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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: obscurities on March 04, 2013, 04:29:29 AM

Title: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 04, 2013, 04:29:29 AM
A new purchase today in an antique mall....  mineral deposits inside which I am hoping I can clean out, but I got it very cheap and it displays well if not. A very interesting piece that is unlike any example I have run across before....  The stripes you see are actually elongated bubbles which run from just short of the rim to the edge of the base....... Not an easy feat considering the piece stands at 8.5 inches tall, 5.5 inches wide at the lower waist and 4 inches in diameter at the mouth. Fire polished rim with a large nicely polished pontil on the base. Appropriate age wear as expected on the foot.

I can feel the bubbles as ridges on the interior, but not on the exterior at all....

Any help with this one is appreciated.....  does not strike me as Bohemian....  but Like I said....  never seen another one like this...

Any suggestions or ideas greatly appreciated on this one.....

TIA
Craig
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: Ohio on March 04, 2013, 03:43:30 PM
Well I'll take a shot in the dark, probably very dark. Well done mid-1950s Murano in modernistic style...as in big fin era in cars. 
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 04, 2013, 03:56:36 PM
I collect some Italian, and I would actually be quite shocked if it was....  but I have been shocked before....  If it is Italian, it is one of the cooler pieces I have seen....
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: chopin-liszt on March 04, 2013, 03:59:01 PM
 ;D
Wot? You think this beauty might come from an era completely devoid of any taste or merit in design? 
(just my opinion, like  ;) )

When beautiful bubbles are controlled in a piece such as this, is it appropriate to call it ariel?
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: Lustrousstone on March 04, 2013, 04:31:05 PM
It's more like air trap. I've not seen anything like it
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 05, 2013, 01:28:24 AM
Sue, Ariel is a technique which involves cold work on a previously created blank that is deeply engraved or sand blasted to develop the pattern or decor. That blank is then covered with hot glass to trap the air bubbles. This appears to me to be a technique which was done completely as a function of working hot glass only, and trapping the bubbles and then working the shape to elongate them.

I have never seen bubbles like this done before either..... at least as a somewhat symmetrical pattern or decor on a form. Some long singular bubbles here and there yes, but not like this.

When I first glanced at it in the cabinet in the store it appeared to be lines of colored glass in the body of the vase, alternating with the opalescent glass. It was not until I looked closely that I realized that the stripes were not glass of a different color, but well executed bubbles.

The more I look at it, the more I appreciate the difficulty of the technique and the level of artistry required to execute it this well. 

Craig
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: Ivo on March 05, 2013, 07:22:08 AM
Elongated bubbles are not a novelty - they have been used for centuries, esp. in stems. Here are two Holmegaard candlesticks with elongated bubbles. Admittedly, your vase is an extreme example...
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 05, 2013, 08:10:40 AM
I have seen elongated bubbles before, but never like this, and not this length....

Craig
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 28, 2013, 01:51:25 AM
A little bump.....
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: johnphilip on March 28, 2013, 08:47:54 AM
Whatever I love it . jp
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: flying free on March 28, 2013, 11:47:36 AM
this is the nearest in technique I've managed to find
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/10009526?rpp=60&pg=1&rndkey=20130328&ft=*&what=Glass%7cVases&pos=34

m
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: Bernard C on March 28, 2013, 12:11:06 PM
Walsh Sateen glass has similar elongated air-trap bubbles.   See the c.1887 blue EPNS-mounted salts in Eric Reynolds' Glass Museum piece here (http://www.theglassmuseum.com/johnwalshwalsh.htm).    We know little about the range as the only documentation Eric found was in a Sheffield metalbasher's factory pattern book.   Nevertheless we now know that Walsh made it in some quantity and exported it to the US.

Bernard C.  8)
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: jsmeasell on March 28, 2013, 07:46:15 PM
I think this is not air trap. It's straight rib optic with yellow glass cased with opalescent glass. The spot mould creates the ribs which strike opalescent, and then the ribs go to the inside when the piece is blown in a mould to create the shape. Same technique as coin dot etc. but with a vertical rib spot mould. 
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 28, 2013, 08:36:38 PM
Hi James.

Does the technique you are describing result in elongated bubbles trapped in the glass? These are definitely long bubbles. If I run my hand around the inside of the mouth, I can feel raised ridges of glass that define the bubbles in the body, not as much on the exterior, but they are there also. Although much less pronounced, I can also feel raised areas on the exterior of the lower portion of the body of the vase which correspond to the larger trapped air in that region also. Where the body thins down the furthest and the bubbles are the smallest, the ribs can not be felt on the inside or the outside of the vessel. If I look at the vase with a loupe, I can see the interior surfaces of the bubbles.

Thanks, Craig
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on March 30, 2013, 04:10:54 PM
After a close examination of the piece, and some images and emails exchanged with James, I have determined that the piece is not Rib Optic, but is indeed an air trapped decor.

Thank You James,
Craig
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: flying free on April 03, 2013, 10:03:22 PM
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,40305.msg223540.html#msg223540

Bill describes a technique used here to create bubbles in glass - is it possible a similar technique might have been used for yours?
m
Title: Re: Uranium Vase - Opalescent - Elongated Bubble Stripes - HELP
Post by: obscurities on April 03, 2013, 10:11:38 PM
I think the technique for this piece likely involved a ribbed mold for the gather initially, with an additional layer applied to the gather to trap air, and then blown to the final shape. Whether the final result was achieved using a mold or not I can not tell. There are no mold lines, or indications of such on the piece anywhere.

I can say the more I stare at it, the more appreciation I have for the skill level that was required to produce this piece.

Craig