Raise your Glass

A toast to these eye-catching pieces of glassware taking centre-stage in July for The British & Continental Ceramics & Glass Auction. These highlight works of art are the ones to watch at auction:  

Lot 1092 - A Pair of Louis Comfort Tiffany Blue Favrile Decagon Baluster Stemmed Vases  

This pair of Louis Comfort Tiffany Favrile vases are a pinnacle of elegance: their longline bodies shaped in a decagonal form, supported on slim baluster stems, with a frill at the lip. ‘Favrile’ was the name for Tiffany & Co’s art-glass line, the name likely deriving from ‘fabrile’: an Old English word meaning ‘handmade’. This line was, indeed, handmade by highly skilled artisan glassworkers. A staple of the Art Nouveau aesthetic, Tiffany glass became renowned for its unique style, using opalescent glass, and a variety of colours to create iconic works of art. This pair is in an iridescent blue, shimmering shades of green and turquoise in the light. They would make an enchanting addition to anyone’s collection, bringing the best of Art Nouveau aesthetic to your own home.

Lot 1013 - A Schneider Glass ‘Cardamom’ Pattern Fruit Bowl 

This fruit bowl certainly packs a punch! Bright orange layered cameo glass is used to create a fun pattern of flowers around the body of the bowl. The aesthetic style, typical of the ‘Le Verre Français’ Schneider glass range, is a hybrid combination of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The range was established in 1918 and ran until the early 1930s, when the Great Depression began to affect their international market and not long after, their vibrant art glassworks went out of fashion in their home country of France. Despite this unfortunate turn, fashion is cyclical and the taste for Schneider glass has a new breath of life: this artwork is, indeed, fashionable to today’s glass collector and would make a fresh, stylish statement piece in any home.  

Lot 1048 - A Sarah Faberge ‘Snowball’ Egg-form Scent Bottle  

The Fabergé egg is a Russian cultural symbol, carrying connotations of impeccable craftmanship, gorgeous opulence and a mighty imperial history. The eggs were made by the House of Fabergé in Saint Petersburg, during the reign of the Russian Empire, as lavish Easter gifts for the wives and mothers of Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. Peter Carl Fabergé oversaw the productions of the original imperial artworks during the period between 1885 and 1917. Sarah Fabergé, Peter Carl Fabergé’s great-granddaughter and inheritor to the illustrious House of Fabergé name, undertook the continuation of this legacy, taking her seat on The Fabergé Heritage Council in 2007 as a founding member. The company has continued to innovate, producing this delightful cranberry glass scent bottle in the shape of the iconic egg, flecked with white: calling back to the snowy streets of Russia. The silver gilt stopper is hallmarked for Birmingham 2007, bringing in the new era of House of Fabergé. It will be coming to auction, waiting for a new owner to take a piece of Russian cultural history home.  

Click here to view the full catalogue. >>

Gina Ramage

The next British & Continental Ceramics & Glass Auction is now open to entries. If you have something you’d like to see included, email james@mctears.co.uk for a free, no obligation auction estimate.