IPBA = International Perfume Bottle Association. They held their convention this past weekend in St. Louis. One of the workshops was delivered by Bill Hoehn of Chesterfield, MO. It related to cleaning perfume bottles and removing stuck stoppers. Bill consented to reproducing his outline which is attached. Thought it held open a great development in an arena where I haven’t seen too much published. Also, another attendee passed out a card from a Kim Carlisle who has a glass cleaning service, along with a price list that I thought might be of interest. So, here they are attached.

Joan Walter of Saratoga Springs, NY received the highest honor bestowed on a member of the
IPBA at its convention this weekend. Joan was excited by a lay down perfume she recently acquired and shared with me. See attached photo. She asked if anyone could help with any identification. She believes this to be Steuben Green Aurene with Milifiori flowers. The silver is the work of R. Blackinton & Co. of North Attleboro, Mass. Joan thinks this may be shape #7146. The black around the Milifiori flowers raised some questions in her mind. The color and the decoration are pristine. Anyone have any knowledge or thoughts for Joan?

Last night we sent out a picture of a scent bottle in a decorated green.
Question was whether it was Steuben or not. We have some possible answers.
Since one of the responses indicates the person doesn’t want to give an opinion
and share their name, I’ll leave the responses anonymous.
The bad news is that it probably isn’t Steuben. The good news may be that it is
LC Tiffany; although, that isn’t a unanimous opinion.
One writer sent some pictures of a vase of similar technique from the Chrysler
Museum. I viewed this vase many years ago at the Chrysler Art Museum. The
piece is documented in a book published in 1977, author Paul E. Doros. It is cross
referenced in Grover’s Art Glass Nouveau at p. 95. What is striking is that the Millifiori flowers are quite similar.

But then another writes:
I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but I believe the laydown perfume is probably
the work of John Gilvey, who has been making American Craft perfumes for over
25 years. I suspect that someone replaced the silver mounts that John uses with
Victorian-period silver mounts.

As to the mounts Joan Walter’s research indicates the following:
Regarding the Sterling Mount and Lid, the letter “B” pierced by a sword mark is the “original mark” (also referred to in the reference guides as the “early mark”) used by R. Blackinton & Co. which was located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. I understand that the company was founded in 1862 by Roswell Blackinton and Walter Ballou. One internet source (www.silversmithing.com) indicates that this mark was used until 1900. Others, including www.morninggloryantiques.com, imply that it may have been used later than that at least until 1915 or so. In any event, every source agrees that it is an early mark. The suggestion also has been made that the lid and mount are not original to the bottle.
One internet source (www.925-1000.com/americansilver) indicates that the company was absorbed into the Raimond Silver Mfg. Co. in 1967. I did write to Blackinton’s great-great-granddaughter who owns Heritage Silversmiths LLC in Smithfield, Rhode Island, to see if she could shed any light on the mount or knew if the company records were still in existence, but I have not gotten a response.

The scent bottle isn’t Steuben. The Tiffany experts say it isn’t LCT. Well,
what is it? Joan Walter comments on her scent bottle.

Alan — It isn’t Tiffany. I brought it to Arlie Sulka at Lillian Nassau in NYC because I saw some similarities too. She is familiar with the Tiffany pieces that bear any similarities to this bottle and she says emphatically that it is not Tiffany (so did Tom Dimitroff). However, she also thinks that it is old glass (i.e., not a modern studio artist). That’s why I started trying to find out if it may be Steuben because it has similarities to Green Aurene. It could be studio glass (Tom suggested that too), but I have some familiarity with modern studio artists, and I have never seen anything even vaguely like this (which does not mean that is not what it is). Regarding the John Gilvey comment, I have one of his bottles and I am familiar with them. My Gilvey and Roth was in the presentation (at the IPBA convention). I don’t think it’s his work either. And, he is the only one of the studio artists I’m familiar with who did laydown bottles of a similar shape with sterling mounts or made anything even vaguely resembling this piece. In any event, I decided not to debate that point in a vacuum. So, I sent him an email of the Mystery Scent Bottle and asked him if he made it. More later, assuming I hear back from him. Don’t you just love the enthusiastic chatter. I really do appreciate the time people are taking to comment. I also should point out that I bought it because I loved the glass — not because I thought it was anything in particular. So, people don’t have to apologize if they think it isn’t Steuben or Tiffany or anything else for that matter. Thanks again. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear back from John Gilvey!!!
Joan

Joan Walter has now heard back from John Gilvey, and
John Gilvey did not make this bottle and he thinks that it is old glass. The mystery continues …
I’m attaching a couple of Joan’s pictures that show the inner construction. Some have commented that we’ve eliminated most of the major makers that we traditionally think of. Some think it is modern, but those who have seen it in person think not. Stephen Gleissner, curator of the Wichita Museum of Art says:
Interestingly, nobody has mentioned Europe. It feels like it has to be American.
Hmm? Surprising that no one has stepped forth and put this to rest yet.