Topic: It's a mystery to me.

[essi]

Not sure what to make of this glass disc.
After a good look around the net i cant see anything close.
First thought was paperweight ?
Then linen smoother then maybe a muller for grinding solid paint.
The number on the base is a puzzle as well.
Any help gratefully appreciated.
It is 103mm in diameter and 51mm high.
Tim

[essi]

  could be major howler from me . looking more closely at the base and sides, that could be a very thick black glaze on a pottery body!
Sorry about that folks.
I would still be interested as to it's purpose but maybe put on the right forum
Tim

[NevB]

My guess would be it's a lid, possibly for something like a storage/tobacco jar, numbered to identify it as is done with decanter stoppers.

[chopin-liszt]

I wasn't brave enough to say that, because I couldn't see any wear around the bottom of the glaze.

It is very black and very shiney. And we all make mistakes. It's only bad when we don't find out or correct them, Tim.

[glassobsessed]

Linen smoother?

John

[Ivo]

You tie a linen cloth around it, soak it in ink and use it to ink copper etching/ engraving plates under pressure. There should be different sizes in a set and different curvatures to allow you to press ink into the shallower engraved parts.
Or it could be a blotter.

[essi]

Thanks all for your suggestions, and your kind words Sue. I will have a look around on the net later.
Probably far to ambitious to think it could be linen smoother https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQiPKJ67CGAxXrWEEAHZj4DTEQFnoECBcQAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglassmakers.co.uk%2Fmedievallinensmoothers.htm&usg=AOvVaw2XAPBxTFdYugre02WdbfQk&opi=89978449.
Tim

[chopin-liszt]

I like Ivo's suggestion. If a cloth were tied around it to hold ink, or a thick bit of felt for a blotter were attached, that would have protected the glaze from damage, as well as the base.

[flying free]

have a look on here - I have two of these and put them under a question about linen smoothers originally.  I decided they were paperweights and possibly pottery of some sort however I still think one of mine is obsidian.

I have an antique linen smoother which is glass like MoL 5500 here:
http://www.theglassmakers.co.uk/pdffiles/linensmoothers.pdf

So I attempted to use these two to see whether I thought they could smooth linen( actually ribbon smoothers were also used ) and decided they were the wrong shape.

I am very interested in Ivo's suggestion however I have two and the base of them is completely and utterly flat - hence me thinking they were paperweights not for smoothing anything.
I also don't know if they are pottery or glass.  I 'll try and find my thread on it.

Here's the thread where I've shown mine - I have two now:
https://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,63636.msg356979.html#msg356979


I've not noted it on that thread, but I'm pretty sure I came down on thinking they were paperweights via some research somewhere 

I do think at least one of the two I have could be obsidian.  It is extremely heavy like cast iron.  Is yours heavy?

[Ekimp]

I wonder how long the gilding would have lasted if these were used to do physical work like rubbing linen, grinding paint or applying ink? I think it would have rubbed off quite quickly from all the heavy handling, so they are probably just paperweights.

The concentric rings on the base of these items looks like they have been machined in some way on a lathe. Either that or they are mould marks from where the mould had been machined on a lathe, but I don’t think they are moulded. Flying Free’s example looks to have a small raised dimple in centre of the base which would be caused by the lathe tool not being set properly to the centre height of the lathe.

I don’t know too much about pottery but if you fire clay as thick as these, does it not have a tendency to explode as the moisture can’t escape from the middle? If these are pottery and the base isn’t glazed, they should be porous?