Japanese Bubble Ashtray

I’m always a bit wary to call something Murano glass without a maker’s mark or sticker – I’ve been caught out a few times in the past when I thought that something was Murano and it actually turned out to be from somewhere completely different! Not that it really makes much difference to anyone but the serious collectors, but it’s still nice when I do come across pieces with their original manufacturers’ labels, because it provides at least some information about the history of the piece. Like this lovely bubble ashtray, which without the foil sticker I would have naturally assumed was Murano glass, when in fact it was made in Japan! The style of glass is typical of glass from Murano, as is the shape, but after a bit of research I managed to find a few other pieces of glass with the same crown sticker, along with another label with just the word ‘Japan’ on it. I had no idea the Japanese had made this style of glass – perhaps it was produced for their export market, or maybe they were trying to compete with imports coming into Japan from Europe? Who knows! At the end of the day it’s still a lovely (albeit slightly petite) piece of hand-blown glass in near mint condition!

Dimensions: 10cm in diameter x 4cm tall