Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: Greg. on September 24, 2011, 03:56:22 PM
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Hi All,
Thought these two new early Mdina Bottles which I've just acquired deserved a showing.
Delightful colours and early button rims, small pontil scar to base, although no ground polished pontil mark which is the case with many of these bottles.
Please Enjoy
Greg
:sun:
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Scrumptious!
Apart from the obvious rectangular blue one, are these all square based or are any slightly rectangular?
(I ask, because my one with the high slopey shoulders is rectangular)
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They are indeed scrumptious, can't get enough of them!
All of these tall bottle are all square shaped, I know what you mean about the slightly rectangular ones, I've seen one or two around, kind of a cross between the rectangular and square ones.
To date these were the first I've encountered with button rims, I was expecting them to have a ground concave pontil mark when I lifted them up, but just a flat polished base, with faint pontil scar.
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I've got a rectangular blue one, with a button-on-a-spout rim, and my off-square slopey shoulder one has a sort of thick cup-shaped rim, (and a polished flat base), but I have no pure buttons.
The slopey one is slope-ier when turned 90 degrees around, it's the wide side facing you.
I've also got 3 very short ones - one blue, one tortoiseshell and one red and brown swirly. They're the only ones I've seen. John suspects they could be post-Harris - I'm not so sure, but perhaps that's my bias 'cos they're mine! ;D
here's three of mine - including the thick cup-rim one. I'll have to get pics of the short ones and my rectangular one.
The really tall one has a cork stuck insdie it. I don't know how it got in, I don't know what idiot put it in and I can't get it out.
Naturally, this was something omitted by the seller when I bought it.
Does anybody ever ask a seller if there is something strange stuck inside anything they buy? :spls:
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Sue - I remember that picture of the cup-rim one, certainly does seem very unusual.
If you get a spare moment I would be keen to see a picture of the others you mention, especially the rectangular one with the button on a spout rim!
I see what you mean about the cork, that's a bit frustrating to say the least, especially the seller not mentioning it. I must admit its not a question that I have thought of asking a seller before!
Talking of unusual or slightly different pieces of Mdina. Have you ever come across a Mdina pulled ear jug before! I've attached a link below, I nearly purchased it, purely because of its uniqueness!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250888962865?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1202
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No, that's a new shape to me!, Greg.
I do have a pulled ears vase which has the same sort of horizontal yellow stripe pattern across it - it's a later one - the blue is decidedly jewell-like and the rim is very widely flared.
But if this is a jug, I'd have thought it would be one of the Boffo-made things.....
I do have an ochre and blue vertical stripey bottle with a spout, no handle.
Promise to try to get pics soon!
I've been having trouble with focussing on things which are too bit for the flower (s) setting and have to go to the flower on its own....... the pics I take are all fuzzy......
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Not really sure about this shape, looks like a jug without its handle. I would guess it falls into the artistic licence bracket, perhaps it was originally going to be a pulled ear vase which went astray and was rescued and converted into a jug. I suspected it was later in date due to the colour, still I bet your'd be hard pushed to find another!
:)
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The available info is that the Boffos made small animally things and pwts and jugs in their own time using the facilities at Mdina, but sold them through the shop in Valetta for themselves, rather then the Mdina shop. I'm not sure if your "gone wrong" idea is very valid.... :spls:
I've got two cocktail jugs! I don't know if the swizzle sticks belong - the twisted one came with the jug, but could have come from anywhere. The horrid horse head thing is something I just stuck in the jug - I got it seperately.
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I do recall reading about the Boffos selling some items through the shop in Valetta. Perhaps the jug above does fall within that bracket....., I certainly haven't seen anything like your cocktail jugs before, they are more rather unusual pieces of Mdina. Do you surmise they also may have been produced by the Boffos and sold out of the Valetta shop...?
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I'm clueless about that, Greg! The shape is similar to a cocktail jug made at wfs, but they're bigger than most of the things I thought came under the ageis of being the Boffo bits sold at Valetta.
The very mottled one is mottled in a way I associate with being distinctive of Vicente Boffo's work at Malta Decorative Glass, or of his work at Mdina too, while the other one is a jewell-like blue, indicative of being later in date - but with a wonderful big streak of mirrory iridesence, possibly indicative of earlier...... :spls: :spls: :spls:
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Some pics.
Stripey jug. It's cased in blue glass.
Button on a spout rimmed wide blue textured.
Three short bottles, with the texture and widths of the big ones.
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Thanks for adding the pics Sue.
The stripey jug is slightly different to what I had envisaged. The blue casing is also unusual, lovely item all round, I would gladly make space for it!
The wide textured flask, looks similar to mine, until you get to the top, I've never come across a button on a spout like that before! In many ways part of the joy of collecting is finding/ coming across slightly unusual or different pieces.
I saw one of the short textured bottles in blue for sale online a while back, they don't seem to come up that often. I didn't realise that they were the same width as the larger bottles, were these ever intended to come with stoppers, or was this another case of the stopper being optional when purchasing...?
You've certainly got a good cross section of items in your collection Sue. :thup:
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:24: That is the blue one you saw recently. I got the other two a long, long time ago.
These three are the only ones I know of, I've never seen any others.
Obviously, more may crawl out of the woodwork now.
I've got one of the mini-doorstops (not a pwt, and not a pawn from any chess set obviously, given I don't have pwts. :angel:) which also has a blue casing. It is a slightly unusual feature to find.
I really like that every bit is so individually different from every other. :smg:
I don't think the bottles might have had stoppers, but you never know. The necks of them are much, much wider than most other bottles, which did come with optional stoppers.
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Small world! :)
Your new short blue bottle, should now be in good company! I was fairly close to bidding on it at one point, although no doubt run out of funds buying another piece of Mdina! Pleased its gone to a good home!
The short bottles look good together, I think I have a problem about buying things in threes, sure its something to do with symmetry when displaying them!
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Not much I can add to this thread other than ooos, aahs and multiple :mrgreen: s
Quite a bit of Mdina is cased in blue - most if not all of the ming patterned bits, a couple of examples here: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,39545.0.html
A few more bottles for the recycling bin below:
John
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My tall ones and my amethyst one are all on the top shelves at the back of my display shelves - they're currently out of reach... I like the wee pots too - and how different they are all from each other. I don't have an amethyst wee pot. Some creep had the cheek to outbid me. :grrr:
I had of course, completely forgotten Ming is, obviously, blue cased. :ooh:
Greg, I find I like pairs - with something different in the middle, for display purposes.
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John - the amethyst bottle is very nice indeed, especially with those flecks of yellow. Don't see many of those around!
If you ever need the recycling emptying just let me know :)
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Well as we're sharing pics here's my textured trio(ish).
Suzy xxx
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very nice indeed. :)
Where are all of these large amethyst bottles...can't seem to track one down for the life of me :huh:
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Sue, noticed this large Mdina amethyst trailed attenuated bottle sold in the US last year....wondered if it was one you were aware off in circulation..
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7346187
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Ummm - I don't know, Greg! It loooks very like the one Ron sold - cased, signed and the strappy bits look very similar.
I can't currently fiddle with my computery bits to get it to allow me to get two different windows open on the pc at the same time to do a detailed comparison between the two.
They're getting dreadfully common, aren't they? :thud:
Now up to 6 - and if this is a different one - 7 known!
But does it count as the same thing if some are cased and others aren't?
Mine isn't. And it's strappy bits are better than any others I've seen, so I don't care that it isn't pawmarked on it's bum.
It's "signed" all the way through, from the bottom of the base to tip of the top. :smg:
I'm afraid amethyst textured bottles are far more scarce than blues. Not easy to get your sticky mitts on at all.
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Whether cased or uncased still scarce things, I won't use the R word as I know your not overly keen on it. :)
I think I could live without a signature on any of these bottles, as you say some pieces have the Harris hand all over without being signed.
I wonder what the production ratio of amethyst textured bottles to blue bottles were...? They are definitely thin on the ground. I remember a really unusual amethyst small vase for sale online around a year or two ago, which had green trailing round the outside, another occasion of getting outbid I'm afraid. Haven't seen anything like it since, although I live in hope!
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Are you referring to the Amethyst "seaweed" bell-jar Suzy got?
The "seaweed" description is entirely mine, hence no capitalisation.
All seaweed patterned stuff is scarce - but then, if you think about the early Mdina stuff - it's all relatively scarce - it refers to the first 3 and a bit years of Michael Harris' works, and that of the few folk working with him. There's only so much can be made by a few folk in that short period of time.
This is my amethyst seaweedy bell jar.
ps, you can use the r-word if you like Greg - no need to mind your language around me. I'm a big girl - I can take it. :smg:
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Thanks for the picture, I do like those, the seaweed description is a good one. The vase I was referring to was different, a small amethyst textured vase like mine in the attached photo, but had green trailing all over the body, the trailing was quite thin around 2mm and like pipped raised icing. I've never seen anything like it before. From memory sold for around £120, a rare thing indeed!
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Mdina never used green glass (certainly not in the early days, despite there being green mentioned in Mark's book - I suspect that mistake might be because Mark had seen some Malta Decorative Glass in green, before it got identified as being MDG.)
Sometimes, a green is the result of a patch of clear yellowy-ochre appearing over a bit of blue glass.
The trailing on the pot you mention would probably have been the colours achieved by interactions of the silver chloride and glass in the heat, I think.
I don't have an amethyst textured pot. (pout) ;)
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Its just the large amethyst bottles that I never seem to come across.. :)
My small pot has a delightful streak of iridescence that twirls completely around the vase from top to bottom, taken a few shots showing all sides with the flash on:
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:love: :love: :love:
dribble, dribble.
My massive amethyst one has paler iridesence all over - but flash is needed to bring it out better in pics.
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What Ho! I mentioned in a previous Seahorse thread that i have just been to Mdina Glass and chatted with Joseph Said. In the outlet shop in Mdina town (not the craft village where Mdina glass is) I took 9 photos of pictures on the wall of Michael Harris etal making 1 of the textured mould blown square bottle vases. Ill get them up on here if you like ;) Wolfie
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Wolfie - Just noticed the response to the other thread, thanks for the confirmation on the dates, very useful to know.
As for the pictures I would love to see them and am sure everyone else would also.
:)
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Yes indeedy!
It would seem you have had the most successful time anybody has ever had with Mr. Said with getting hold of info - I can't thank you enough for your trouble. :sun: :smg: :sun:
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What Ho Sue! Ah, thanks. I can assure it was a total pleasure.
Ive just been looking at the Harris pics and they will be up in the next hour. I'm afraid they are not the best due to the reflection of glass but you can get the general idea from them. Im going to use Tinypics to put them up, hope no one minds as there is 9 of them. Im signed in to Tinypics and the pics will never disappear.
Edited - I meant to put this on the Mdina bottles thread, if it could be moved?
Mod: moved over for you as requested
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Here we go then, again apologies for the quality of these. I'm not sure who the other people are in the pics? Wolfie
Preparing the gather,
(http://i56.tinypic.com/r0yps6.jpg)
Lowering into the mould,
(http://i51.tinypic.com/2ihuxyx.jpg)
Blowing the glass,
(http://i56.tinypic.com/abry11.jpg)
Michael Harris in the chair,
(http://i54.tinypic.com/13zsb6c.jpg)
(http://i54.tinypic.com/16a7dba.jpg)
(http://i52.tinypic.com/zlrl09.jpg)
Finishing off in the glory hole,
(http://i53.tinypic.com/10yjuok.jpg)
(http://i54.tinypic.com/5egvug.jpg)
(http://i52.tinypic.com/krnr5.jpg)
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Fascinating images Wolfie, thanks for adding them.
:sun:
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They really are, aren't they?
As much as anything - I'm surprised to see Michael Harris' picture being on the walls there at all.
I had thought he had been quite effectively sidelined from the Studio's history. :pb:
Wolfie - you have brought back an absolute treasurehouse of info. :smg:
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Wow! that's great to see those pictures of the piece being made. How lovely that they are up at Mdina, and how generous of Joseph Said to share time for you to talk :sun:
m
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What a great thread this is ! First time I have read it ! Wolfie's links (for photos) now only work if you 'left click 'n' hold down' which auto copies to Google search bar (if you have it up permanently) .
Sue !... are you sure your swizzle stick isn't a Boffo ?!
Thanks all for a superb topic ...really enjoyed reading it !
Ta, Mike.
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Wolfies pics don't work for me at all now :'(
m
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If you go to the Google website it should ask you if you want to set it up as a tool bar (or words to that effect) . I'm with Virgin and also have Google search as a feature at the top of my screen. If you left click and hold down (don't copy the curvy brackets) it auto copies (Wolfie's links) to the Google tool bar at the top of your screen (if you have it set up). Then just click Google search button and the photo(s) should show !
Hope this helps ! Ta Mike.
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You can just copy and paste the links into a new tab or window
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What Ho! I think the GMB site has changed and doesnt allow this type of image any more :(
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It doesn't allow externally hosted pictures. Links to pictures are OK but attaching to the board is much better.
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What Ho! Thats all well and good but when you have a lot of interesting pics to show attaching to the board is very time consuming as they all have to resized and you can only do 4 at a time. Bit silly if you ask me, why cant you not have external hosted pics, whats wrong with it? Wolfie
sorry if im going off topic
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Images attached to the board will be permanent, externally hosted images have the tendency to disappear. Four images per post also forces you to be selective and cut out the 'pictorial waffle'. :-X
Your images are fine Wolfie, the new hosting of the board has caused a few problems and somehow added brackets around your links, a moderator will probably sort them out when there is time (I assume). In the meantime they can be accessed by highlighting the link, right clicking and then choosing the option "open link in a new tab or window".
John