Posted by I’ve been hitting up my neighborhood thrift store a lot lately jonesing to find something good. More than books, which I do love, but I wanted to find a stellar piece of jewelry or some incredible artwork or some amazing vintage Christmas ornaments. Well, I didn’t find any of that. But I did spot this glass cat lying on its side in the glass section and I saw on the label that it was from Sweden. And my heart raced a little. The design was so 1960s/70s and it was heavy and without a blemish.
It had the possibility of being good!
Most of us in the biz recognize Orrefors and Kosta Boda, two of the biggest Swedish glassmakers, but FM Konstglas was not a name I knew, so a little research was in order.
Here’s what I found–the Marcolin brothers (Josef and Benito) learned glassmaking in Murano. They moved to Sweden working at various glass makers until starting their own company in 1961 in Ronneby, Sweden. According to 20thcenturyglass.com: “”The company changed its name to FM Marcolin Art Crystal in 1983, and in 1988-89 changed again to Marcolin Art Crystal. The Swedish factory closed in 1991, and production was moved to Sardinia, Italy, in collaboration with Sardinia Crystal, with the intention of producing the same products, however this didn’t last long. The Marcolin brothers left and went their separate ways, Benito moved back to Sweden, while Josef moved to Austria and continued production under the name Marcolin Art Crystal.”
The silver label on my cat dates it to their beginning 1961 to 1982 before their first name change. The etching on the bottom gives us a few more details, particularly the “F-1-210”. The “F” stands for the designer Inga-Lill Färe (Josef’s wife) and the “210” indicates its size in millimeters which is 8.26″. Not sure what the “1” stands for, possibly a model number.
All that said, it is a cool, mod vintage piece and while not valuable (well under $100), I’m pleased with it. (Paid $7.75)
So I decided on Wednesday to head back to see if any more art glass had hit the shelves. I did find this Lavorazione Arte Murano glass basket. It was small and quite pretty but with lots of fiddly bits that are easy to get broken in shipping, plus it was $14! Most I saw online were priced at $30 and under. Had to leave that behind.
So nothing bought this visit. Sometimes I am envious of those sellers who manage to buy cartloads of stuff every time they go out sourcing. It’s much different for me. One or two things here and there, sometimes nothing, once in rare while a small haul. Still, overall I am happy with the items I am buying for Etsy store.
Happy hunting!
Karen
Hunting for Vintage 