Topic: Who invented introducing controlled bubbles in glass and when ? Please !

[Baked_Beans]

I'm really interested to know the history of  the contolled bubble technique in glass and when did it first start to appear ?  Any info. would be great...thanks very much.

[langhaugh]

I know of three main means of deliberately creating bubbles in glass. First, physically creating the bubbles with either a spike mould (also called a pineapple or nail mould), or rolling the parison on a flat bed of spikes. Another layer of glass is added and bubbles remain where the the glass was penetrated. In Murano, the technique is called bullicante, but the technique is also used elsewhere. The second way is to create the bubbles by adding asomething to the glass and the reaction creates bubbles. In Murano, they usually use petrol/gasoline and call it puelgosa. But again, the same technique is used in many areas. The third is reticello, a Murano technique where the bubbles are created by adding two layers of crossing canes that trap a bubble of air in each intersection. 

It's hard to say who 'invented' the techniques. It's kind of like who invented bread or the bagpipes. Reticello is probably the easiest to say, as it was used in Murano in the 16th Century and elsewhere after that. Maurice Marinot used chemically created bubbles in his work in France in the 20's and 30's, it was used a lot in Murano in the 20's and 30's onwards, in Czecholslovakia in the 1940's, and in Scandinavia more from the 50's on. The physical creation of bubbles is harder to pin down. Murano a long time, Holland (Leerdam), Germany(WMF), Britain (Whitefriars) and Scandinavia in the 30's onwards.

This is probably much more than you wanted. Sorry if it is. As you might be able to tell, it's a topic that interests me. I may be wrong or incomplete in some of the details, but I think the general gist of what I wrote is OK.

Good luck.

David

[Baked_Beans]

Thanks David so much for your info., that's just so superb. The reason I asked the question was that I bought a Whitefriars inkwell (green, controlled bubble) with a silver top and I think the date letter is a 1 (a number) and I think it dates from 1906. Which if I'm right would suggest Whitefriars was producing controlled bubbles in 1906. One (the number) could have been used in other years with a different shield shape so it could be later. I might be wrong with the date. Anyway you can see it by typing in the item number 230403792960 in the search field on ebay.co.uk. The last photo clearly shows the silver marks. Anyway it looks very 'Arts and Crafts'.
Thanks again for your help as it is usefull for putting a date limit on a piece of glass in some cases.

[Ohio]

Carl Erickson in the US used two different methods, first was the pea (early) (think of a tiny golf ball) that melted at a low temp & the air that was trapped in the pattern of the pea released after being inserted in the base of the piece & second was a pine tree shaped metal shaft inserted in the base & withdrawn quickly releasing air trapped in the pattern of the tree. Ken

[langhaugh]

Some fascinating info here. Does anybody know the date of the Whitefriars inkwell?

Ken: I knew Erickson used bubbles but I didn't know about the peas. Do you mean actual peas, or small pieces of something that wouldn't leave a residue in the glass. If I remember, Erickson came from Scandinavia. Did he work in a glass factory there?

David

[krsilber]

I'm interested in hearing more about the pea, too.  Do you happen to have an example?

Cool topic.  Steuben introduced bubbles into Cintra by rolling the parison on a marver covered with crushed and powdered glass, then casing it in crystal.  Cluthra had a chemical added to the glass on the marver that released gas when heated; the crystal layer had to be added rapidly to contain them.  I think it was Carder who added ash branches to pots for bubbles, but those would have been non-random.

How long does the controlled bubble in goblet stems go back?

[Ohio]

Erickson used a glass ball the size of a pea with a surface not unlike that of a golf ball early on, however this was not his controlled bubble technique, these simply produced bubbles. These came from a Murano connection & had a low temp melting point & were in effect pushed into the bottom melting immediately allowing the trapped air in the indenation of the ball to release. The pine tree method was developed by him & resulted in almost perfect controlled bubbles. I was informed probably 30 years ago by the most advanced authority on Erickson at the time that he learned the early technique during his tenure at Pairpoint, however this gentleman also said that this technique was used for ages in Italy & did not originate in the US, we simply copied it. Maude Erickson held an auction in Lancaster in the mid 80's &  some of the pine trees were sold as well as 300 good & I mean good Erickson pieces. I was outbid on every single pine tree. Originally he was from Sweden & his grandfather & father were blowers in Reijmyre. He came to the US & enrolled in the Pairpoint apprenticeship program, completed the program & worked as a blower there for 20 years. He also worked at Libbey from 1932-36 & Blenko from 1937 to 1942 before starting his own company in Bremen. What most are not aware of is the sheer volume of glass his operation produced from 1943 to 1960, it was staggering. Maude gave a personal historical account of the operation & answered questions for a good hour & a half after the sale & even though she was quite elderly, she was as sharp as a tack. At their peak there were 25 blowers working 10 hour days, 6 days a week. A year after eBay started I joined forces with a Lancaster guy & a guy from Florida producing an educational website including over 250 photos on Erickson because 75% of what was being sold on eBay at the time was Murano, but we discontinued it after 10 months because of the sheer volume of questions we could no longer handle, however it did fairly well kill the Murano sales as Erickson market.

[langhaugh]

Ken:  Thanks for such a  complete and comprehensible reply. I hadn't heard the melting glass pea explanation for bubbles before.

David

[Baked_Beans]

Thanks for the comments on the inkwell . I picked it up this morning from the Post Office. It sure does look like Arts & Crafts era. Heavy at 700g so it could be used as a combined paperweight/inkwell. I will try and take some close-up pics of the hallmarks and post them here later.... might be able to get a confirmed date. Cheers, Mike.

[Patrick]

Hi Mike,
 The date of the Silver top is 1906.........  The letter 1 gives this date............ see British London Silver Hallmarks.
 Regards, Patrick.