Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: Baked_Beans on October 29, 2011, 05:08:11 PM
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This looks like an Angler fish ! Not signed to base but defo. Mdina colours . ( & I havn't mentioned the name Boffo at all !!) :wsh:
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The height to the top of the tail is 10cm. The lower lip is longer than the top one (it's not chipped) and there are two indented eyes which don't show in the photos. I've added a close shot of some bubbles.
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It's lovely, loads of character.
The swirly enamel colours in the base are a bit reminiscent of the ducks and fish that Patrick posted here: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,38461.0.html
The use of white enamel is not what I associate with Mdina from the time period you are interested in but it was used at Malta Decorative Glass and of course later at Mdina and no doubt at all the other glassworks in Malta. This whale has plenty of white (underneath all that amber): http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,40609.msg225043.html#msg225043
John
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Thanks John very much for your reply.
I'm glad you like it ! What struck me about it is how ugly the fish is. There is no attempt at making it look attractive for tourists to buy and yet it is artistic and different. The base of course reminded me of the Mdina horses . Interesting to know about the use of white on Malta. I know ,to sart with, a limited range of colours were imported into Malta when Mdina first started.
I've managed to buy a copy of Mark Hill's book (Michael Harris, Mdina Glass & Isle of Wight Studio Glass) at an antique's fair in Bristol and had a long chat with Ron Wheeler who was kind enough to spend some time with me, which really has boosted an interest in this area . It's all very intrigueing !
ta again, Mike.
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Not an ugly fish at all, very pretty. ;D
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Far nicer than the 'orrible 'orses!
(But it's absolutely not a frigger. Friggers are novelty pieces, made by apprentices in much older times, to show off their skills in guild and trade parades.)
John, if Vicente Boffo didn't leave until '77, he could have encountered white enamel at Mdina.
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Hi Mike, 'frigger' can be interpreted in many ways, novelty items like walking sticks and glass slippers, oversized/undersized items in non- catalogued sizes or colours are often described 'friggers' made by the blowers at the end of the day maybe with left over glass sometimes to test their skills or just to create a 'one off' for themselves and many 'unfinished' pieces disappeared at the end of the shift and turned up for sale down the pub and are now be found in many collections.
Mick Payne of Whitefriars showing off some of his unique 'friggers'
http://www.whitefriars.com/bb_orig/viewtopic.php?t=4306&highlight=frigger
Another frigger......
http://www.whitefriars.com/bb_orig/viewtopic.php?t=3613&highlight=frigger
Dave Nash another W/f blower describing his friggers
http://www.whitefriars.com/my_photo.php?Owner=Dave+Nash&Id=3703
And again describing another of his friggers.....
http://www.whitefriars.com/my_photo.php?Owner=Dave+Nash&Id=3704
A link to his gallery here includes some Boffo pieces I know will interest you.
http://www.whitefriars.com/my_gallery.php?Owner=Dave+Nash
Chris
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Ta Sue & Chris,
Love Wolfie's ' Fab Frigger Fest '...what a feast !! I think friggers must be born out of the bordom of mass production ....as highlighted by that old counter (made in Bristol, U.S.A. ) !
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No, they're not born out of boredom, honest - they were to show off the skills of the apprentices. Other things are one-offs or experimental pieces.
However, wfs afficionados do seem to use "frigger" to refer to one-offs and experimental bits as well.
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And I was just about to ask what the term Frigger meant, now it is all crystal clear....I thnk! :-[
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Hi Sue & Rosie,
I would guess at the end of a day of blowing 100 identical goblets , with all the stress and heat of production it would be nice to wind-down, relax and express ones artistic prowess with some left-over glass. That's my view of the word frigger. As you say, not the original meaning of the word I guess. Cheers, Mike
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I used these as an example they are actually the words of renowned Whitefriars workers such as Dave Nash and Mick Payne not mine.
It's a word I and many others have used for longer than I care to remember and crops up regularly in the glass trade Victorian frigger, Nailsea frigger, and even Waterford frigger...
http://www.martindwyer.com/m/archives/archive.php?f=000790.html
Locally called foreigners, homers whimsies etc probably made for different reason some to sell on so they often never reached the finishing stage and often turn up later with unfinished bases and has with Whitefriars a lot of them were catalogued pieces in non catalogue colours or sizes.
Chris
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At Mdina , the Boffos were allowed to use the glassmaking facilities in their own time, during which they made (according to Mark's book, p.25) "whimsical animals and small functional pieces such as jugs", which they sold privately through a shop in Valetta.
There's a bright yellow streak in your angler fish, a colour I am only used to seeing in early Phoenician Glass.
I didn't notice it before!
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Thanks Sue,
There is yellow, white, blue and red as far as I can see. I will assume it's Phoenician then. :)
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And absolutely nothing wrong with that! Phoenician is still highly under-rated, (IMNSHO!) and while similar designs to those produced at Mdina were made - it has developed it's own style very nicely since.
I forgot to add - your reasoning that makers got fed up with making the same thing over and over, to exact specifications, was actually the reason the Boffos left WFs and went to Mdina. They wanted to be able to do something a bit more individual. ;D
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The sense of freedom that they must have had escaping from London and arriving in sunny Malta must have been enormous ....I'm sure there is a film in this story 8)