Here is a curious elongated bowl with an irregular rim. It is 9.5cm high by 19.5cm wide by 12cm deep and weighs 1.01kg. The deep blue colour is nicely offset by a decorative 'swoosh' in what I think is silver chloride. There are a few small irregularities in the glass. The base is roughly ground to an extent that almost removes the pontil scar. It came off ebay.au from a seller in Sydney who had another similar item and said she had bought them together at a street market.
(A year or two ago, I was showing Stan Melis a piece he made in the 1970's, when a younger glassblower asked him: "What's that stuff, silver nitrate?" The answer as I recall was: "No, silver chloride." Melis of course worked with Sam Herman at the Jam Factory in Adelaide in the 1970s and took over the role of workshop leader when Herman departed.)
What are the origins of this piece? The style and particularly the silvery swoosh suggest the 1970s to me. It appears to be the work of a skilled glassblower. The chunky form and ground base suggest origins in industry rather than a college. I'm thinking particularly of those factories where there was experimentation in 'studio' glass in the 1970s, either officially as an exploration of new directions for production or unofficially by employees who were influenced by happenings outside of the factories. The ones that come to mind in this part of the world are Crown Crystal in Sydney and Philips Lighting (Leonora Glassworks) in Newcastle.
I could be wrong, and someone may recognise this as a production item from a known factory. Either way, I'd be delighted to learn more.
Trevor
Topic: Irregular blue bowl with silver chloride trail (Read 864 times)
