Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: chriss on September 12, 2012, 08:49:49 AM
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Hi I have a pitcher and glass set that i am trying to find out who made it and when it was made. The pitcher has a ground and polished pontil, the base of each item is triangular which carries on up the walls of each piece though the glass shape becomes more circular at the top of the pitcher and where each glass or tumbler becomes wider. The texture and design of the glass is similar to Tapio Wirkkala, Iittala glass in the Aslak range. Can anyone help me please?
Thanks
Chris :)
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I have a set in smoky grey, I believe it's Japanese, but I don't know any more than that.
The jug has a large round-ish polished pontil mark but the beakers don't - they're just mould-blown.
;) The pontil is a long metal rod the glass is supported on during making. When it is broken off, it leaves a pontil mark.
How the maker then deals with this scar is also described.
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Hi just found out this set has uranium content within it so I thought it may be relevant? :D
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Don't think it's uranium content; looks more like a high manganese content
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The grey set doesn't. (have manganese or uranium)
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Thanks for your replies :) The photos don't show the brightness of the glow that well as they are a bit brighter than the pics show, the tube is playing up :/ My understanding of manganese (I think) is that manufacturers use it to strip out the greenish tinge in glass or use it in higher concentrates to make amethyst coloured glass, but I don't know what else it's used for? I also thought that manganese came under the uranium glass description like custard, jadeite and vaseline glass?
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The significant feature of Uranium glass (completely avoiding the American use of the term "vaseline" which is originally merely a descriptive expression) is that it is radioactive.
It emits (weak) gamma radiation, it will make a geiger counter go noisy, it will scintillate a scintillation counter.
Uranium glass beads have been known to set off the alarms when worn by a visitor to Sellafield.
Custard and jadeite are again descriptive terms for opaque sorts of glass, custard being whitish or yellowy, jadeite being greeny; thay may or might not contain Uranium.
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Thanks for your help and info :)
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You are right about what manganese is/was used for but it is also found in older coloured glass. Why I don't know; possibly some coloured glass recipes involved adding to clear glass recipes rather than taking the unnecessary stuff out.
I also thought that manganese came under the uranium glass description like custard, jadeite and vaseline glass?
Uranium and manganese are two different chemicals
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To be completely accurate, they're both different (metallic) elements. :)
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Thanks very much to you both :))
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Hi I thought that you may like to know that I received a reply from a Finnish glass forum website about this glass set and it is (or at least the glasses look exactly like) Hans Christian Wagner of Björkshult Glassworks a Swedish company
http://www.starkeld.com/default.asp?cat=337&option=nav&u=prod&menuset=3
He was a main designer working there between 1957-1976 according to factory info
Thanks to Wisitor02 by the way :))
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Absolutely fascinating - and thank-you so much for taking the time and trouble to track this thread down and add this information. ;D
It's a very nice quality set.
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;D
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If you've not already looked these up, here are some information that I too found useful when trying to detemine the chemical content under UV:
1. http://1st-glass.1st-things.com/vaselineglass.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese
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Dear moderators - this mystery is finally solved. 8)
The thread can be moved from "unresolved queries", when you have the time and inclination. :)