posted on January 17, 2009 09:15:47 AM
It looks very much like a piece produced by Chalet Art Glass of Cornwall, Ontario in the 1960's. Any signs of an old acid etched mark on the base?
They used to mark like that and then changed to foil stickers which, of course, most people removed.
Would pretty much stake my reputation (hmmm...not sure how much that is worth) on it being Chalet.
posted on January 17, 2009 10:04:48 AM
It's a beautiful piece, ...... I found this history of Chalet that may explain the missing label if it is authentic Chalet.
History of Chalet Glass
There is nothing in print concerning Chalet Canada. I have often spoken with friends and glassmakers who had visited this glasshouse, and in
1993 , I located one of the former owners, Tony Tedesco , in order to
document the history of Chalet Canada.
Chalet Glass was founded by Angelo Tedesco, in Cornwall, Canada, in 1960, and continued in operation until 1975.
Angelo Tedesco was a glass cutter who came from Murano, Italy, to Canada in 1952. In Montreal, in 1959, he founded “Murano Glass”. Shortly thereafter, this glasshouse was destroyed in a fire. The nearby city of Cornwall offered industrial relocation incentives, and in 1960 the business was relocated to Cornwall, changing its name to Chalet Glass.
Angelo was not a glassblower, and handled only sales. In 1963,
Angelo’s brother, Tony Tedesco, and Angelo’s brother-in-law joined
Chalet. They were glassblowers from Murano, and had worked with Venini and Seguso amongst others, from the age of twelve and thirteen. Many other Murano glassblowers also came to work with Chalet.
At its peak, Chalet employed over one hundred people. Although
employees were originally Murano immigrants, Chalet came to employ many Canadians and Canadian Mohawk natives. The glassworks operated four 500 kilo pots, and produced 700 to 800 pieces a day. All production was shipped to an American distributor in Nebraska, from where it was distributed to leading retailers throughout the United States and Canada.
Only a few pieces were actually blown, predominantly in ruby
glass, and no doubt by the Murano masters who were superb glass masters. These are the finest pieces and tend to be unique one-of-a-kind works, probably made after the end of a production shift.
Otherwise Chalet glass is “pulled”, and not made using a blow
pipe. A gather of molten glass would be taken from the pot, and placed on a steel table. Tools, resembling large pliers, would be used to “pull” the glass into the desired shape. It was therefore simpler to
create the multi-pronged shapes which characterize Chalet designs. This was also a simple method that could be learned by inexperienced workers, on which Chalet came to rely.
After the glass cooled in an annealing oven, the rough underside was ground and polished.
In the 1970’s, heavy crystal became increasingly expensive to
make. Although Chalet’s sales remained strong, the 1970’s energy crisis caused an insurmountable increase in costs, and Chalet went bankrupt in 1975.
Angelo and Tony Tedesco and some of the Murano immigrants
remained in Canada, although most returned to Italy.
Chalet glass is marked with a sand-blasted (not acid-etched)
“Chalet Canada” on the polished underside, or with a small square paper label marked “Chalet”. The paper labels have rarely survived, leaving about one-quarter of pieces presently extant unmarked, and often confused with the lesser work of other Canadian/Italian glasshouses of the period.
Birks was a prime retailer of Chalet in Canada. An additional
characteristic of Chalet glass sold through Birks is that it often had
an engraved “Chalet Canada” in script, added by Birks engravers.
In Chalet’s later years, a foil sticker only was used, as those
applying the sand-blasted mark couldn’t keep up with the production.
The foil labels are sometimes found on pieces that still were marked
with the sand-blasted “Chalet Canada”.
The small paper labels, about one cm. square, marked “CHALET” only, are from the early production.
Chalet was only one of several Italian/Canadian glass companies located in the Montreal area between the mid 1950’s and mid 1970’s. Their work was very similar, although an experienced eye can differentiate the production. Many pieces, from all of the companies, have no marks. The largest, and most well known, was Chalet Glass. Other such glasshouses included Lorraine Glass, St. Lawrence Glass, and Chantili Glass. These were all relatively short lived companies, that closed with the escalation of energy prices in the 1970’s oil crisis.
Chalet glass is of widely varying quality. Some pieces can be
quite superb, while others lumpy and uninspired. Sophisticated
collectors generally find Chalet glass to be dismissable. However, there has been increasing interest in their work, and some of the finer
designs have begun appearing at auction houses. Love it or not, the
ubiquitous Chalet centrepiece is one of the design icons of the 1960’s.
posted on January 17, 2009 05:35:07 PM
I apologise...I misled you with the 'acid etched' as I had forgotten that these were sandblasted signatures!
It makes me rather nostalgic as I had a collection of over 120 pieces of Chalet in the most amazing colours and interesting shapes. I have gradually downsized selling them at Antique Shows and on eBay in 2003 when they were red hot items. I have kept about 6 of my favourite pieces.
The colour that you have is gorgeous and still very popular. I would list it as Cranberry/Purple. List under Art Glass..North American and other Makers.
The people who called it an ashtray are the Sellers who feel that an item has to have a purpose. It is purely decorative and is to be enjoyed when the light shines through it!
