Maker Unknown Tornado Variant Vaseline Pedestal Vase

This incredibly rare Vaseline Tornado Variant pedestal vase was won by us in an auction in the UK in the late 1990s. It was listed as Marigold when we placed our bid with the auctioneer.

We were not at the auction and received a call from the auctioneer the following day. He started telling us they had made a mistake with the listing so we immediately assumed we hadn't won. His next comment was that the vase was in fact Vaseline which they didn't discover until later and that we had the winning bid. He went on to say that if it had been listed as Vaseline, we probably wouldn't have got it.

The Tornado Variant is an incredible piece of work thought to have been made in the Midlands UK. The iridescence is superb and has been referred to as been equal in quality to that of Tiffany. The glass itself is a whole lot finer than Carnival Glass, and the coppery colouring is amazingly rich and deep.

The vase is blown with a pontil mark on the base and the tornados are a hand applied . These vases are seldom seen and usually command high prices. It measures 6" high with a base diameter of 3.12" and a top opening of 3".

The Ellen & Keith Richardson Collection UK