Thanks, Adam, I probably would have missed this one (for confused newcomers, Adam D. is me and Adam A. is "aa").
I can't see how this thing could have started life as anything but a pressing because of the candleholder bit. After that it's obviously been stretched, but just how is a puzzle. Two puzzles actually, the other one being how it was held for re-heating. Is it a trick of the light or is there a scar from a blower's-type pontil? I can see no trace of grinding and polishing on the bottom of the mark from a presser's-type iron punty. If the former then this is the first time I have seen such a method used on a pressed article. Maybe I should get out more! It does suggest pressing and hand-blowing skills working together.
It could, of course, in theory have been gripped by the bulbous part but without leaving a mark? I doubt it. Some sort of vacuum chuck might have done the trick and if any form of automation were involved it would be something like that. Guessing there, of course.
So far as the lop-sided stretch is concerned, yes, Bernard, it could have been pressed with a slanted top but as you know, only to a limited extent. Lop-sided heating would then be applied followed perhaps by swinging. That's where, as we used to say in court, I can claim no expertise. Over to Adam A.
Adam, is it possible by swinging to get something to come out as flat and thin as that? Wouldn't some sort of pulling or tooling be needed and could it be done without marking?
Adam D.