Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: chilternhills on March 04, 2022, 11:56:10 PM
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I bought this bowl not knowing anything about it. I was intrigued by the inscription. I discovered it comes from a poem, The Book of Thel, by William Blake dated 1789.
Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?
Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:
Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?
Or Love in a golden bowl?
I guess this bowl was made to give to a loved one, perhaps for an engagement, wedding, or anniversary. But actually the line "Love in a golden bowl" is not referring to romantic love. I leave that to you to investigate.
The bowl is 16 cm in diameter, 7 cm high, and is quite heavy for its size. There is a scrolled handle. In the centre the letters spell the word LOVE in fancy script. The letters around the rim and base of the bowl are engraved and infilled with gold. In the base most of the gilding for the word LOVE has worn away.
The attached foot has a smoothed out pontil mark and otherwise has almost no wear, which confused me somewhat. I cannot say whether the bowl is old or new. The bowl is not entirely smooth; there is a distinct ridge around the outside of the bowl about half way down. Whether the bowl was made in a mould or not I don't know.
Can anyone shed some light on who made this bowl and when it was made? Thanks.
Anton
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You have not mentioned the signature, a clear photo would help.
John
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Thanks John for pointing that out. I had missed the signature. It is extremely faint. I attach a couple of pictures. It;s the best I can do. The second word is 'Glass' but I can't make out the first word. Perhaps the first letter is an I.
I also add a close up of the fancy lettering to show the gold infilling of the engraving.
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Some talc or cinnamon rubbed over the signature would help bring it up.
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Twists?
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I don't think Mike Hunter does a surface decor using that plaster of paris type of underline with gold on top. But I bet he'd give it a go if somebody asked him.
All my bits just have sticky labels on though. No signatures for comparing.
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I agree with Sue that the bowl does not appear to be Mike Hunter's style. But you never know with one-offs, which I suspect this is.
By the way, there seems to be no plaster of Paris underline. The whitish appearance of the fancy lettering is just engraving cut through the amber surface colour to the clear underneath.The gold seems to be applied straight into the grooves.
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Does the celery type handle point to a date ?
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They are fairly common and widespread over both time and space.
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Really interesting reading interpretations of the meaning of the poem. I wonder if a silvered glass rod was also made with 'Wisdom in a silver rod'engraved on it as part of a sculptural set?
Lovely and interesting piece - great find.
The shape (although much bigger than the usual) reminds me of those American small bowls called 'nappies' I think ?
m
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oh, it's by Julian Cole :)
https://www.ocg.co.uk/member/julian-cole/
also here
https://www.gge.org.uk/memberdirectory/view/42
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Fantastic! Thank you. Julian Cole it seems to be. A first for this maker in our collection of British studio glass.
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He's just the engraver, not the glassmaker, as far as I can make out.
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That's right Sue (I think - although he has possibly also done some glassblowing looking at his website so there's a question over the maker who blew the piece). However clearly there are other bowls in the same shape and design on his website, so he can be contacted to ask him who made the glass :) Also his engraving is rather beautiful. I love the fish bowl and love his calligraphy and the way he uses the space so beautifully.
m
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I love the fish bowl too, but I know it's a fish and would really prefer the writing to be absent. I find it kind of insulting. ;)
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Depends what else is written around the edge of the bowl :) 'a fish' might just be part of the wording or phrase rather i.e. the only bit that shows in the photograph.
m
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Nope.
I don't want words in or on my art.
Those "Dance like nobody's looking!" sort of things have scunnered me beyond redemption. ;D
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder :) I love glass thoughtfully and creativelyengraved with words or geometric designs (meaning contemporary and random rather than the cut design of old such as fan/strawberry etc) but cannot stand glass engraved with pictures or flowers etc.
m
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:) :-*
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:-*
Although I love your rather special engraved piece - is it by Lesley Pike? (and of course, there's the small matter that rather bizarrely I do like enamelled glass, which I know is not to everyone's taste).
m
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Firstly, Julian Cole is female. A brief bio is here: https://www.juliancoleengraving.com/about.html (https://www.juliancoleengraving.com/about.html)
There is a similar bowl to mine but in blue with different lettering here: https://www.gge.org.uk/memberdirectory/view/42 (https://www.gge.org.uk/memberdirectory/view/42)
In another bio, Julian Cole says she attended glass blowing courses at the High Wycombe College of Glass and Ceramics: https://www.ocg.co.uk/member/julian-cole/ (https://www.ocg.co.uk/member/julian-cole/)
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Yes I did mention that in a previous post chilternhills.
But hopefully now you can contact the engraver and ask who made the actual glass as well.
m
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You did indeed previously mention those things. Thank you. My thought was to add the web links to make it clear where they came from.
I have just been informed that the bowl was made by Bob Crooks, while the engraving was done by Julian Cole.
As for lettering on glass, I personally quite like it. The museum has a couple of bowls by Karlin Rushbrooke with quotes from poetry on them, sandblasted rather than engraved. He created quite interesting effects by overlapping the text round the bowl and using a fluid font.
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Thanks for updating us :)
As an aside, huge fan of Karlin Rushbrooke here - have a number of pieces in my collection.
Anyway just to add for info on the GMB
Bob Crooks firstglass
Biog here:
https://www.bobcrooks.com/biography.html
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I have looked at the signature again and it says First Glass. I would have struggled to decipher it without that pointer.
I managed to speak with Julian Cole on the phone and she confirmed the bowl was made by Bob Crooks. She has been retired for quite a while. The last update on her web site is dated 2012.