... We also followed the same practice as you regarding float bowls, however it was more common the use the bowl in conjunction with a flower frog when filling it 1/2 way up with water. ...
Ken — Apologies, I didn't make myself clear. I was only commenting on why they were called
floating bowls, not on what other objects they did or didn't contain. Solo floating bowls were clearly an option according to both Davidson and Jobling trade catalogues, for example, but experience of the market shows that sets with accessories were more usually supplied. Both manufacturers restricted their use of the term to a low cupped shape; clearly any other shape was not considered to be a floating bowl. Jobling used the term for their 1054 / 1054½ plain bowl, used only for two or three months up to Christmas 1933 in their newly launched jade nude lady figurine set. Although the launch advertisement shows the set on a black plinth, it would have been dangerous to use it this way as the bowl had no base ring to lock it on to a plinth. Probably because it looked more impressive on a plinth, subsequent sets were supplied with Fir Cone or Flower Pattern bowls, in a variety of shapes, Deep, Cupped, Low Cupped, and Flanged (flared), and so
floating bowl disappeared from Jobling's mainstream marketing material.
Bernard C.
Topic: A Plinth Matching my Flamingo Centrepiece (Read 2434 times)
