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Author Topic: Another weight! What / Who / How???  (Read 3838 times)

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Offline Leni

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« on: August 31, 2005, 10:55:00 PM »
I've just bought a very different weight!   :D  It's pink again, so it won't appeal to Max and Peter :lol:  :wink:  but I think it's absolutely fascinating! :shock:

The flowers look a bit like canes which have been drawn out and opened up, with a tiny bubble in the centre of each flower, and the flowers appear to be standing in a pool of bubbles - looks like foam!  

The base is matt (so it must be Chinese  :twisted:  :P ) and you can see the ring where the outer gather of glass joins the bubbly bit.  
I'd love to know who made it and how it was done  :?

Anyway, here it is:    http://tinypic.com/bgzpk6.jpg  http://tinypic.com/bgzpmu.jpg  http://tinypic.com/bgzpsg.jpg

Leni
Leni

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Offline RAY

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2005, 12:46:11 AM »
i think these sort of weights are made in the Czech Republic
cheers Ray

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Offline KevinH

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2005, 01:47:39 AM »
This one is Murano (1970s?) - with the nice "frothy" bubbling (what's that called when seen in vases and so forth?).

I have an example with a single flower and with exactly the same base appearance except that it is polished, not matte.
KevinH

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Offline Leni

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2005, 08:07:42 AM »
Quote from: "KevH"
exactly the same base appearance except that it is polished, not matte.

AHA!  :twisted:

Kevin, do you have any idea who was making these weights in Murano in the 1970's?  Or should I be asking this question on the Murano board  :?

BTW, Nice to see you at Kew yesterday - sorry our paths didn't cross again; the place is sooooo big!    :shock:

Leni
Leni

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Offline RAY

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cheers Ray

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Offline Leni

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2005, 09:52:33 AM »
Gosh, yes, thanks Ray!  :D

The flowers are sitting in a 'ball of spit'  :oops: which looks just like in my weight, and the format with a bubble in the centre of the flower is the same, too.  

But the flowers in mine are much more complex.  I would love to know just how they're made  :?

And it looks like I'm off 'on a mission' again to track down just *who* in Czechoslovakia is the maker!   :roll:

Anyone any ideas?  

Leni
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Offline KevinH

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2005, 04:50:10 PM »
All of the following is my personal understanding of what I see and how I think it was done. I would be grateful for any corrections.

The Czech version that Ray has pointed to may well be similar to the Murano ones, but I think the "ball of spit" as Leni calls it, is not exactly the same. The Czech one seems to be a white core with all-over surface air bubbles - or is it just the photo that gives that impression? A base view might help to confirm this. The Murano ones, as seen in the base view of Leni's weight, have a mass of separate, and different sized air bubbles, in various layers and set over a core of clear glass. [Perhaps this is a form of "Pulegoso" in clear?]

In the Czech weight, the flowers are made from simple sections of blue glass whereas the Murano version uses full millefioiri canes. But millefiori canes may also be used in the Czech weights, too ... they certainly were in Bohemian / German examples of this type of flower weight from the 19th and early 20th century.

The mass of bubbles in the Murano ones are probably formed from addition of such as small pieces of charcoal or chalk in progressive layers. Assuming I am right about the Czech one having a white core with a single coating of bubbles, then the making could be by simlar means but only needing one application of charcoal / chalk.

The general way to produce the flowers is "simply" to pick up the canes (or single coloured glass) and then insert a sharp rod into the centre to stretch the cane / colour downwards to form a stem. In the US versions, this is known as an "Ice-Pick Flower" design. The central air bubble is the natural result of the indentation left after removal of the rod which, after coating in the next layer of glass, causes an air bubble to fill the space. But I am realiably informed that this is a technique that requires skill and speed to ensure the the air buble is not too large, misshapen or even detached from the flower.

Unfortunately, I can't say which of the Murano makers produced weights of this type. But here's a photo (not the best of images) of my "Single-Flower" example, which is of the same type as Leni's: http://tinypic.com/bi04jk.jpg
KevinH

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Offline Leni

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Another weight! What / Who / How???
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2005, 08:01:19 PM »
Hmmm.  Mine does look more like yours in some ways, Kevin   :?

I nearly got one of those single flower Murano weights a few years ago, but according to the seller it 'must have got lost in the post'  :roll:  

Isn't it sad how that often happens just when you think you've got a real bargain?   :twisted:

Anyway, thanks to all :D   I think I might post this on the Murano board, just in case!

Leni
Leni

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