Topic: signature help please on little green & amethyst frog paperweight

[josordoni]

can anyone read the signature on this please? 

I can get Tony for the first name, but I don't know what the second might be?  The frog is clear glass, with green/blue oil spot to the bottom and amethyst and green oil spot/lattice sort of finish to the top near the head.  Aporox length head to toe 2.25 ins 60mm.

[Simone]

Hi Lynne,

Your little frog looks like fluorite and is adorable.

[josordoni]

Hi Simone, yes he is really lovely! 

And the colours are similar, but he is definitely glass - he has tool marks on his head where his nose has been shaped, and when you look up into the polished base he is most definitely clear in there, not mineral which would be coloured all the way through.  Warm to the touch too, not as cold as minerals. 

Don't suppose you know any glass makers called Tony?

[Kari]

Hi Lynne,

Here in New Mexico we have a very well known glass artist named Tony Jojola. He is actually in Taos, Native  American, and a big force in making glasswork a more accessible skill for kids in the area.  I have one of his bears.  I've never seen a frog in his repertoire, but frogs are very significant and present in Native American lore and art. 

[Simone]

Hi Lynne,

It could well be fluorite, a lot isn't coloured all the way through and is clear in places. I know they make little figurines and animals out of it, as well as orbs, wands, etc.

I have quite a bit of fluorite from all over the world, and as there could well be fluorite found in New Mexico, as well as China, Afghanistan, and even over here (but the Blue John mine closed down a few years ago).

[josordoni]

Blue John is very lovely, I have had some pieces of that that I liked very much.

I don't think the picture is doing this little frog justice - the oil spot treatment is similar to that on Ditchfield and IOW pieces, if you had it in your hand you would know immediately that it was definitely glass and not a mineral.