Topic: Michael Harris 1 of 4 Signed Sculpture

[BJB]

Hi,

I have just got back from a very wet, windy, cold and expensive Swinderby Fair, but I did manage to get a couple of really nice pieces.

One of which is this

http://i16.tinypic.com/6cym7pk.jpg

It is engraved on the back, Michael Harris Malta 1/4

http://i7.tinypic.com/53tufq9.jpg

I have looked in my books at home (and nipped in the book tent at the fair  ) but could find no reference  to anything like it

One other Isle of Wight piece is this paperweight with a moulded flower on top

http://i15.tinypic.com/6g3npzn.jpg

And this has me stumped as well.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Barbara

[Mosquito]

The Michael Harris mark looks decidedly dodgy to me; certainly unlike any of the Harris signatures I've seen. I would also have guessed that the item would date from after Michael Harris left Mdina. Perhaps another ChrisM?

[Pip]

Hi Steven, it's not a 'signature' as such I agree but I don't think it's a ChrisM - from what I've seen of his 'work' he used a hammer and chisel!  I'm wondering if this was some kind of presentation piece perhaps?

[BJB]

Hi Pip,

I would check your flower weight like mine because I have been told that it is not right so not only is the writing wrong the thing it is written on is wrong as well.

I wish could let you read all the conflicting things that have been sent I am so confused and upset that I have re-written the whole thing. To be honest I have considered throwing it away.

Two people have said that the weight is right, but the writing is machine done, and then I was told that Michael Harris/Mdina had nothing to do with the weight ie it can't be Mdina early or later, as nothing like it was produced.

Am really near to tears at the moment, as some of the comments have not been very nice at all.

Barbara

[Della]

:hug:
Oh, Barabara. I am sitting here really feeling for you right now. Maybe it would be better for you to remove your listing and wait for Mark Hill to happen along. At least that way you won't be getting any unwanted emails.
Definitely don't throw it away!! At least not until you have more to go on.

[BJB]

Hi Della,

I can take any amount of constuctive critisism and help, but to be called a liar, threatened with criminal proceedings because the description is not what they think it should be , and a con artist all in the space of three emails is really nasty.

I have 100% feedback and have never knowingly sold anything that is wrong.

Ron & Ann Wheeler, told me that the writing wasn't by Michael Harris but they said that they thought the weight itself was made after he left, so writing wrong weight right. So I changed that so that it read that the writing was wrong, machine made and not done by Michael Harris, then some one else said that not only was the writing machine made (which I knew) the weight was wrong as well.

By the time I had tried to rectify this, as these were helping me get at least something right, the other less informative emails, con artist, liar criminal et al. began to be delivered, but by members with posting ID's so I have no idea who might have sent them.

I am really confused as to what is what and who is right ( not about the writing but the weight itself)

Barbara

[Pip]

Oh dear Barbara  :hug:

That's really not on at all - take absolutely no notice of anything horrible and report the abusive ones to eBay immediately.  Now with regard to the weight, I don't have one of these but I saw one posted on here recently and it is definitely Mdina and, if I remember rightly it was said to be a relatively unusual shape - so you can ignore anyone who says otherwise, I think Mark said he had one similar that was sitting on some papers in his office (I've tried to find the thread for you but to no avail).  I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Michael Harris' name is on there and I'm sure it's nothing to do with trying to pass it off as a signed piece.  This is why I queried the use of the word 'signature' to you in the other thread, I was rather worried you'd get the eBay glass 'police' on your back.

Anyway, don't worry, I'm sure it'll be sorted out.

[Della]

I think this might be the post that you are referring to, Pip.

[Pip]

Well done Della - yes that is the thread!  See Barbara, it IS Mdina and, according to Mark, relatively unusual so make sure you put that information BACK into your listing immediately - those facts were never in dispute as far as I was concerned anyway.  Now we just need to find out the reason for yours being engraved ...

[BJB]

Hi Pip and Della,

This is what the people at Isle of Wight Glass Studio wrote about the weight

"I can assure you that the signature is not real and is infact done using a machine or sand carved onto the surface this does not mean that it was not done by Michael Harris but also we think the actual piece may be wrong as well"

They also go on to say

"Hopefully this can be sorted out between ebay members and not go any further. Please could you ammend the description to state this. Sorry to be the one to contact you regarding this matter but unfortunately many of our collectors use ebay and many new collectors may not be up to speed with this sort of thing."

So I am afraid to put anything back in the description that relates to Harris or Mdina, and I have no idea what they are going to sort out amoung themselves, its really worried me as I listed it in good faith, and it seems that  I have upset just about everyone.

If Mark says its Mdina why am I being told by the Studio Glass people that it isn't?



Barbara