Topic: small Mdina or IOW vase, unusual foot and broken pontil = probably Mdina

[Lustrousstone]

Suzy thinks this is probably Mtarfa because this one is

[chopin-liszt]

To my knowledge, Mtarfa never did that amethyst. I'm still very unsure. It's the foot which is the really big, big problem for me.

There was an amethyst melted in the pot at the RCA, I've got a bit by Pauline Solven, but it's not the same as the Mdina colour, it's not as warm a colour - blueish, grey-ish rather than brownish-aubergine.

I'm starting the lean a bit to early Mdina after all, though. :spls:

IoWSG did do PWs with small feet like this, in the early days, and given MH simply (!!!) continued developing and refining his designs from Mdina to IoWSG, it might have happened at Mdina. The tall-ish button rim doesn't really say MH to me, and it's just a small round bottle - not wildly experimental or very adventurous, again not desperately saying MH either.

[glassobsessed]

Using (I think it was Bernard's) rule of thumb, there are three things which don't say Mdina to me. The colour, the neck and the base do not look right to me so I would hedge my bet away from Mdina. Unless it was a frigger.

Christine is that vase signed? I have been wondering for a couple of years who made the glass I have seen in that distinctive colourway (never seen one signed before).

John

[chopin-liszt]

 
You're treading on Nigel's thumbs here, John!  :thup:

I'm not sure what the amethyst colour would be like under daylight, but I suspect it could be right.
I do have the odd bit of (post-Harris) Mdina which does have this sort of neck in small perfume bottley things.

Christine's bit is definitely Mtarfa, I believe quite early, because it has so much in common with Mdina, as well as being it's own, quite distinct, style. :thup: I like it very much.
I also think it's shaped glass, rather than having an applied foot. Mtarfa did do wiggly shapes.

It's the foot and broken pontil mark which get me regarding the amethyst bottle. Broken pontil mark might be consistent with an applied foot, but are normally only found on the feet of chalices and goblets.
I don't have an IoWSG footed PW to check for a broken pontil mark. :spls:

[Lustrousstone]

No it's not (but Sue has a collection of this stuff)

[glassobsessed]

Thanks Christine and also Sue for sending me your photos.

My apologies to Bernard and Nigel. My natural state is blundering around in the dark, thanks to everyone for helping to provide illumination.

John

[MarkHill]

What an unusual piece! That's surely one of the many joys of studio glass - finding one-off oddities such as this. In this part of our world, you can virtually never say 'never'....I have to say that I've not yet seen one like this, and the following is said without handling it....
- I don't think it's IOW - in general colours were applied to a colourless base there, rather than being melted in the pot as at Mdina. The colours here also seem more correct for Mdina, particularly the addition of the silver chloride and its effects on the base colour in this way. So, I do think it's Mdina - remember that trails could be applied to Side Stripe vases, and 'wings' to Fish vases, and also that general levels of skill rose considerably when the Boffos joined. They made jugs and other tableware at Whitefriars before that, and before that worked in Italy, so could easily have added a pad base. I'd think that, by then, Michael Harris himself would also have had the skill to add one as well.
- Feeling and holding it will help enormously, but the 'chunkiness', for want of a better word indicates Mdina.
- However, as everyone has said, it is very unusual to have a base like that, especially with a broken pontil mark. It may have been made before the company bought its own grinding machine, and IF it's an experimental piece from sometime after or around late 1969 as I think it probably is, maybe they didn't feel it was worth having it ground flat. Or maybe someone bought it 'off the shelves', so to speak, when they visited the factory and before it could be sent off.
We'll never know...but in short, I think it's an experimental or one-off form (there is a difference) from late 1969-70, and may have been made by Michael Harris and/or one of the Boffos.
Hope this helps,
Mark

[Andy]

Thanks for all the chat about this little bottle. Ive got a footed IOW paperweight, and its a bit flatter, and no remains of a pontil mark. Photo taken today in the sun, shows a line from the Amethyst to the orangy brown colour.
My instincts say not Mdina or IOW, dont think we will ever know
Andy
 

Added, Thanks Mark , our posts crossed, fascinating stuff, maybe it IS Mdina 

[chopin-liszt]

This does seem to be tending more and more towards Mdina - the orangey/browny colour comes from the reaction of the silver with the clear casing over the amethyst base. Many amethyst pieces have this effect - it's a very similar thing to a clear green you get from browny/ochrey/yellowy glass (from silver metal and clear glasss) over the base blue.

Thanks for adding your knowledge to this mystery, Mark! :kissy:

[MarkHill]

I'm pretty sure it is Mdina myself, with the dates above being the EARLIEST it could be...but as I said, it's really subject to handling it...
Best,
Mark