Topic: Please help me! Ice Cut vase, signed 'Michael Harris, Mdina Glass, Malta'

[chopin-liszt]

Probably a bit later than '68, he had to learn how to make something this big and complicated.

He's had a little go at working with hot glass on a visit to Rudolfa Hut in '64, and when Sam Herman came over to the RCA in London to bring hot glass working to the UK from America, Michael had a few more goes, falling madly in love with it before deciding to go off to Malta to set Mdina up.
He was basically pretty much self-taught, learning as he went along.
It normally takes about 10 years to train enough to be a proficient glass maker, but Michael Harris had a special talent for it.

So it is most likely to have been made nearer to the time he left rather than at the beginning.
It's still early Michael Harris Mdina.  All his work from Mdina is "early".

Getting old brings a lot of baggage with it, doesn't it?

My own signed Ice-Cut Lollipop is not on my "get rid of before I pop my clogs" list.

[Patrick]

Hi, and welcome to the group.

Your vase is VERY beautiful and I would like to ask before you finally sell if you could contact me because I will probably be able to top all offers.

I live in Chepstow so could possibly collect from you?

I have a later example that is unsigned.

Best wishes .

Patrick.

Ps, I think you can send me a private message from here. clicking on the LH side envelope symbol.

[Ruralcouple]

Thanks for that information Sue, I appreciate you wanting to hold onto your piece!  We are considering selling ours on but to be honest, Patrick, we have no idea of it's true value    Your piece is a stunning example Patrick.

[Patrick]

Your piece is a stunning example Patrick.

Sadly it is not in the same class as your piece.........

 

[chopin-liszt]

This is mine.

[Ruralcouple]

They are all beautiful in their own way aren't they Patrick?  I appreciate the added value of HIS signature though!  Sue your ice-cut lollipop vase is stunning (do I sound as if I know what I'm talking about?  I really don't know what 'ice-cut' means!  Can you enlighten me?  Also, what is faceted?  I wonder if the polished side of ours is faceted... any clues gladly appreciated!)  Thank you both.

[chopin-liszt]

 
The facets are the two smooth front surfaces which have been cut and polished to make them smooth. It is probably a bit lumpy on the other side, that would be from when the final round blown hot blob of glass on the end of the blowing iron (pontil rod) containing all the colours is taken to a flat cold metal surface (called the marver) and pressed against it to make this lollipop shape.
It would have been pressed to the marver twice to make the angle on the front, once on the back to make it flat.
Then the angled side (and the base) is cut and polished, cold-worked, not hot worked.
That is labour intensive stuff.

It's just called a "Ice-cut lollipop". Presumably because after cutting, you can see clearly through the glass, like good, clear, sharp ice.
Lollipop, I suspect, just describes the shape - round and flat, with a stick bit.
They did make lollipops without this double flattening into an angle on one side, so the name is to distinguish what sort of Lollipop it is.

This can be further confused, by the lollipops which were shaped to be "Cut-ice" ones, but somehow ended up on the shop shelves without being cut and polished, so the surfaces are not all smooth. 
Theoretically, that would be an "uncut Ice lollipop"

Early on, how well something got finished off, or whether Mdina was written on the bottom, depended very much on how much stock was on the shop shelves and if somebody was available to do the "finishing-off bits" of work.

If the shelves were empty and nobody was available, unfinished-off work got sold.
It was really, really popular, right from the start. They had trouble keeping up with having enough stock to sell.

I'm all pleased for you that you really have got a treasure here. That is always a big bonus on top of liking it.

[Ruralcouple]

Wow Sue, thank you for all that information, it truly is fascinating isn't it?  I certainly appreciate the amount of work that went into our 'ice-cut faceted lollipop' vase and fantasise that it was indeed Michael Harris himself who put all that effort in.

[chopin-liszt]

  The "ice-cut" is the facetting. It does not need to be called a vase, because it is a Lollipop. "Ice-cut Lollipop" is its full title.
You do not need to worry or fret or to fantasise. It really is absolutely 100% an original Michael Harris piece, made and signed by him. Not made by somebody else with his signature, it really is his "fossilised breath".
We can ask Mark Hill, the author of the book on Mdina (and the young Antiques Roadshow expert on glass and retro stuff), to confirm if you'd like, but he'll agree.

[Ruralcouple]

Thank you for your explanation Sue, that makes sense, I'll drop the 'faceted vase' bit    I did come across Mark Hill's book and thought of contacting him (mainly to authenticate, value and potentially identify sales market) prior to joining this forum but couldn't find contact details, collectors, like yourself, are a valuable source and your comments mean a lot, thank you!