New Czech Pressed Vaseline Glass Curtain Tiebacks

A wholesaler has offered sets of vaseline glass curtain tiebacks from the Czech Republic for $15. The new glass includes uranium and fluoresces brightly under long wave black light the same as vintage vaseline glass. There is no permanent mark; the country of origin appears only on a removable paper label.

The new pressed glass tiebacks are very similar to Victorian-era originals in pattern and general appearance. Probably the most obvious problem with this new set is the metal hardware which was made separately in China. The threaded ends of the shaft were each made separately of steel and glued into the brass shaft (Fig. 2). You would never find separate pieces of mixed metals glued in vintage hardware. The majority of vintage tieback shafts were made of a single piece of one type of metal, usually brass.

Original vaseline tiebacks from American glass houses such as Boston and Sandwich or New England Glass Co. can be worth hundreds of dollars. Various glass tiebacks have been widely reproduced for years.

Fig. 1 New vaseline glass curtain tiebacks flouresce the same as vintage vaseline glass.

Fig. 2 Threaded steel studs are glued into the new brass shafts. The glue (white arrow) is apparent to the unaided eye.