Is It Morgan?

from Michael Krumme of LA

Alan,

Re: Jan Baer’s photographs of Steuben and possibly-Steuben with Hawkes decorations:

I’ve sent the photograph of Jan’s black vase with gold-encrusted etching of a ship to four friends who serve as my “glass brain trust” when I am stumped on a glass i.d. question, or just want second opinions. Several of them feel that the vase at least resembles one made by Morgantown in the 1930s, although there are some differences in the shaping of the neck and the top flare.

Questions for Jan:

1. What is the height of the vase?

2. Is there a ground and polished pontil mark on the bottom, or not?

3. Is it marked Hawkes? (I believe the answer was no.)

4. Are there any shape resemblances in the Steuben line drawings, or perhaps in the Sinclaire – color book line drawings?

5. If held to strong light, can any color be seen through the piece? Most glass companies’ formula for black glass utilized manganese, and will show a deep amethyst color. However Morgantown’s formula must have been different, as their thinner pieces show a bluish-smoke color when held to strong light. (I have several examples in my collection of black glass.) Thick pieces, of course, will block most light, so the light test for this characteristic may not work for Rande’s vase.

Dorflinger Museum

Dorflinger Museum To Open

The sleepy town of White Mills in northeastern Pennsylvania relied for decades on one family, the Dorflingers. From the 1860s to the 1920s, hundreds of locals worked 11-hour shifts at the Dorflingers’ glass factory, where they shaped products with molds and acid and stoked furnaces, sending plumes of smoke from brick chimney stacks. … continue at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/arts/design/a-new-glass-museum-will-open-in-a-historic-factory.html?_r=0