Legras Glass Vase, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
Well, it belonged to my Uncle Norm, who bought it when he was a bachelor. He went to an estate sale near Chicago, and he bought it. He passed away somewhat recently, and my Aunt Gloria, his wife, uh, gave it to me, and so, that's all she knows about it.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, this is a very lovely piece of glass made by a company named Legras, a French company working in the early 20th century. This piece probably dates from about 1910. And it's one of the nicest examples of Legras that I've seen. The company has used a combination of decorative techniques. You have this wonderful mottled glass. It's in green, and then you have maroon striations in it. But then on the surface, there's an acid-etched treatment. But what makes it more interesting is this gold treatment here. It appears to be a metal mounting, but it actually isn't. The glass underneath it is actually carved, and then gilding is applied on top of it to further enhance the piece. And it's a beautiful technique, very, very fine Art Nouveau decoration on this piece. The berries on it here.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This is a very typical Art Nouveau design. These are actually made of glass, and they've been applied onto the surface of the glass, and then they've been carved to look like gemstones, like emeralds. Ordinarily, when you see a large piece of Legras, it's usually a very commercial piece of Legras. The attention that they would pay to detail would usually be found on the smaller pieces, and that's what's so unusual about this. But the other thing is the way it's signed. On the underside, it says, "L & Co." That is a signature that was saved for very special pieces. If this were in a gallery, it would sell for between $3,000 and $5,000, so...
GUEST:
Oh, wow! Oh, that's wonderful.
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