Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: suzygpr on March 09, 2010, 03:34:20 PM
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Just collected this from a localish seller - only a 3 hour round trip! Seriously chuffed and well worth the petrol money instead of trusting it to the postal system - and the packaging horrors I've had lately.
It's a whopper at just over 10" tall and 9" wide - it weighs 7.5 pounds!!! Do you think it qualifies as the biggest paperweight?
Suzy x
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oooooohhhhhhhhhh nice :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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Show off, you would never catch me doing that. >:D
:hiclp: :hiclp:
John
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>:D
She did it exactly the same way with me John - not a mention, just the tell-tale pic. of the base.
But I knew. I heard her screaming from all the way from up here! :24:
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Evil cackle gloat gloat >:D :angel: >:D
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I thought I'd let you discover the signature, just like I did when I picked it up. Not really being evil, just a bit sneaky ;D
Suzy xxx
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Did you manage to keep schtum in front of the seller????
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Well done :clap: :clap:
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They knew it was signed, but not that it was a rarity, and I did help by IDing a couple of other bits they were thinking of selling. It's not my fault that hardly anyone else spotted it and I was the only one that bid! :angel:
Suzy xxx
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:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Not on Fleabay, surely ! :o :'( :'(
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'Twas ebay Andy - it got past you then? Ask me really nicely and I'll pop the listing on for you, but be warned it might make you want to vomit! You looked a nasty shade of green earlier, I wouldn't want to make you feel worse!
Suzy x
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I know i saw a few lately, but i just skimmed through them , i think i remember one ,
just said , signed . shame they didnt add a photo, well, not for you though ;D
Enjoy it,
Andy
:-*
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No, can't have been that one - no mention of a sig in listing.
Suzy x
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Go on then - tell Andy how much it was, just make sure he's sitting down, and has a sick bag beside him........
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OK. Andy are you sitting down, got a bucket handy?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140387404983&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
I know I'm unlikely to ever have another 'find' like this, but at least it shows it's still possible, even on ebay!
Suzy x
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What was your Max bid on it? Cant wait to tell Ron Artius Glass
Mike www.abfabglass.co.uk
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Well, it was considerably higher than £15! I have only seen a few signed sculptures at glass fairs, way beyond my pocket, so I know how lucky I was to get this one.
Suzy x
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Well done. :hiclp: :chky:
They are out there you just have to be tenacious in your quest for these bargains.
Mike www.abfabglass.co.uk
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Andy's obviously thrown himself in the lake at the back of his garden :24:
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Oh no, what have I done!! :huh: :cry:
Suzy x
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He might just be busy of course. >:D
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No , dont remember it,
I havent got a sculpture, not overly keen on most , but i do have to say yours is 'different', i suppose its
because its by Michael. Youre a lucky girl ;D
:mrgreen:
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The big sculptures are in a different league to the smaller knots (they're tourist pieces really). My sculpture is fairly small compared to most, the ones I've seen at glass fairs were over a foot tall and extremely heavy, but it is unusual in that it has two "portholes" - an area of blown glass that gives the effect of a lens, either deliberately done (though how when it was made on a marver I don't know) or a happy coincidence of trapped air blowing it's own shape when it expanded with the heat of the glass. As I am fairly ignorant on the technical side of the making I would love some input from others.
Mark Hill has a couple of lovely examples in his book, pg34/5 and their prices were a bit of a surprise too - £4-600!
Suzy x
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Rare thing - nice find :-) Well spotted...good old Fleabay and a few hours to spare!
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Hi Mark
I'd love your thoughts on the 'portholes', have you noticed them on other sculptures, do you think they are a happy accident of trapped air or a deliberate blown lens?
Suzy x
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I'm not sure - with studio glass, anything is possible. It may have been a 'happy accident' in that they became apparent somehow, so were incorporated. I'd usually associate the lens motif and its optical effects with central European (especially Czech) glass design of the period. I'm not really aware of lenses being used in any other Harris designs - applied/impresed prunts, polished bases and pontils, and the odd cut facet or two - yes. Even though Michael Harris did meet a couple of visiting Czech glass designers (including Jiri Harcuba) at the RCA, it's probably more of a happy accident, or maybe a trial, than anything else.
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Do your "lenses" actually DO lens-y (optical) things, Suzy?
For example, my cobalt faceted inside-out does strange things to my thumb or finger when I put it inside the vase, then look through the clear bit - my digit seriously seems to shrink.
(My Dad always used to say this was how to catch dragons. :thup: Look at them through a telescope the wrong way round, then, when it's miniaturised and has it's mouth wide open (which it will, it's attacking you) shove your arm in, past it's tonsils, right up to the tail, grab the end and yank hard and fast, turning it inside out. The mess can be easily lept in a match box until you find a proper bin.)
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I'll have to take your word for it about the dragons Sue - here in Wales we tend to let them live!
I'll see if I can take a pic tomorrow that shows the porthole/lens effect. It's not very thick glass where it has ballooned, so doesn't have a huge effect, they are rather organic too. You may have to wait until you see it for yourself.
Suzy xxx
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Here's the shot through the "porthole". Not much distortion but you can see the effect it has on the straight bits of the fence, very little effect on the hill in the background. Definitely more of a window than a lens.
Suzy xxx
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That would be lovely for next year's calendar :hiclp: :hiclp:
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Thanks Christine! I'll take one with a nicer view through the hole for the calender though - perhaps one of my guinea pigs, Lily is an old girl so a blue rinse would suit her very well!
Suzy xxx