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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Unresolved Glass Queries => Topic started by: Max on February 14, 2006, 05:46:42 PM

Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 14, 2006, 05:46:42 PM
Hmm...a mystery object!  Is it part of a chandelier?  Must've been a flipping BIG one...this bit measures 14" high!

It's very odd, and I paid £6.50 for it, just so I could stick it on the GMB!   :lol:

Between  the clear 'trumpet' part and the brown 'bottle' part, there is NO hole...the items are separate, although joined professionally.

I can't work out what the hell it's for.  Anyone have any idea??

http://i1.tinypic.com/nqr4eb.jpg

http://i1.tinypic.com/nqr4h2.jpg

Edit:  And the brown 'bottle' part is open at the neck.
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Ivo on February 14, 2006, 08:16:16 PM
is it an upside down oil lamp reservoir?
Or a footed grenade?
 :?:  :roll:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 14, 2006, 08:53:52 PM
I dunno Ivo!  It looks equally mad up the other way...

(http://i1.tinypic.com/nqvfrn.jpg)

Surely it must serve some purpose??  Bit of a fancy grenade if you ask me...   :shock:   :lol:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 14, 2006, 08:57:39 PM
My hubby said  'Maybe it's a chandelier bomb'.    :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Cathy B on February 15, 2006, 05:06:33 AM
An ornate ear horn? Something for listening to a baby's heartbeat in utero? Is the join hollow?
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 15, 2006, 11:09:25 AM
Good thought Cathy...but the join isn't hollow.   :(   Very ingenious suggestion though!  :D

Hmm...I wonder if I'll ever find out what the heck it is?  I suppose if no-one knows, I'll have to go back to 'it's a bit of a chandelier'!   :roll:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: David555 on February 15, 2006, 11:33:47 PM
Well how could I miss a post about 14" :oops:

Ivo may be right - see http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,4252.0.html just posted

The object is different but the idea is the same, see the foot - the top (of yours) looks  very much like items I have seen that take a light fitting - crazy sounding I know, but I wonder what it would look like with a shade?

Of course I think there would need to be a hole between the bottle and the clear glass fluted base, where the clear/gold flex would fit all the way through, the flex would come out one of the gaps 

I have seen similar items and the clear glass looks strong and very level as if it were made as a base.

Just an idea of course

Adam P
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 16, 2006, 12:48:27 AM
Thanks Adam, but there isn't a hole between the 'bottle' and clear glass 'trumpet' shape.   And...In my opinion, neither end is appropriate for taking weight, nor is it totally stable when balanced on either of the two ends!

I think this is one item that will continue to stump me for a few years.  And I paid £6.50 for the priviledge!   :x  :P  :roll:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: David555 on February 16, 2006, 01:00:09 AM
Ah well

At least I can see all your lovely Riihimaen in the background  :P  :P

Adam P
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: David555 on February 16, 2006, 10:27:13 PM
Max

I got this photo from one of my 1960s Murano books - different, or should I say more simple form than yours but same idea. It shows they were a 'balancing act' as it were - these are closed off same as your item between base and main body

(http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/1689/ferro2ue.th.jpg) (http://img103.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ferro2ue.jpg)
Blown Glass shape by Giorgio Ferro c1958 - photo copyright Giacomelli 1960

May be wrong track, but I think your item is possibly an older or slightly different version of this?

Something to think about ......

Adam P
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 16, 2006, 10:38:26 PM
Hmm....thanks for those pics David, they were interesting.  I'm not sure mine would rest easily on it's widest end though....the clear glass is fluted, so it'd be pretty unsteady!  It's a monumentally stupid thing.  :x

I have trouble thinking of it as a finished and complete object...it's just too ridiculous an item!   :lol:  :lol:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: David555 on February 16, 2006, 11:05:37 PM
The fluted bit is a sticking point, but carnival items have fluted bases all the time.

I don't think these Giorgio Ferro items were that steady either - I have not seen any lately LOL

Actually I got the item name wrong - it's not a 'blown glass object' but a 'vase' with a tiny aperture - a Solifleur?

I don't know  ....it was just a thought and took seconds to post, I actually like it - well it's growing on me LOL

I do think it's Italian - in terms of 'OTT  - what is that?' items the Italians are the best - you should see some of the pieces in my books - I am sure none have survived except in museums

The glass that defied gravity

(http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/1989/ftoso0tr.th.jpg) (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ftoso0tr.jpg)
Fratelli Toso 'Sculptura' by Renato Toso c1950s

Adam P
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 16, 2006, 11:12:16 PM
Hmm...little wonder you haven't seen much of that type of glass recently.  That last piece particularly is begging to be chipped or smashed.   :shock:

Strange how you think my vase could be Italian.  It feels very English to me, despite the bottle brown colouring...perhaps I should stick it on Ebay and say 'I have no idea what it is'...see if it gets any bids...

It'd be a laugh anyway when it goes for less than the £6.50 I paid for it!  :x  :wink:  :roll:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: David555 on February 16, 2006, 11:48:02 PM
LOL

I think it would go for more than £6.50 :wink:

Meanwhile (while you await attribution) where does it go mmmmmmmm

Between Tynell & Still or Siiroinen & Okkolin

What a dilema  :roll:  :roll:

Adam P
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Anne on February 17, 2006, 12:45:15 AM
I wonder if it's part of a table centrepiece? The fluted part would hold flowers, maybe the other end is meant to slot into a holder on a dish of some sort which would have held fruit or more flowers?
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Ivo on February 17, 2006, 07:42:45 AM
As the speculation wave continues, here is another one. German white wine dispenser, missing its suspension frame and pewter tap. These go in the middle of the long oak table, anyone wanting a refill puts his or her rummer underneath and opens the tap - eins, zwei, suffa!
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Lustrousstone on February 17, 2006, 07:43:08 AM
But the brown bit is slightly flared, so slotting into doesn't seem to be an option. Is the inside of the brown neck ground? It looks to me like an experiment in glass 'welding'. The brown bit looks like a retort from a science lab and the clear bit part of an epergne set. And is it my imagination but is the 'weld' in a less-coloured glass (i.e., less yellowy) than the 'erperne' bit.
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: pamela on February 17, 2006, 11:30:39 AM
Quote
Max said: but there isn't a hole between the 'bottle' and clear glass 'trumpet' shape
 

Ivo, no eins zwei gsuffa - the dispenser remains empty  :twisted:  :P  :(  :roll:  :wink:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: heartofglass on February 17, 2006, 11:55:02 AM
When I saw this, I thought - it's a part of some kind of crazy-looking epergne!
Christine pipped me to the post on the epergne angle.
I do think it could be an epergne part, it's the crimped trumpet, & the fact it's a piece of something makes me think so.
There were some very bizarre epergne designs in the Victorian era & they are often found in bits, too.
Part of a lamp is also possible, too.
Either that, or the glassmaker just made a random experiment to puzzle all future owners of the item! :lol:
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 17, 2006, 08:19:38 PM
LOL Marinka!  That would be my luck to buy something that's unexplainable!   :roll:

Anne, Ivo, Christine thank you for your input...I love seeing grown people struggle!   :wink:  It could be an epergne I suppose..I like the idea that it could be useful at least...  :)

I'll put it in the shed tomorrow...perhaps one day someone will post another one on the GMB...er...it's not likely though is it?   :roll: :D
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Frank on February 17, 2006, 09:34:23 PM
I suspect English and that it is made to go on a pole for an apprentice parade or was made to order for an interior designer.
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 17, 2006, 10:09:45 PM
Quote from: "Frank"
I suspect English and that it is made to go on a pole for an apprentice parade or was made to order for an interior designer.


Apprentice parade?  I've never heard of one of those, but it could definitely go on a pole very well.   :?
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: heartofglass on February 18, 2006, 07:14:19 AM
Apprentice parades were a feature of 19th C. life in glass-making towns like Stourbridge.
The apprentices had to make special items in order to prove their skills.
Along with the other factory workers, they paraded through the streets bearing all kinds of bizarre glass novelties such as swords, walking canes, giant pipes, bells, hats, trumpets, bugles, etc.
It would have been fascinating to see one of these parades take place!
Maybe your item could have been part of one these displays; it definitely looks English & of the Victorian era.
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 18, 2006, 12:41:42 PM
Frank & Marinka...I think you both are right about it being an apprentice piece.  It seems to work very well on a pole (maybe not a floor mop handle though...)  - see pic!  :D  :D

(http://i1.tinypic.com/nzkn4y.jpg)

Thanks for the information about the parades too, not something I'd heard of before and fascinating!   :D  xx
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Leni on February 18, 2006, 02:33:44 PM
Fantastic pic, Max!   :D Now, how will you display your apprentice piece?   :wink:  :lol:

I know!  :shock: You could put it in the garden like Chihuly at Kew!   Then the 'Epergne' will fill with rain water and the birds can come there to drink!     :D
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Frank on February 18, 2006, 03:40:28 PM
An older broomstick will be a bit thicker and give a nicer fit, also more comfortable to hold.

Another idea :idea: Xmas tree top, for very large tree :P
Title: 14"...mystery object!
Post by: Max on February 18, 2006, 05:57:58 PM
:lol:  Leni...great idea about doing a Chihuly stylee garden thingy!  I might try that in the Summer - hopefully a bird feeder/bath on a pole will deter the cats.  :wink:

Frank, it'd definitely have to be a flipping big Xmas tree!  :lol: