Topic: Red Thumb bowl with optic windows

[Retro Mojo UK]

Red Thumb Bowl with optic windows, 45mm high, what looks like a ground out pontil to a pressed glass base?, but the rest of the item certainly doesn't looked like pressed glass?

[chopin-liszt]

That's a ground out pontil mark - the "pressed" appearance of the base will be from it being flattened on the marver.
The marver is the metal "table" the glass is worked on.

A pontil (iron) is the long iron rod the glass is held on while being worked. When it is broken off, it leaves a pontil mark. To say a bit of glass has a pontil actually measn it's still stuck on the iron.
Sorry for being a grumpy old pedant!

This is rather a nice thing - but I'm again, clueless as to what it might be. 

[Retro Mojo UK]

Hi Sue,

Many thanks, I know about pontils but now you mention the marver it makes sense!

Cheers

[Lustrousstone]

The matt base grinding with the polished windows imply very modern homeware to me; it's not a sign of quality. Do you really mean 45 mm high?

[Retro Mojo UK]

Hi Christine,

It's actually 55mm, my ruler has a 1 cm gap before the measurements start!

Thanks for the info,


Steve

[Paul S.]

for me it's the manufacturing processes that I sometimes struggle to understand - although I do know that the pontil rod is used to hold the piece whilst additional hot working is done etc.             I also know what is meant by the pontil scar and ground/polished pontil depression.            Obviously, as far as cutting goes, this is done when cold.
This piece looks an obvious candidate for being plunger pressed - so might the reason for having had a pontil attachment be because after pressing the rim needed to be fire polished.
Or am I wrong completely and was this a blown item which started life on the end of a blow-pipe, then rolled roughly to shape on the marver and then blown - to be subsequent transferred to the rod to finish the rim??         Just that to my ignorant eyes it didn't look like a piece of blown glass.
Sorry to be dim, and am sure one of you clever people can help me

By the way, what is a 'thumb' bowl??

[Retro Mojo UK]

Hi Paul, many thanks for the insight,

The term thumb bowl is a description I've attributed to the item having seen thumb bowls in pottery where the bowl literally has enough room for two thumbs back to back, having used the thumbs to form the indent,

Cheers

[Paul S.]

hello       quote    "many thanks for the insight"  -  to be honest Retro, I think it's me that's looking for the insight

[Retro Mojo UK]

Lol!

I find it fascinating hearing the thought process on identification and the roots of a piece 

[chopin-liszt]

While Lustrousstone was looking at the way it's been finished, (or rather, the lack of work finishing it) I was thinking more of the trouble it takes to polish all those lenses.

I also thought your "Thumb vase" was a descriptor of the lenses - as places to put your thumbs when holding it. 
It is very small - could it be a tea-light holder? (not my sort of area - I don't do candles)