Glass Signatures: Orrefors, Kosta, Gallé, Lalique and Venini

A glass signature tells you which glassworks made the glass and often who designed it. Orrefors and Kosta engraved the name of the works, the artist’s initials and a model number under the foot, Gallé and Daum often signed in the decoration itself, Lalique wrote R. Lalique before 1945 and Lalique or Lalique France afterwards, and Venini etched venini murano. The signature must agree with the glass’s technique, style and age – otherwise it may have been added later.

Facts

How glass is signed

Glass can be signed in four ways. Engraving with a diamond or wheel gives thin, scratched text, often under the foot. Acid etching through a stencil gives a matt, even stamp. On pressed and mould-blown glass the name may sit in the mould and come out in the glass. And on Art Nouveau cased glass the signature often stands in the decoration itself, etched out in relief like the motif. Paper labels were used by many glassworks, but they have often come off.

Besides the name there are often one or more abbreviations: the artist’s initials, a model number or an order number, sometimes a letter or digit for the year and the name of the technique. Read the whole signature, for it is the combination that dates and attributes.

Orrefors, Kosta and the Swedish glassworks

Orrefors engraved its name, or the abbreviation Of, with the artist’s initials and a model number, and often a letter or digit for the year. Glass engraved by Simon Gate and Edward Hald from the 1920s bears the works, the initials and a number, like Gate’s engraved goblet. Glass in the works’ own techniques has the name of the technique in the signature, like Graal glass: Orrefors, Graal, a number and the artist’s name.

Kosta engraved its name with the artist’s name or initials and a model number, but older glass from the works is often unmarked. Boda signed in a similar way, and Reijmyre used labels and, on later glass, an engraved signature. With the works’ number series the year of manufacture can often be established; number lists are found in the specialist literature on each glassworks.

Gallé, Daum and Tiffany

Émile Gallé’s glass was signed in many forms: engraved, etched in the decoration or painted, sometimes with a poem or dedication. After his death in 1904 the workshop continued in his name until the 1930s, and glass with a star by the name was made after his death. The late production, with the signature etched in relief, is the most common, like Gallé’s cased vase. Modern imitations with a Gallé signature exist in great numbers.

Daum in Nancy signed Daum Nancy, often with the Cross of Lorraine, as under the vase with a winter landscape. Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Favrile glass was engraved L.C. Tiffany Favrile and a number, as under the Favrile vase, and Loetz in Bohemia sometimes Loetz Austria. The guides to the Tiffany lamp and to Art Nouveau and Art Deco give the background.

Lalique, Venini and the Finnish glassworks

Lalique is one of the clearest examples of how the signature dates a piece. Before 1945 the glass was signed R. Lalique, cast in the mould, etched or engraved, and afterwards Lalique or Lalique France. The vase Bacchantes was made in both periods, so the signature distinguishes a vase of the 1920s from a later one. See the guide to Lalique.

Venini on Murano etched venini murano, from the 1960s often with ITALIA, and older glass had paper labels. Iittala engraved the artist’s name and a number, and the red round label with an i was introduced in 1956. Riihimäki used paper labels, and its mould-blown glass often has no engraved signature. Studio glass is signed and dated by the artist, often with name, year and a number.

Numbers, labels and artists who changed glassworks

The model number is often as important as the name. Orrefors and Kosta used systems in which letters and digits indicate series and year, and with the works’ number lists the glass can be linked to a particular artist and period. Paper labels existed from the early 20th century but have often disappeared; when they survive they are a strong clue, since they are hard to move without it showing.

Several artists worked for more than one glassworks. Vicke Lindstrand designed glass for both Orrefors and Kosta, and then it is the name of the works in the signature that shows where and roughly when the glass was made. The work of the glassblower and the engraver is seldom shown in the signature but is often found in the works’ archives.

Genuine signature or added?

Signatures are sometimes added afterwards to unsigned glass to raise its value. Look to see whether the engraving is new and sharp while the foot is worn, whether it sits in the wrong place for the works, or whether the spelling and form differ from the works’ known signatures. A signature must also agree with the technique: an engraved Orrefors signature on a pressed glass is a warning sign. The guide to mouth-blown and pressed glass shows how the technique can be seen.

Compare with the works’ own page, with glass in museums and with the specialist literature, and ask an expert at the slightest doubt. The guide to crystal and glass shows how the material is recognised, and the same thinking about marks is used in the guide to porcelain marks. The page on glass has the history of the glassworks.

How to recognise it

Exercise

Under the foot of a glass vase is written R. Lalique. What does the signature say about its age?