Thanks, Sue and Christine!
OK... just returned from "the deck" with some more pictures (beautiful spring-like day in North Carolina!)... mostly I am exploring Christine's hypothesis that the vase was mould blown and then manipulated.
Questions: Are the ribs regular?See photos 1 and 2. By no means perfectly regular. See the different spacing and bottom condition among ribs at straight-up 12 versus 1 and 2 o'clock. Also, the ribs have thick spots--"knuckles"?--spaced along their length and in photo 2 you can see that these knuckles are not spaced the same rib to rib. Now, I must say they are mostly aligned, but I found and photographed this spot where they are clearly not.
Does the interior surface dip at the ribs, perhaps indicating material flowed into the mould?Not at all. In fact, when I run my hand along the inside surface of the vase, I find it rises slightly at the ribs, as if material was pushed back towards the interior. On the other hand, in photo 3 (looking into the vase) it appears the material is seamlessly continuous between the vase wall and the ribs.
Are there any other clues?There are a couple of places where it appears a rib was snagged in the manufacturing process, as if it were caught in the mould and a small "flap" of molten glass were pulled loose. See photo 4. Purely speculation, of course--other processes could have produced the same result.
So where does this leave us....
Please let me know what you think.
I remain stumped...
, but perhaps slightly inclined towards Christine's suggestion of mould blown and then manipulated. The irregularity in the ribs makes one wonder; however, I do not think there would have necessarily been perfect regularity in the mould itself.
I can imagine the ribs being pressed back towards the interior of the vase after it was removed from the mould, causing the slight rise on the inside wall.
And then there are the places where material got hung up in the mould... (Sheesh... what an imagination this guy has...
)
But if it was made in a mould, how could other examples be escaping us? Made one and broke the mould? ...I don't think so!
Anyhow... again... please let me know what you think. And thank you so much for your time and careful consideration!
I am certainly enjoying this and quite happy to have found this board. Thanks, Craig, for pointing the way.
Cheers!
Doug