Topic: IoW Seascape bottle signed by Michael Harris?

[brewster]

British glass is not my field, but the purchase of Charles Hajdamach's 20th Century British Glass (wonderful book!) has caused me to look more closely at some long-overlooked items in the storage box that is labelled 'interesting glass but off-theme'.

Here is an Isle of Wight Studio bottle in the Seascape design, 113mm high by 110 wide by 35 deep. It is numbered and apparently signed by Michael Harris. I realise the question of Michael Harris signatures raises temperatures with collectors. However, on comparison with other examples of his signature on the GMB, it seems this signature is genuine. Is it so?

The IoW site says the standard height of a Seascape perfume bottle is 10cm. Does that dimension include the stopper? As you can see, the one has the stopper broken off inside.

The other strange thing about this specimen is that it leans at a similar angle to the Tower of Pisa (which is now 3.99 degrees after being pulled back from 5.5 degrees, according to Wikipedia).

I'm not complaining. It is very attractive, otherwise in good condition and cost me next to nothing. And it seems it might be more important than I thought.

Trevor

[chopin-liszt]

Not as neat as usual, but I do think it's right.
Interestingly, I have a small cylinder vase in Seascape - and it looks far more like the tower of Pisa than yours - the basic shape just lends itself to this description!
I wonder if it was anything to do with differential cooling rates in the annealling oven.....

[glassobsessed]

It leans because whoever did the grinding and polishing of the base did not get it spot on.

You could ask the Studio to remove the old stopper and make a new one to fit.

John

[chopin-liszt]

That's not why my cylinder leans, John.
My cylinder has Peyronie's disease. 

What do you make of the signature?
It looks (to me) about as "dremmelled" as the Mdina mark on the Cut-Ice lollipop we discussed just recently

http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,47497.0.html

- I've checked a few signatures, and found similar on a few Seawards.... and on a Japanese globe. I've compared the lines of the script with some Mdina marks, in Michael Harris' script which are definitely diamond point engraved - I have concluded that he must have had a vibrating pen thing at both Mdina and IoWSG - as well as a diamond point pen, and that he used both, in both places.

[glassobsessed]

Eek, I really don't like the sound of that.

The signature on this bottle looks fine to me.
I don't follow, what looks dremmelled about it? There will be plenty of variation between signatures made by a dremmel or any other tool, various factors will no doubt make a difference. From tiredness of the engraver to how worn the engraving tip is. If the engraver drank too much coffee it will probably be all over the place.... If the engraving tool is drawn across the glass quickly then there will be fewer impacts over a given distance (and it can look more like the mark made by a dremmel). In the folowing photo (inscription on a charger) look at the words "one" and "to", where the engraving tip moved slowly at the end of a stroke or around a corner there is an unbroken line. Where the tip was moved quickly, especially between the letters,  you can see the individual impacts.

John

[chopin-liszt]

The "fine" - line marks I'm referring to are the ones like this:-

[chopin-liszt]

And this

[glassobsessed]

They look like signatures made with a vibro pen or a vibrating diamond point engraver if you want to call it that, the mark is made by the tip as it jumps repeatedly forwards. A dremmel spins, so the mark is made by a spinning cutting head, probably a diamond on the end of a point.....

The first looks more like Dobsons hand to me and the second maybe Harris but they are so similar, much easier to be confident of one or the other when you have them in your own hands to study. Perhaps the line is fine because the tip is new and has not worn much.

John

[chopin-liszt]

They're both MH, John.
The problem is that they're tiny - and when photographed and blown up, they look more like a different tool and the first one starts to look a bit Dobson-ish - it also looks as if it's been done with a ruler underneath it.

Do you know exactly what sorts of tools MH did use?

I thought a diamond point pen was simply that - a pen, with a diamond tip. I've seen and used these in art classes.
And now you mention vibro-pen with diamond point - do we know if MH had one of these?
That would make sense for the neater of the medium thick broken lines found...
(in both Mdina and IoWSG)

although they do appear (to me) to be similar lines to tohose found on dremmelled fake sigs in general

and what sort of tool would be making the very thick vibrating lines which seem to go from side to side?

Are we setting ourselves up for having to have a major discussion with bits in our mitts in November?

[glassobsessed]

I am pretty sure Ron said he had a vibro pen, that is what looks like produced the inscription on the charger that I posted earlier.  You could always ask Ron via email.

The 'side to side' stuff I think is a dremmel (with quite a blunt head). As it is spinning, when it comes into contact with the glass it pulls sideways. A vibro pen will just bounce straight back at you.

John