Topic: Anybody heard of skeleton molds?

[krsilber]

Yep, like that, though dip molds are usually one piece.  So is the type of mold I'm talking about, if by dip mold you mean something that was used to give an initial shape to a parison which was then further worked.

Seems like with cast on bosses you'd be able to see the juncture.  There's no evidence that the bosses were cut anywhere (except on one of the Hawkes vases that has decoration engraved on the bosses, first photo).  I've noticed that they all seem to have sort of a border, a impression a few mm wide encircling the bosses, which I believe was created by the mold.  It's not obvious enough to be a part of the cut pattern.

I keep coming back to the optical properties of the bosses.  If the glass is not indented on the inside and the were cut to shape on the outside, you wouldn't see the distortion caused by the non-uniformity of the glass.  Compare the ones we've been looking at with the vase in the second photo, which has cut bosses (and I think is Sinclaire, not Hawkes).  The ones on the sides that are refracting the image of the cut design show how little distortion there is.  The third photo demostrates pretty well, I think, that the bosses are thicker than the rest of the glass.

[Patrick]

Hi, This looks tasty...................
http://www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk/lotDetails.asp?lotsID=18545&menuItemOn=3&salesID=56&hasImage=1

Regards Patrick......

Ps. I am probably going to the auction so will report back .

[krsilber]

Oh my, does it ever!  How come they don't have auctions like that around here?  (Rhetorical question.  No glass=no auctions!)  I would love to go to one.  I hope you make it to this one and report back.

I wonder how they make some of their attributions.

What's the story behind decanters with bent necks like this?  Not what I normally think of when I think of clarets.
http://www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk/lotDetails.asp?lotsID=18536&menuItemOn=3&salesID=56&hasImage=1

[Patrick]

Hi, I have just had a closer look at the vase I gave the link to.........   It looks as if they are only windows not lenses.... Sorry .   Patrick.

[krsilber]

They don't stick out very far, but they don't seem flat, either.  Their optics and the border seem pretty similar to the American ones I've posted.  They all (except for the one with cut bosses) share the sort of distortion expected from non-molded, uncut glass, and look like they have a flattish ring around them.  You can only see it a bit on the top of the oval on the auction one, it may have been cut elsewhere.

I've always been interested in the optical effects of different glass treatments, and have been paying special attention to them lately.  There's a lot of glass out there that's supposedly cut but actually molded, especially so-called intaglio pieces.

Huh, this one shares some stylistic similarity to the one posted in the ebay thread.  The owner of that vase, Bryan, seems to think his and the pitcher at CMOG are both S&W.

BTW Patrick, you never told me how the bosses on your blue bowl ended up so regular although they were cast on.  How would you get an edge like that without a mold or cutting?

(Edit:  This may have been made using a similar process to the one I believe was used to make the others:
http://www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk/lotDetails.asp?lotsID=18537&menuItemOn=3&salesID=56&hasImage=1
It would be interesting to see....and another  http://www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk/lotDetails.asp?lotsID=18705&menuItemOn=3&salesID=56&hasImage=1)

[Patrick]

Hi Kristi, You asked how bosses would be cast on, check my recent post in the "Cafe" section.
Regards Patrick.

[krsilber]

Thanks, Patrick, for posting that for me.  What a great bunch of films on that page, did you put it together?  British Pathe is a cool site, too!

I understood how casting's done already; the thing I'm wondering about is how the bosses on your bowl have flat sides.  They aren't just round "bumps," they look more like very short cylinders with curved tops.

[Patrick]

Hi,
Here are 3 close up pics. of the bosses. There are small flat areas on them as if they were tooled in some way. I think when heated they would go flatter. In the last pic. I held a pencil outside the bowl and photographed from the inside .
 Best wishes Patrick.

[krsilber]

Thanks for the photos, Patrick!  That clarifies things - it must have been an illusion (or delusion) what I saw before.  They look different to me now.  Sorry about that.

[Patrick]

Hi Kristi,
I went to the Auction , but I had to leave the house at 05.45 and got back home at about 21.00 .......... A very long day !  I am off to Ali Pally at 06.30 for trade entry at 07.00 .
I took some pics at Fieldings and will give you feedback tomorrow afternoon. I am off to bed now . Patrick.