A pair of rare and unusual glass vases with gilt bronze mounts, Maltsov Glassworks, Dyatkovo, circa 1860

of tapering baluster form, the front of each set with large bouquets of brightly coloured flowers surrounded by bands of blossoms and leaves enamelled on gold foil and encased within the glass, the body cut with arch-shaped panels of star pattern, the faceted stem above a square foot set on gilt bronze socle, the rims with conforming mount, apparently unmarked

One of the two vases with a small discoloured area (3 cm in length) at upper right where the seal was not completed during encasing the enamelled foils and dust has accumulated. This area would respond well to a professional cleaning. This same vase has a small chipped area of loss where the square foot meets the base at the back. The gilt bronze mounts on both vases largely rubbed, but without damage and would benefit from regilding.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Artisans at the Maltsov Glassworks at Dyatkovo borrowed the technique of encasing a painstakingly enamelled foil insert from the Imperial Glassworks, who had developed the technique in 1824, only a few years after it was first perfected in France.  Unlike both their Russian and French competitors, who used enamelled foil inclusions to ornament small objects such as goblets, workers at Maltsov were determined to work on a large scale, creating entire iconostases of glass with gold foil incrustations.  Before this pair of vases was rediscovered in a private collection, the only known example of a similar large object was the single unfinished vase with this decoration in the collection of Moscow’s State Historical Museum.  The vases offered here are undoubtedly the best and rarest examples of this technique available on the market.  On the factory and this method, see D. Nemchinova, Khudozhestvennoe steklo Diatkovskogo zavoda, St Petersburg, 2009, p.88, and Russian Glass of the 17th-20th Centuries, Corning, NY, 1990, pp. 89, 164.