Topic: Mdina Textured Bottle signed 'Mdina' by Michael Harris?

[Vitreo94]

Hi all,


Just a quick query on this signature on a textured bottle, the ground pontil has been etched on by what appears to be a diamond point engraver (judging by the thiness of it) 'Mdina', it looks to be in Michael's hand but I'd like another oppinion. I've compared some of the letters to a signature on a Seascape IOW vase and it appears to match.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Will

[chopin-liszt]

  Hi again!
It's hard to tell when the image is blown up big, because his Mdina mark is small.
But i just went and got hold of one of mine with a MH Mdina, and it's grand. No problems.
All the letters are the right shapes in the right proportions.

When it's big, it appears rougher than it is, and starts to look a bit like Marie's writing.

[Vitreo94]

Hi Sue!

It was particularly difficult to photograph, always out of focus or not visable even! But as you say it is very small and dainty.

Fantastic! Its the first piece (that I've thought was his with some certainty) that ive seen in the flesh! As a rule does that mean the likelyhood of him making the piece he signed high or was it something he did to a piece anyone could have made? Is it considered particularly rare to have a MH 'Mdina' signature?

Speaking of signatures and a topic I know has been discussed, how do you tell as a rule who something has been signed by? I know Marie used to squiggle a singature on pieces. Joseph and Eric signed pieces I believe? I have an unusually large cylinder vase with a ground pontil dating it to the time of the Boffos but with a signature I can't quite decide on.

Here it is, perhaps you may be able to tell me

[chopin-liszt]

It was either Eric or Marie who wrote on the bottoms of things.
Said did not sign anything, a member here, Wolfie, got that information from Said himself.

The writing on the bottom of this is Marie's. Eric Dobson's writing was more rounded.
You have a round polished pontil mark there, that too is an early-ish feature, it was not continued, I don't believe, after Boffo left, but is still very unusual.
So is the vertical stripe design of Ming on a cylinder. You find it on globes, but not often on anything else.


Mdina, written by MH is very unusual, possibly about as unsual as a full signature.
I've got three of those, but about 15 signed.

I don't go looking for signed pieces and normally avoid them because of inflated price.
I'm not interested in scribbles on the bottom of pieces. They don't add anything artistically and cost far too much.

I do not know if MH made every piece he did write on.
I tend to look at the glass to decide if I think he made it, and I do think that the pieces I have with this mark are made by him, they're subtle and have comet like trails of iridesence but I have no way of confirming that he did make them.
Boffo could produce comet-like trails too.

To bring out a tiny signature for photography, try rubbing a little talcum powder over it with your thumb, to bring up the mark. 

[Vitreo94]

Intresting, I've seen many a vase advertised with a Joseph Said signature! I shall ask him in person in July, Im going to Malta and I shall ask him a few questions regarding early Mdina days. I believe he's making my father a vase while I'm out there.

Ah I see, I know the writing you mean, was it ever the case that Eric wrote Mdina and the date but Marie signed it or vice versa? Marie's signing is more pointy to Eric's?

As far as memory serves the polished pontil was introduced with the comming of the Boffos and continued no later than 72, possibly before. But a Harris era piece for sure! I can't say I've ever seen a cylinder this size either, it's a beast!

For me I do love a piece he's signed, they almost hold a divine status, something he crafted and held makes the personal value go up enormously! But as you say they attract hefty prices, £770 a signed Mdina fish sold for not long ago on ebay! Sometimes you can just tell by looking at a piece cant you, just something about them. There is an almost masterful distribution of irridesence on this bottle, in every pocket of deeper parts of the bottle cascading down, something that I've attempted to photograph but alas something that can only be appreciated in person!

Many thanks for your help Sue, very appreciated!

[chopin-liszt]

I cannot make out what your ruler says, so I have no idea what size it is, but I do have some unusual, very large cylinders, about 9". Some textured and later, and a Rosenthal.

I'm posting copies of a Marie "signature" and an Eric "signature" below.

[Vitreo94]

Well this one is 12 inches! A real whopper! I am very fond of the Rosenthal range, so hard to come by I've found, at least not for astronomical prices!

Many thanks for the signature images, Marie's signature is very pointy! Eric's has a much gentler flow to it.

[chopin-liszt]

Can you take copies for yourself from those (resized for the board) images, or would you like me to send you the originals, unaltered?
If you want them, click on the envelope ocpn under my username to send me a message, and we can get into email contact after that.

12"! Do you think it would have been made using the mould for the enormous stoppered bottles? I think they're about 12" before they bulge over the top, but mine are awfully high up and I can't reach to measure.
The ones I call "sweetie jars", because they're so big, they look like the bottles on sweetie shop shelves.

[Vitreo94]

Yes I have saved copies now, certainly a good reference for future pieces, thank you

I know! Its one of the tallest pieces I've ever seen I have to say (that's not an attenuated bottle). I'm not entirely sure, given that they were able to blow the fish vases which have considerable weight I'm sure that this could have been hand blown. But having said that they could very well have used the mould for the bottles! Were they in production during the Boffo period? Its around 4 1/2 inches wide, if that matches the dimentions of the bottles and they were produced at that time it could well be it was a large stoppered bottle they decided to do something else with!

Just to add, the signature of Dobson's that you shared in your previous post matches the signature on my Dad's large Onion vase dated 1974 next to the trial tricorn! He will be pleased!

[glassobsessed]

During Michael Harris' time at Mdina the majority of items went unsigned.

A few are simply signed Mdina, most of those items were intended for the American market, it was the American distributor that had requested 'signatures'.

The exceptions were those signed by MH with his name and Mdina Glass Malta.  All were engraved with a diamond point engraver.

After Harris, all engravings were done with a dremmel type tool, dates start to appear as well as the various squiggle names.

John