Topic: Cylinder Bud Vase Signed Edinburgh Glass Works ID Help

[Roobarb]

Hello, this piece is signed "Edinburgh" & "Glass Works" on base with what appears to either be "phu" or "nyd" across the centre on the rough pontil. Not been able to find any information other than there was a company called the Edinburgh Glass Works but they merged with Leigh Glass in the 1820s. Any info would be much appreciated.

[chopin-liszt]

That would be Leith Glass, not Leigh.
But this looks to be a lot more recent than 1820s.

Something is muttering away at me here. It is muttering Helen Munroe-Turner. I know she did work with Juniper Green, but Leith might have been involved.

The few pieces of her work in the Studio glass style that I have seen tend to use a lot of white glass and be a bit crude. Kind of very not unlike this.
It would be a long shot, but I think that could well be the name to start off with finding out a bit more.
I may be completely wrong!

I have just got out my book which used to belong to H M-T. She wrote Turner inside it.
 Her writing of Turner is not incsistent with the writing on this - which is on glass, not paper, but the way it goes and gets a bit iffy between the r and the n is not dissimilar to the way it goes a bit squiffy between the u and the r.
Letters individually are similar.
I am no handwriting ex-spurt, and don't give much credence to that sort of thing anyway.
I have at least 3-4 totally different writings and styles.

[Roobarb]

Hello chopin-liszt, thank you for your reply and info.

I've not been able to find many examples of Helen Monro Turner's work but what I have seen doesn't look like this piece, which looks quite like Kosta  Boda vases I think. It's a bit of a mystery, which I didn't think it would be when first seeing it was signed. I'll keep looking for Helen Monro Turner examples - thank you

[Roobarb]

Whilst doing another search on Helen I came across this photo...

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fcxgd3urn%2Fproduction%2Fce56711f9eb89cd4c571d51c7ce05dda49d8bf22-1400x1137.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theartnewspaper.com%2F2021%2F01%2F22%2Fremembering-sam-herman-pioneering-glass-artist-and-teacher-who-also-won-recognition-for-his-paintings-and-welded-steel-sculptures&tbnid=IkBfIxvZ6Q-OtM&vet=12ahUKEwjEn-vzy-P0AhUB-hoKHUXZDhkQMygcegUIARCLAg..i&docid=PrKS1U7K1bU2GM&w=1400&h=1137&itg=1&q=helen%20monro%20turner%20glass%20vase&ved=2ahUKEwjEn-vzy-P0AhUB-hoKHUXZDhkQMygcegUIARCLAg

Which I thought was very similar to mine, pinky / purple colour, clear base and lines. The article it's from is about Sam Hermam, and it says...

"Herman studied with Littleton, and with the sculptor Leo Steppat, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he seized the opportunity, as one of Littleton’s first students, to develop studio glass techniques, and received a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Glass in 1965. He then won a Fulbright Scholarship to study cold-working glass techniques with Helen Monro Turner at the Edinburgh College of Art."

[chopin-liszt]

She was a very important lady in glass. 
There are not too many examples of her work around, but there were two or 3 signed bits in an over-expensive antiques place I used to visit. I did manage to study them a little bit, but was not tempted to buy - I'm not fond of white or white opaque glass - and it goes peculiar around the rim.
There is a fairly well-known small amethyst Fish vase, made by Michael Harris, dediciated and given to Helen M-T.
Her importance was not lost on either Sam Herman or Michael Harris. 

It might have helped if I had spelled her name correctly. Munro-Turner.
She famously wore a glass wedding dress. There's a bit about her in Scotland's Glass.
http://www.scotlandsglass.co.uk/cms/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=312&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6
Dennis Mann (proudly) uses her old lathe and gave a demonstration on it at the Edinburgh Conference.

eta. Interesting article here.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41809051

[Roobarb]

Thanks chopin-liszt.

I will try and add a picture of the vase in daylight tomorrow as think the colour in the photos I've shared isn't a good reflection of the piece. The body has a pink / purple tone

Going to research Sam Herman more as that seems like a possibility, unfortunately the pages showing photos of work at http://www.samueljherman.com/glass/index.html don't appear to be working at the mo.

[chopin-liszt]

It's not Sam's work. I promise you. 

[chopin-liszt]

I do kind of wish Frank would come along and comment on the marks on this. I think he knows a bit more about H. M-T and might have seen some of her blown work too.
I can't find any examples on-line myself.

[Frank]

Cannot help at all. But correct is Monro Turner, seem to recall Brian Blench confirming that at one point. As to Edinburgh Glass works, I would read Glass Works Edinburgh so Juniper is quite possible.

[Roobarb]

Thank you Frank. Will keep hold of this piece until I find out more