John Sandon
Consultant
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Lot 60*
A Thomas Webb and Sons rock crystal glass and 'curio cameo' epergne perhaps by William Fritsche, circa 1890
17 May 2017, 10:30 BST
London, Knightsbridge£10,000 - £15,000
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Anna Burnside
Head of Sale
A Thomas Webb and Sons rock crystal glass and 'curio cameo' epergne perhaps by William Fritsche, circa 1890
The form inspired by salmon leaping a water spout, the central bud vase in rock crystal glass applied with padded decoration in ruby red representing four fish, carved in high relief against a ground of white water swirling into eddies, raised on a plated-metal bulb set into the raised centre of a glass bowl carved all around with fish among waves, the bowl mostly clear although with a streak of red at one side and with a border of fish-heads and waves in red glass surrounding the metal bulb, 26cm high overall, 15.5cm wide at the base
Footnotes
The subject of fish and waves in rock crystal is very much associated with William Fritsche (1853-1924) who made this technique his own during a long career with Thomas Webb and Sons. The 'padded' glass technique, used by Webbs for their 'Curio Cameo' range was introduced by the Woodall team and developed by Lionel and Daniel Pearce who took their inspiration from Chinese glass and used water as a recurring theme. Webbs' Canoe vase and another with fish and seagulls use padded colours and swirling water in a similar manner to this epergne (See R & L Grover, English Cameo Glass (1980), pls. C115 and C295). A padded vase with a red fish against clear waves was exhibited by Webbs at the Imperial Institute in May 1894 see H W Woodward, Art, Feat and Mystery (1978), p.31. Another Curio vase using padded colours for fish carved among waves, is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and was shown in the Corning Museum Cameo Glass exhibition (1982), cat.86. An important Webbs Curio vase with sea-life and closely-related water textures was sold by Bonhams 12 November 2014, lot 166.
A Webbs rock crystal bowl in the Lillian Nassau collection is carved with very similar fish and waves and uses coloured streaks within the water in the same manner as the base of this epergne. This bowl, which is marked 'Thomas Webb & Sons Gem', is illustrated by Grover, p.392, pl. C355. For a bottle vase in colourless rock crystal, with fish and waves treated in a similar manner and attributed to William Fritsche see H W Woodward, op cit, p.49.