At the
Vide Greniers at the moated village, Son 2 was bored and asked to play the
2 Euro Challenge, as daily readers already know.
He picked up this gothic-type vase.
Several lovely readers thought he'd made a good choice, even though I don't particularly go for that gothic style myself:
Juanita said: "By the way, I am totally agreeing with Son 2's pick of that pressed glass vase. And I'm sure you know why..." You only need to visit her blog to sense a certain affection for the colour purple...
But Son 2 wants to know more. There's a prize for a good 2 euro challenge, and I told him that the prize (some extra time on a computer game) will vary according to the value of his find. So it's off to Google to find out more.
Lululiz put me on the right track when she said: As to your son's two Euro challenge, I love it! It is such a pretty colour, and I think " the boy done good ", lol. It looks a bit like milk glass."
Ah-ha! Milk glass! A clue!
I Googled various combinations, such as 'pressed milk glass', 'pressed glass vase', 'purple marbled pressed glass' etc - you know how often you have to try things if you're not sure of your vocabulary.
After a while I had found one or two fantastic sites about the history of specific glassworks.
This one really stands out, if you think you have English glass. I think we may, despite having found it in France!
The less than charming name for this marbled glass is 'slag glass'.
The super antiques people at
Kovels.com have this to say about it: "Slag glass resembles a marble cake. It can be streaked with different colors. There were many types made from about 1880. Caramel slag is the incorrect name for Chocolate glass. Pink slag was an American product made by Harry Bastow and Thomas E.A. Dugan at Indiana, Pennsylvania, about 1900."
"Purple and blue slag were made in American and English factories in the 1880s. Red slag is a very late Victorian and twentieth-century glass. Other colors are known but are of less importance to the collector. New versions of chocolate glass and colored slag glass are being made."
The most similar item of all was this one, found on
an American site:
Ooh, $54!
Really, we have no idea if it's worth much yet, but now we've checked up this much, I think we can agree with Lululiz:
The boy done good.
The lovely
Juanitatortilla is having an adorable giveaway - you have to go and look! Or maybe you shouldn't, because I want to win it so maybe I should just delete this and not let any of you know about it.
OK, my better nature has won - please go and look at Juanita's teal and blue giveaway. There - that's my good deed for the day!
Finally, my wonderful Sweet Tweet Swap parcel has arrived from Ele - I am overwhelmed! The day for posting about this is next Friday, 5th June. Please come and have a look at what she made for me and what I sent her - birds and flying creatures galore!