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1199
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Old Black Amethyst Mary Gregory Glass Dome with Man Smoking Pipe
This is an unusual piece of art glass which we believe is best described as a piece of Black Amethyst glass in the shape of a dome with what's been called Mary Gregory glass white hand painting of a figure blowing smoke from a long pipe. The color of the glass sitting on a table is black but when you hold this up to a light you can see the purple color, so it's known as black amethyst. Most often the pieces of Mary Gregory glass we've seen are done as white hand painted figures usually painted onto tumblers, stemware or vases, or sometimes plates. This piece is a circular, raised glass dome. We don't know if it originally was the lid for a round box or bowl, although since there is no handle, it would have been hard to "take off" some sort of base. The piece sits flat on a table, and we are guessing could be displayed on some sort of plate or bowl stand on a shelf or perhaps somehow carefully fitted into a plate or bowl holder to hang on a wall.
We've provided six images to show from varied angles including a view from the back or underside and several close-ups of the hand painted decor, which looks to us to be of a young or adolescent boy, but could be a young adult man, wearing a smock tied around his waist. Please allow sufficient time for these to load and note that the white "hot spots" are reflections from the camera lighting on the glossy surface. Also, as is common when photographing Mary Gregory glass, the camera lighting makes the white painting seem brighter and "more solid" or less airy than what it is in person, and that is true here.
There is no manufacturer marking. We believe this to be an antique piece of glass from the style, curved lines in the glass as made in manufacture and the numerous dots or pit holes/marks in the glass visible from the underside...these aren't quite bubbles in the glass but seem to have been made in a similar old manufacturing style. Our guess would be that this piece dates from the late 1800's to 1930's period, but we have no way to guarantee that...it definitely doesn't look new to us! The circular piece measures 6 inches in diameter and sits about 2 inches high at it's highest point. Beyond the old white painting, the only other decor is a gold line rimming the piece near the outer base edge, which shows gold wear.
While having an overall terrific look, the vintage piece does have much age wear and flaws that you can see looking closely and is not mint. On the topside there is a small circular/slightly oval chip along the bottom edge, measuring about 3/16 inch in width. Also this side has multiple visible dot scratches and line scratches of varying lengths and curves, rubbed spots, at least two very tiny surface dot flakes or chips in the dome portion, pin/pit dots on the glass, some dirt spots, etc. The white painting has survived very well, but does have some slight brown/dirt visible on some of the painted lines if you look closely. On the underside there are multiple tiny, tiny flakes or chips on the flat rim on which the piece sits, which is not unexpected. In the inner dome portion, this side also has scratches, rubbed areas and many round dots/spots/pin or pit dots which we believe were made in manufacture, but some of these also are possibly surface flakes/chips. Certainly not perfect, but on display most, if not all of this, wouldn't be seen.
A striking piece which catches attention and would be a nifty addition to a collection of black amethyst or Mary Gregory glass, or just something unusual to display in a showcase or on the wall. Might also be a neat addition for a collection of smoking or pipe related memorabilia or tobacciana.
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