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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: Mike Morgan on November 23, 2007, 11:08:26 AM

Title: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
Post by: Mike Morgan on November 23, 2007, 11:08:26 AM
I picked this weight up on eBay a couple weeks ago, and have had no luck deciphering the signature, or even finding an artist with a similar style.

My take on the signature:
  • a first initial of P
  • first letter of the last name is likely a B, but coworkers can see a K or an R
  • the next three peaks, I think, are a U, and an I or E. {I think this because if you look at the bottom of what think is the I or E, the stroke changes direction purposefully, as if defining a separate letter -- versus the letter before it, which has "curves" rather than "points".}
  • the tall letter, I think, is almost definitely an F. It's nearly invisible in the photo, but that letter extends nearly twice as far below as it does above (almost to the bottom of the date), and then loops away from the date and begins heading upward and toward the next letter -- it would trace like an elongated figure-8.
  • I think the last letter is an R, and the next-to-last may be an A

  • Alas, all the (bizarre) names that resulted from my amateur sig-detective impressions produced nothing when paired with "glass" or with "paperweight" in Google.

    I'm stumped & stymied. Any help you folks can provide is appreciated. Thanks.

    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: RAY on November 23, 2007, 05:00:29 PM
    looks like P BUCKMAN
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: shandiane78 on November 23, 2007, 08:59:24 PM
    P Budmar?
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: KevinH on November 23, 2007, 11:09:41 PM
    P Kudurus? For first letter after the P, the upper "loop" looks more like an intended retrace of the right-hand upstroke for a K but which has developed with natural movement into a slight loop. The lower right "loop" of that letter looks much like a natural sweep from the downstroke of the K into the following letter, which, from the flow of the script, I see a a "u". The letter before the last one could be an "o" rather than a "u" - which which gives "Kuduros".

    Or ... none of the above ::)

    Edited to add:
    I forgot to say that the basic design concept of the weight reminds me of some (recent) work from Romania.
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Mike Morgan on November 24, 2007, 11:51:08 PM
    Thank you the help. I'm still stuck, though, and not quite convinced that tall letter is a "d". A part of the sig didn't photograph well and I don't think I explained it well, either. So, I tried to paintbrush in the missing portion with the touchpad on my laptop.

    Thanks for the Romanian tip, I'll start looking for similar eastern European works and artists to see if that brings me any closer. It's a really odd piece -- ugly at first glance, but then kind of grows on you.

    If I find the artist, I'll be sure to post it here for future reference. Which make me wonder: is there and online repository for samples or scans of PW artists' signatures?

    Any ideas how it might've been made? The design portion, judging from the bottom view, seems to be a tube of off-white. Perhaps various colors were repeatedly layered upon each other and cut down somehow?

    Anyway, here's the modified sig...
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: karelm on November 26, 2007, 02:58:26 PM
    Mike,
    make a rubbing of the signature and post that, it might be clearer.  (Pencil, piece of paper and rub the pencil across the signature until you get a imprint of the signature)
    Kind regards,
    KarelM
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Lustrousstone on November 26, 2007, 04:06:33 PM
    Or apply talc to the base and blow it off so it sticks in the signature
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: KevinH on November 26, 2007, 11:50:35 PM
    Just for additional info, here's the Romanian weight that I have which I was reminded of when I saw the style of design in Mike's piece:

    The weight (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pid=8794&fullsize=1).
    The full signature  (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pid=8793&fullsize=1) (using the talc highlight method).
    Can you decipher that signature without first looking at the image of the label? Have a go.
    To make it a bit easier (?) here's the three parts individually ...
    Part one (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pid=8792&fullsize=1)
    Part two (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pid=8791&fullsize=1)
    Part three (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pid=8790&fullsize=1)
    Any ideas yet?

    OK, here's the label (http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-8795). [Note the spelling of "Colection"]

    I find it fascinating to try to decipher script signatures, and then see that much of what I thought was way off the mark! By the way, the first part of the signature line actually says "Design".

    Now, I'm not saying that Mike's piece is by the same maker as mine, but the working is similar in some respects. I think Mike's was formed by first covering a white core with coloured frit then forming it into a sort of spiral or screw thread. Next a couple of thick lengths of multi-coloured twist canes, enclosed in clear, were shaped into a rectangular tube and then laid over the core, up one side, over the top and down the oppsite side. The whole is then covered in clear and finsihed to the dome shape.

    My weight was based on an art glass sculpture which used the two intertwined twists but was not covered in clear. The weight was an extension of this but adding a clear dome around the sculpture - which is where the large air bubble came in near the base (not easy to avoid when encasing that design).

    Another point about my weight is that I bought it as an example of that Romanian work, which was sold in the UK through the TK Maxx store (the weight still has the store label and price on the base). However, at the time, another weight of this form was sold through the now infamous "Chris M" eBay sales and was falsely signed as being from a "more collectable" source.
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: antiquerose123 on December 11, 2007, 09:23:42 AM
    I too will give a try.....P. Bucfinar....or P. Bucfmar   :huh:   

    While hunting, I found this site.....BUT may help for something else... 
    http://seekersglass.com/artists/a-b_photos.htm

    Maybe you guys (and gals) know about this site already...sorry if I have re-posted something... :spls:
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Mike Morgan on December 26, 2007, 12:46:24 PM
    Still no luck. I've tried hundreds of (or nearly a hundred) combinations of letters for last names beginning with B, K, and R.  :hb1:

    I've also not been able to find any other weights similar-enough to it to provide more info to search with. Is there a common name for the "giant watermelon seed" shape? "Truncated oval discoid" just doesn't seem right!

    I've since acquired two more unusual weights -- think my collection theme has chosen me rather than the other way around -- that I'll post as soon as I snap some pics.
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Sklounion on January 06, 2008, 09:09:09 PM
    Hi,
    On the basis of something seen on the Mont Blue website, I will ask to see the current output from Beranek, Skrdlovice, next week. I have a meeting just 7km from the factory, so will make a small detour, just to confirm or deny that this is from their current range.
    Regards,
    Marcus
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Mike Morgan on September 15, 2009, 03:35:37 PM
    This is just a bump to see if there might be any fresh insights on this and one other unidentified weight.

    I started a Flickr photo set with these two weights that might offer somewhat better images.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-morgan/sets/72157622342040656/

    With the other (triangular) weight, I saw a nearly identical weight, except clearly dated '99 instead of '94, on ebay a while back, so I am sure mine was not a one-off piece.

    Thank you all.
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Sach on September 15, 2009, 06:45:43 PM
    Any ideas how it might've been made? The design portion, judging from the bottom view, seems to be a tube of off-white. Perhaps various colors were repeatedly layered upon each other and cut down somehow?


    First layer is white or ivory ( could be solid but probably is powder melted over a gather of clear )
    then rolled in mixed color frit and melted in
    next a a wrap of clear class is applied over some of the frit area
    this is then heated and the piece blocked / marvered back into a round shape with a smooth exterior (this creates the "carved out" areas as the clear wrap pushes down into the color below.)
    a pair of twisted canes are picked up and melted over the top
    finally a gather of clear is applied and shaped for the final finish.
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Mike Morgan on September 15, 2009, 07:06:20 PM
    Thank you, Sach. As I read your post, I could envision that process making this weight... not an easy feat for a writer considering how little I know about working with glass.

    Assuming this weight was planned and not a let's-try-this-that-and-the-other-and-see-what-we-get project, your reply leads me to believe that I probably should be looking for this signature among experienced glass artists (not necessarily specific to paperweights) versus someone who may have only briefly dabbled in glass work. Is that a reasonable assumption?

    Does anyone know of any artists that often create these sort of paddle/beavertail-shaped weights who I might contact for advice?
    Title: Re: ID Help w/ signed abstract PW
    Post by: Sach on September 16, 2009, 12:19:34 AM
    None of this is technically complex, any glassblower of intermediate skill could have made such a weight.