Topic: Here's one for the Sulphide fans.

[BobKegeles]

I'm guessing this is American, it's clearly old, not crystal clear, spin marks on the glass, etc.

It has an impressed mark on the bottom - L I  though the I looks a lot like an H, but if it's an H, that makes the L upside down, and backwards.

I'm wondering if this may be an old old paperweight, New England, Boston, Sandwich?

Any comments gratefully received.

Bob

[tropdevin]

Hi

I don't reconise the impressed mark, but the fact it has such a mark suggests 20th century to me.  I think you can safely rule out the three makers you mention - it looks nothing like any of their pieces that I have seen.  Is it heavy lead crystal?

Alan

[KevinH]

After staring at the photos for a while, I realised that the sulphide was not a flower of some kind, but is a "white-backed turtle" [if there is such an animal].

So, what do we know about makers of turtle weights, other than the Gillinder-type of "animated turtles"?

[mildawg]

I'd vote H for Hamon.

[Nick77]

Only other turtle I know of is this one I sold recently by Ferro & Lazzarini, Murano.

Nick

[mildawg]

Several of the midwest paperweight artist made paperweights with sulphide turtles.  Hamon, St. Clair, Joe Rice, Jim Davis, Charels Gibson, to name a few etc.  This one was apparently bleached from laying out in the sun too much!

[BobKegeles]

I appreciate all the feedback.

I have sulphides from every American mentioned, Hamon, Joe Rice, Joe St. Clair Monte Dunleavy, Gibson, Gentile, Jim Hopper, etc.

All have been from the 70's through the 2007.

They all have had pristine globes, crystal clear, no lines, etc. Perhaps this piece was by a new apprentice, working for one of the above, but the glass is somewhat dark, and if it were a window, I would say it's more the consistency of water glass. The exterior has what I call "spin" marks, if this were a cast piece instead of a blown piece, I would say it has mold marks.

it has a completely translucent ground whereas the other sulphides I have all have a substantial solid ground, even when translucent, the ground has still been much more defined.

Even the deepest impressions of Joe Rice, and St. Clair, are only half as deep as the impressed I L or H.

Still a mystery to me, but thanks everyone for playing, : )

Bob