VDS Cologne

from Janet Ziffer of Columbia, MD

This is a beautiful example of the Verre de Soie colognes, and certainly a less common shape. I especially treasure it because it came from Frank and Elizabeth Creech’s collection. I’m hoping they’ll miss it so much that they’ll feel the need to visit.

Touch and Feel

Michael Krumme of Los Angeles provides some pointers to members of the Elegant Glass Club of Southern California on inspecting glass purchases. Also, reminds us of the high quality standards of Mr. Carder avoiding these problems for the most part; but not necessarily.

“I want to remind everyone how important it is to visually inspect glass that you are considering buying.

“Duh!” you say? Well, yeah, but here’s the thing: I always run my fingers all over a piece, looking for chips; checking handles for cracks; holding it up to the light to look for fine scratching and water deposits, etc.

But admit it: How often do you set a piece down on a flat surface and rotate it, to make sure that it doesn’t sag? Flip it over to make sure that the base is not off-round? Look at the handle or finial to make sure that it doesn’t lean? I often forget to do this.

Just today, I bought a small ruby Paden City old fashioned tumbler at a flea market, and did not do the tests described above. But eventually I did. I discovered that the base is off-round, and the piece has an uneven top rim. Not a tragedy for a $2 item, but it could be a big deal for a more expensive one.

Then I visited an antique shop and was excited to see the lid only for the Heisey Greek Key crushed fruit jar. It had no chips or cracks. Wow, someone will be really pleased to get THIS, I thought. But then I took a closer look, and the domed portion of the lid sagged. Whew! Glad that I did not buy it.

I hope you find this reminder helpful. I am going to try to remember to look more closely at the items I buy, and do the tests described above!”