

Kelli

[artifice]

Hi Kelli that lacy stuff ,is called Merletto a web of lattimo strands,the birds beak definatley looks Murano to me ,Seguso pioneered Merletto so l would suggest you have found a Seguso Merletto swan well done.Cliff

[eglass]

Cliff, THANK YOU! How wonderful, I was so hoping it was one of the classics. And "Merletto" - a new term for my glossary. I appreciate it!

[Langhaugh]

Hi:

I'm not sure this is merletto. It seems too regular (too unsquiggly, to use a technical term) and thick to be merletto. I checked through Pina's Seguso book and that seemed to confirm it. Also, she doesn't show any animals done in merletto, although that's hardly definitive. Cliff knows his Murano more than me so I wouldn't say no definitively, but I would be cautious.

A photo of the body of the bird from directly above would help me.

I did a google of merletto birds and found one purported example, but it seemed even less like merletto than this. The link was http://www.trocadero.com/dongonzalez...2154store.html

It is a very nice bird. I suppose the question is most relevant if you're selling, as merletto puts the price up.

I wonder if Anita has seen this?

David

[TxSilver]

I agree with David that the pieces are not merletto. The birds in the Trocadero link have latticino (or muslin) pieces scattered about. The swan looks to have white glass streaks that were melted and pulled (or molded) to give the pattern seen before the piece was cased. The piece does not look like Seguso to me. It is a very nice swan, but not merletto in the strict sense.

[artifice]

Hi as I said Seguso pioneered the Merletto technique in (1952),like most styles in Murano it was copied , thats a Murano swan maybe not Seguso but in the copying quality varies ,I hear what is being said regarding lack of finnese or squiggles ,in this bird what they are trying to achieve is the look of feathers with the technique that is how I see it .Cliff

[TxSilver]

The word merletto means lace. There were a couple of techniques called merletto in Murano. The technique used by Salviati and Testolini was painted on and called merletto a decor. The technique by Archimede Seguso has not been figured out. The glass has fine glass threads arranged in a pattern that looks like lace or angel hair inside the glass. The threads are not melted into the surrounding glass, so each one keeps its nice form. There are a couple of rows of some of Seguso's merletto at www.the-loschs.com/technik/technik1.html.

If I had to guess who might have done the swan, my first guess would be V. Nason. It is just a guess, though.

[eglass]

What a great resource "thema 2" is, Anita - I think I see what you mean, merletto looks to be more distinctly separated glass threads, while the glass inside my swan's body looks more "wispy" and indistinct. I am going to list the swan so appreciate the additional info so that I don't misrepresent.

There certainly are gobs of techniques, are there not?

[Langhaugh]

Thanks for a reminder of the Losch reference, Anita. The effect on the back of the swan looks more like fenicio, which would fit in with the Nason attribution.

Did Seguso go to his grave with the secret? I know no other company was able to emulate it.

David

[Jurgen]

Hi all.....................Here is an Archimede Seguso merletto.....................Jerry