Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: Baked_Beans on January 19, 2010, 09:25:32 PM
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Has a polished base and is 3 1/4 inches high. Greeny blue has pinched in eyes (they look proud in the photo). Any ideas on the maker please. Ta, Mike.
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Need to see the base please
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looks very similar in colour and style to a little bird i had a few years back which was signed and for the life of me cannot remember who it was signed by, may have been joe something
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Pic . of penguin pposterior pplus pprofie :thup: Cheers, Mike.
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Is he possibly a Wedgwood second? Don't know if there is a Wedgwood penguin, but if there is, that shiny base with the small scar would make him one. Seconds are unmarked and the flaw is often that the pontil mark couldn't be completely removed.
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Ummm, Caithness seconds are quite often clearly marked, Christine :-* - with a thick CllG. It's often hard to tell what's actually wrong with them too.
The body of this penguin looks slightly Boffo-ish, but the head and beak don't. Sorry I can't be of more help. It's got me curious!
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I too thought it was Boffo-ish style and the colour looks a bit like Kingfisher Blue...but I read on WF.com that smaller penguin chicks were not in production and only made as one-off friggers . ::)
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Is he possibly a Wedgwood second?
Wedgwood seconds aren't marked though, I know, I pick them up for my sister. :kissy:
Anyone have the Susan Tobin book?
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Yes I have Susan's book - according to her listing the lilliput penguin was only made in clear. Also the photo of it (fig 15 doesn't look like this one - the beak is shorter). Jackie, West Oz
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sorry - clicked too soon - also the body on the wedgwood one is thickest at the base - graduates down. Jackie
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Thanks Jackie for your help, very kind :thup: Cheers, Mike .
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Pic of Whitefriars penguin
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-3300
Just a thought but Isle of Wight Studio Glass did produce their minimal series of animals in coloured glass without the Azurene finish in 1983 only, according to Mark Hill's book. Not having seen one I couldn't say whether it is or not. Also two ex-Wedgewood workers were employed to produce the range - could explain why it resembles a Wedgewood Penguin.
Hope this helps
Suzy x
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Hi Suzy,
Thanks for the info ! Could well be !
Here is a link to a Whitefriars 'frigger' . Probably or maybe after Boffo ?
The Penguin here (in this thread) is, I think, very thick Kingfisher Blue.....the flash doesnt show the green in the blue (but look at the beak you can see the green).... I'm 90 % sure that this penguin is Kingfisher Blue but Isle of Wight glass could well have made a very similar colour. The Penguin in this link is amber. What do you think ? Possibly a Whitefriars piece after Boffo...or perhaps not ! Could be I.O.W. ?
http://www.whitefriars.com/bb_orig/viewtopic.php?t=2995&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=lighting+pink
You have to scroll down to the the Penguin !!!! Cheers, Mike.
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I'm afraid I can't be of much more help on the Whitefriars side of things, very ignorant on most glass apart from Mdina and IoWSG.
Came across the image whilst trawling for pics and thought it might be relevant - found another Whitefriars one this morning.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art-of-glass/sets/72157617558316670/
The amber one in your post has flippers that reflex forwards, this might be a more distinct feature to compare to your blue one. The two Whitefriars images I found have no flippers.
Suzy x
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Hi Suzy,
Great pics of a WF penguin ...I think they are 6 inches in height ..would love to find one at a carboot ::)
I have limited knowledge in all areas of glass !! But it is an endlessly facinating subject and very difficult to attribute items sometimes ! This little chick being a case in point ! I see what you mean about the flippers .
Cheers, Mike.
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Hi Mike,
I have a similar blue penguin to yours, also a smaller one in amber both shown in the image below. Included in the image and on the right is one that I purchased from an ex Whitefriars worker ( Nashy ) who has attributed it to Boffo. The colour is a dense soda based amber used in lighting shades that were made using metal frames.
As mentioned the flippers in the larger 2 project forward and in the Boffo they face back. It is interesting that they all have random bubbles .
Regards,
Patrick.
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Thanks Patrick,
What a lovely line-up of penguins , looks like a scene from the Antarctic ! Yours do look distinctly different in certain ways but there are also similarities . Mine is made of lead crystal and doesn't have the bubbles. It does have a small hole in the base which could be a cut-off bubble.
I will bring it to Cambridge so that you can have a look and see what you think about the colour. It might be possible that it is WF, it certainly is very well modeled and looks like a really cute penguin chick. Cheers, Mike.