Topic: Pale aqua bowl - frilled rim

[Chris Harrison]

This is either old or very new! 

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-6360

It's blown, not pressed.  The striations are visible in the glass, and the punty has been firepolished to smooth it.  I've checked all the modern Polish and Italian sources I can find and it's not there.

Bowl diameter: 5.5"

The colour is a near match with some Sowerby pieces, e.g.
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-6359

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks,
Chris

[Lustrousstone]

We've discussed this shape before, Caithness was one of the options I think, but not the only one

[Tigerchips]

More options were Kumela and Morgontown.
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,3338.0.html

I'm sure I've seen this before someware with this colour of glass and the crimped rim.

[Chris Harrison]

Yeah, I saw the similar threads, but this is much more free and "hand-made" rather than moulded.

[Tigerchips]

Yeah, I saw the similar threads, but this is much more free and "hand-made" rather than moulded.

Are you sure it's not moulded? It does look similar in colour to items baring the "Recyled Glass, Made In Spain" label. Just a thought.

[Chris Harrison]

Hi TC

That's an interesting point.

I'm fairly sure it's not made from recycled glass.  The glass seems to be almost perfectly clear apart from some tooling marks, and there are very few bubbles. Though, I suppose that if it were from the start of a batch of melted recycled glass, the "metal" might be clearer.

Thinking about it more carefully, the piece could have been mould-blown initially, but was definitely worked by hand thereafter.  There are many, many striations around the waist of the bowl which correlate with it having been smoothed by hand whilst being rotated on the blowing rod.

The neck of the base (if you know what I mean), likewise has striations probably caused by the maker's jacks whilst the piece was rotated.

The angled rim was sheared off manually (you can see the stress marks under the rim), and the crimping/frilling was also done manually.

The more I look around, the surer I am that we won't identify this piece more precisely!

[Ivo]

I'm fairly sure it's not made from recycled glass.  The glass seems to be almost perfectly clear apart from some tooling marks, and there are very few bubbles. Though, I suppose that if it were from the start of a batch of melted recycled glass, the "metal" might be clearer.

I think your assumptions of recycled glass are low quality, but in reality the modern glass making facilities in Spain (notably VIDRECO) produce a very clear, perfectly workable glass type. The fact that they use a very high percenmtage of cullet means there is a slightly greenish tinge to the end product, but this only shows up in the thicker parts.
check for instance http://www.la-mediterranea.com/shop/category.asp?sesid=*818FHSIR64&dept_id=27
for an overview of recycled glass products.

[Chris Harrison]

Hi Ivo

Thanks for your help.

My limited experience of recycled glass (i.e. glass recovered from bottles and other glass waste) is that the impurities picked up along the way - or using a mixture of types of glass with different characteristics - can cause bubbles to form in the raw "metal" in the furnace. 

As I understand it, recycled glass isn't usually used alone, rather, a proportion of it (already molten and then processed into low quality cullet) is mixed with raw batch ingredients (sand, potash, soda lime, lead oxide etc, in whatever permutation you decide to use) or high quality cullet. 

This is supposed to help stabilise the mix, make it more malleable, and help it anneal more evenly.  Even so, I've heard that it is very difficult to achieve a high quality mix.

I also understand that it is difficult to work and anneal glass containing a large proportion of recycled materials, which is why most "recycled glass" items are thicker and less complex. 

Is that an accurate view?  I'm very curious about the "alchemy" of glassmaking, but I think I'm getting into way beyond my level of competence... :-)

Regards,
Chris

[Ivo]

It is getting a little too technical for me but AFAIK bubbles are a result of insufficient fining whatever the glass mix.

[Tigerchips]

I saw one of these ball shaped items in the same colour with the crimped rim in a charity shop the other day. Very much like this one.

The sticker on the base said: "Recyled glass, Made in Spain".