Topic: Show & Tell - Early Mdina Bottles - Enjoy!

[Greg.]

Hi All,

Thought these two new early Mdina Bottles which I've just acquired deserved a showing.

Delightful colours and early button rims, small pontil scar to base, although no ground polished pontil mark which is the case with many of these bottles.

Please Enjoy
Greg
 :sun:

[chopin-liszt]

Scrumptious!
Apart from the obvious rectangular blue one, are these all square based or are any slightly rectangular?

(I ask, because my one with the high slopey shoulders is rectangular)

[Greg.]

They are indeed scrumptious, can't get enough of them!

All of these tall bottle are all square shaped, I know what you mean about the slightly rectangular ones, I've seen one or two around, kind of a cross between the rectangular and square ones.

To date these were the first I've encountered with button rims, I was expecting them to have a ground concave pontil mark when I lifted them up, but  just a flat polished base, with faint pontil scar.

[chopin-liszt]

I've got a rectangular blue one, with a button-on-a-spout rim, and my off-square slopey shoulder one has a sort of thick cup-shaped rim, (and a polished flat base), but I have no pure buttons.

The slopey one is slope-ier when turned 90 degrees around, it's the wide side facing you.

I've also got 3 very short ones - one blue, one tortoiseshell and one red and brown swirly. They're the only ones I've seen. John suspects they could be post-Harris - I'm not so sure, but perhaps that's my bias 'cos they're mine!  

here's three of mine - including the thick cup-rim one. I'll have to get pics of the short ones and my rectangular one.

The really tall one has a cork stuck insdie it. I don't know how it got in, I don't know what idiot put it in and I can't get it out.
Naturally, this was something omitted by the seller when I bought it.

Does anybody ever ask a seller if there is something strange stuck inside anything they buy? :spls:

[Greg.]

Sue - I remember that picture of the cup-rim one, certainly does seem very unusual.

If you get a spare moment I would be keen to see a picture of the others you mention, especially the rectangular one with the button on a spout rim!

I see what you mean about the cork, that's a bit frustrating to say the least, especially the seller not mentioning it. I must admit its not a question that I have thought of asking a seller before!

Talking of unusual or slightly different pieces of Mdina. Have you ever come across a Mdina pulled ear jug before! I've attached a link below, I nearly purchased it, purely because of its uniqueness!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250888962865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1202

[chopin-liszt]

No, that's a new shape to me!, Greg.
I do have a pulled ears vase which has the same sort of horizontal yellow stripe pattern across it - it's a later one - the blue is decidedly jewell-like and the rim is very widely flared.
But if this is a jug, I'd have thought it would be one of the Boffo-made things.....
I do have an ochre and blue vertical stripey bottle with a spout, no handle.

Promise to try to get pics soon!
I've been having trouble with focussing on things which are too bit for the flower (s) setting and have to go to the flower on its own....... the pics I take are all fuzzy......

[Greg.]

Not really sure about this shape, looks like a jug without its handle. I would guess it falls into the artistic licence bracket, perhaps it was originally going to be a pulled ear vase which went astray and was rescued and converted into a jug. I suspected it was later in date due to the colour, still I bet your'd be hard pushed to find another!

 

[chopin-liszt]

The available info is that the Boffos made small animally things and pwts and jugs in their own time using the facilities at Mdina, but sold them through the shop in Valetta for themselves, rather then the Mdina shop. I'm not sure if your "gone wrong" idea is very valid.... :spls:

I've got two cocktail jugs! I don't know if the swizzle sticks belong - the twisted one came with the jug, but could have come from anywhere. The horrid horse head thing is something I just stuck in the jug - I got it seperately.

[Greg.]

I do recall reading about the Boffos selling some items through the shop in Valetta. Perhaps the jug above does fall within that bracket....., I certainly haven't seen anything like your cocktail jugs before, they are more rather unusual pieces of Mdina. Do you surmise they also may have been produced by the Boffos and sold out of the Valetta shop...?

[chopin-liszt]

I'm clueless about that, Greg! The shape is similar to a cocktail jug made at wfs, but they're bigger than most of the things I thought came under the ageis of being the Boffo bits sold at Valetta.
The very mottled one is mottled in a way I associate with being distinctive of Vicente Boffo's work at Malta Decorative Glass, or of his work at Mdina too, while the other one is a jewell-like blue, indicative of being later in date - but with a wonderful big streak of mirrory iridesence, possibly indicative of earlier......  :spls: :spls: :spls: