Topic: Sam Herman Vase?

[Greg.]

Here's my tuppence worth! These are purely my personal views Tom.

I noticed this piece for sale recently and although I wanted to believe it was an unusual piece of Sam's work on balance I could not convince myself. Primarily, as Sue mentions the signature is a concern, its not as free flowing as I would expect.

The way the colours have been used are somewhat similar to some of Sam's work, however the overall feel of the piece doesn't seem to marry up with other examples of his work, it lacks a certain fluidity which Sam's work is renowned for.

The base finish is also slightly unusual, although its plausible that it could have been (almost completely) ground for stability or balance, its just another element that doesn't seem quite right, especially when viewed in the round with the points above.

Its an interesting piece of glass, however personally I felt it had too many question marks over it. I hope this helps a little.

[chopin-liszt]

I wondered a little bit about Phoenician? They had a way of making dip mould stripes a lot neater and tidier than those made at Mdina, the swelling with the bubble in the middle is something I'd associate with Phoenician more than with Mdina. 

[ahremck]

I also suspect this is probably from Malta and nothing to do with Sam Herman.  My concern immediately is the position of the "signature".  It is where an American Glass maker would often sign, not where a British maker would.  I checked my Sam Herman and sure enough the signing is on the underside where I would expect it to be.

It looks like a seller at some point has tried to improve the saleability of the item.  One would expect they would know where Sam Herman signs, and that the coolours of the item are so typical of Mdina product from early on production.

Ross

[chopin-liszt]

Sam was Mexican-American to start off with. 
But all my examples of his signature are on the base. 
In his writing, the letters are very small, but the upstrokes are tall.
Only one has had the base finished off in any way, and that's from the RCA. It has a flat polished base with a deeper crescent shaped hole left in it.

Unfortunately, the fact that somebody has scrawled on this piece under query here, means it is officially damaged. I suppose it could be polished off, which would mean it was repaired.
It is a nice, interesting thing. But not Sam Herman, in my not terribly humble opinion.

[tmmorg]

Thank you all very much for sharing your expertise on this vase. I think it's fair to say we have a consensus!
While I do still like this vase, it clearly isn't what I thought, so I'll ask the seller for a refund.
A good lesson learned- as a collector of Mdina/IOW glass, I should really stick to what I know.
If it's not too indulgent I might post a photo of my little collection later,  just so you don't think I'm a complete dunce in the glass department 🤣.

Once again though, thank you all so much for your contributions, greatly appreciated!

Tom

[chopin-liszt]

It would be lovely to see. 
Do have a good dig around the Malta section here too.

[tmmorg]

Thank you, Sue. Not a patch on your legendary collection I know, very modest but brings me such joy to stare at on the mantelpiece everyday. The very strong mantelpiece I should add. I've actually had a good read of much of the malta section over the years, well the mdina bits at least. I've learnt a lot from all of you on here and you have certainly helped me, from afar, when purchasing pieces. Oh and I know the trailed attenuated bottle is sadly broken and polished down, but if it wasn't, I wouldnt have been able to afford it, so I consider it a real lucky buy.

Sorry if it seems I have given up the search for the origin of the vase that started this post. You helped me so much to answer my main concern- was it by SH- that I won't be looking into it any further. I don't think, sadly, a definitive source may ever be found. But you helped me no end by saying definitively who it wasn't by. I hope this doesn't come across as not in the spirit of this group. In interesting piece of glass, but no longer 'for me'.
Thanks once more to all of you gor your kindness and help,
Tom

[chopin-liszt]

You've got the bottom bit of the bottle which is better than the broken top. 
And even that would be better than none at all.
The side stripe looks strange - I assume the stripes are amethyst, but they look somehow textured/knobbled.
I don't have a blue pot with strapping as you do, so you have something I don't. 
Good to know it is with somebody who knows what it is and appreciates it.

[tmmorg]

🤣 I'd never thought of the broken bottle like that Sue. You're not wrong though. The broken top would look very strange on display, but would be better than nothing. I think the sidestripe just looks pixilated in the photo due to the resizing. It isn't textured in anyway. Still I adore it. My earliest piece I would imagine. Just pre-70s would you think?

Thank you for your kind words, especially as I know you've got lots of pieces that are just the holy grail for most collectors!

[tmmorg]

As for the blue trailed vase, it is the one that was discussed on here a few years ago. The seller, bakedbeans, who I had the pleasure of buying it from sent me the link to the thread. He had taken it to Elizabeth and Timothy, who thought it was made at the end of Michael's time at Mdina.
Now, I in no way want to contradict what any of them said but... I find this too interesting not to mention. Ron Wheeler was of the opinion that these were trial pieces for the attenuated bottles, which he said MH found very challenging and frustrating to make. Having seen a few more of these trailed vases, I'm now inclined to agree with Ron, as I often find myself doing on most things (he thought the SH vase was questionable, suggesting I post it on here for a definitive answer). Anyway, the ones I have seen, (including John's I think from the IOW archive) all show a definite progression of skill. It's almost like you can see Michael learning as he goes until he achieves a very high level of finish. At which point, maybe, he felt he was ready to make the trailed attenuated bottles.
Just a thought which may not be right, but as I say the examples I've seen (6 of them including mine and the one in the IOW museum) do definitely show an increasing  level of finesse and quality of finish.