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Author Topic: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG? ID = Isle of Wight Studio Glass  (Read 2462 times)

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Offline brewster

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Attenuated bottle: IoWSG? ID = Isle of Wight Studio Glass
« on: September 08, 2014, 07:35:31 AM »
Here is the third and last of our recent 'European' finds from local collectables shops. (I haven't been giving my usual travelogue with these recent acquisitions, but in this case the shop is in Mullumbimby in northern NSW.) It is an attenuated bottle 37.5cm high by 9cm diameter, with an enlarged button top. I think it is an Isle of Wight Studio Glass bottle in the colourway called 'Seaward' from the mid-1970s. The pontil scar has been left as a break, which seems unusual for IoWSG.

Questions: Is this in fact IoWSG as I have described it? Were these bottles typically blown by Michael Harris himself? Are the attenuated bottles the only IoWSG items with simple broken pontils?

Must stop being distracted by these foreign treasures and put the focus back on the Australian studio stuff!

Trevor
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Offline glassobsessed

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2014, 08:36:46 AM »
It is an Isle of Wight Studio Glass attenuated bottle, they came in two in two general size,  tall and 'short', yours is a short version. The taller bottles are typically around 46cm in height.

The colour of yours is not Seaward but Aurene (Aurene came in a variety of colour combinations). Take a look through my IoWSG album here for lots of aurene variation and a pair of bottles with similar colouring: https://picasaweb.google.com/Johnmj100/IsleOfWightStudioGlass
There are a couple of seaward examples in there too.

A snapped pontil mark is what is expected on all attenuated bottles, never seen anything else on a bottle. Some wares from the earliest months will also found with a snapped mark but other ways of finishing bases were first adopted sometime in 1973 (initially the 'coachbolt pontil mark', then in 1974 the flame mark was introduced, by the 1980s the majority of bases were simply polished flat).

It may or may not have been made by Michael Harris, no way to tell for sure without a signature.

John


 

Offline aa

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2014, 01:15:24 PM »
A snapped pontil mark is what is expected on all attenuated bottles, never seen anything else on a bottle.
John


Presumably you mean all IOW attenuated bottles?

By the way, while I can see that "attenuated" could be a suitable description for such bottles, I have never come across it before. Is this how IOW described them, because I don't recall their using this term?
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2014, 07:54:49 PM »
They have always been called attenuated bottles. I don't know where it came from! It may well have been the phrase used in Lesley Jackson's "20th Century Factory Glass".

Quote from p104. "Shapes included cylindrical and globular vases. Lollipops (smaller versions of Fish vases), and tall, narrow, severely attenuated bottle vases."

Obviously, Ms. Jackson is completely incorrect in describing Lollipops as smaller versions of Fish vases!

This book was the only mainstream publication available that had any mention of Mdina or IoWSG in it, for a good few years.
Cheers, Sue M. (she/her)

‘For every problem there is a solution: neat, plausible and wrong’. H.L.Mencken

Offline aa

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2014, 08:19:03 PM »
Hi Sue!

Well, that is an indication that you can never stop learning! I've never come across this terminology and while I'm quite happy to accept it, but from the days when we used to buy (and sell) the similar shaped bottles from Mdina, when they were represented by Dexam International, I don't remember them being marketed as "attenuated".

As one of quite a few people who make long necked bottles, I hadn't realised that these were quite so highbrow! Next time, I will remember to explain to my students how to attenuate the necks rather than stretch them.

I wonder if Lino Tagliapetra realises that he is the master of attenuation!


Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledge
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Offline glassobsessed

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2014, 10:39:33 PM »
So the name pre-dates Mark Hill's research and book then. The Dexam catalogue I have photos of describes the round bottles simply as "bottle". Generally those necks were not drawn out as far, like this one: https://picasaweb.google.com/Johnmj100/LaterMdinaGlass#5430029959407060082
Although I notice the tortoiseshell bottles look a tad more 'attenuated'.

Presumably you mean all IOW attenuated bottles?

Yes, they were exclusively what I was writing about, given we are indulging in a little pedantry, actually I meant all IoWSG bottles. I should have used "one" instead of "a bottle", and there was me being too lazy to type attenuated again...  ;D

Back to one of the original questions - you could make an argument for it being made by Mr H if you could establish an early date for it. In 1973 as he did at Mdina he employed novices instead of experienced glass workers as he wished to teach his own production methods (information from Mark Hill's book). So how long would it take a novice before they could graduate to a bottle like that? What do you think is realistic Adam?

I am not sure that argument (if it could be made) would be all that robust though as it seems Aurene was made until around 1982. Perhaps a different matter for the seaward and blue and white swirls bottles though as they were only made for a year or two.






Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2014, 10:40:50 AM »
 ;)
The true master of attenuation was Sheldon, when he dressed up as the attenuation of sound made by a fire engine siren passing in "The Big Bang Theory". ;D


However, the word does seem to have passed into the lexicon as far as IoWSG tall bottles are concerned.
Cheers, Sue M. (she/her)

‘For every problem there is a solution: neat, plausible and wrong’. H.L.Mencken

Offline aa

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2014, 09:48:08 PM »
How long would it take a novice to learn how to do it? That is a difficult question. The big problem for a novice is the amount of time available to practice.

If you look at other disciplines, you will find that many give you the opportunity to practice at home or elsewhere. So for example, if you are learning to play the piano, you can practice for as long as you like. The same if you are learning to play golf. The problem with a glass factory or a glass studio is that there are not that many opportunities for a novice to develop and practice their skills. So it could take years before someone would even get a chance.

So it would depend on all sorts of things and, not least, the aptitude of the person concerned. If you came on one of my courses, I could teach you how it is done in an afternoon, but that isn't the same as teaching you how to do it!

 :)
Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledge
For information on exhibitions & events and to see images of my new work join my Facebook group
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Introduction to Glassblowing course:a great way to spend an afternoon http://www.zestgallery.com/glass.

Offline glassobsessed

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Re: Attenuated bottle: IoWSG?
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2014, 06:31:16 PM »
Fascinating, thanks Adam.

So a furnace in my box room is out of the question then? I could do away with my central heating...

 

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