Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: Patrick on October 26, 2014, 04:45:03 PM
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Hi,
Please could anyone point me to the maker of this 8.5 inch high vase. Lots of bubble streaming in the casing.
This picture is a close up...........
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I don't think the pics provided by the seller are good enough for anybody to be positive, Patrick.
It might be best to wait until you actually have it and can take your own pics.
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Im sure if somebody has an similar vase this pic would be plenty good enough to recognise it :)
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Here is another pic, Im sure Patrick wont mind me putting it up.
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I've seen all the pics provided by the seller in the auction, but some sort of image enhancing thing has been done, I suspect, because I cannot make out how the enamels are "working" together inside the pattern.
They go all blurry, despite the tiny bubbles in the casing all being quite obvious.
There are other makers who do things which are often mistaken for Earthtones, (for example, Besmo), I just cannot be sure about this particular piece.
I'm fairly confident it will be fine, and either Mdina or MDG, I just cannot see clearly enough to say so with 100% certainty.
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Hi Sue,
Yes you were good enough to answer my questions before I bought it............ If it arrives before the glass fair I will bring it with the chalice for you to have a look at .
Best wishes,
Patrick.
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It's location, it's complete shape, and the heat-finished rim all lead me to suspect it will be absolutely fine. :)
But perhaps it would be better to post a link to the auction here, rather than posting the seller's images, unless you have permission to post them? The board could get into copyright trouble.
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I think when you see it it will look more like this?
https://plus.google.com/photos/107067405711297858658/albums/5798389320540696673
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Hi WhatHo,
Yes I think you have answered it...............
The seller is happy with me using his pics..
Here is an UN-ENHANCED pic.
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What about this piece? Also what does it say on the base, is that a date? 2007? What date is the date of this piece?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171509854810
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That is decidedly new-ish, it's the contemporary very "flat" sort of decor inside; the "yellow" tends to be a pale cream, the browns decidedly brown, no reds. Even if you don't recognise the new execution of the pattern, it's easily identifiable by the late mark on the base and the plastic label, which puts it into the '90s.
Nothing to do with any Boffo, just a contemporary take on one of the original Harris designs which is still made today, as is "Crystal Blue Stripe" which originally had no name, and Marble, the new "take" on Dobson's Tiger.
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Hi Sue, I knew it was nothing to do with Boffo but do you think it is then contemporary with Patricks lollipop, ie not MDG but late Mdina? also what is that number on the base? Also i can see quite a bit of red in that vase?
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I haven't a clue about the lollipop. We need to wait until it arrives and decent pics can be taken which show how the enamels work, also so that Patrick can get a good feel for it.
The many bubbles in the casing would suggest early rather than current for the lollipop, but I honestly cannot be 100% certain without better images.
I hope the lollipop is going to turn out to be early Mdina or MDG, I'm fairly sure it will, but until I can see better images, there is no point in speculating.
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Hi Sue,
Thank you for your considered reply and it gives me hope............... I can see why 'WhatHo' provided the link to that Ebay sale and I had not spotted the casing lacked the 'Streamed Bubbles'.
Today I realized that I am not going to be able to come to the fair......... I am really upset about that, but can do nothing about it. :( :( :(
Best wishes,
Patrick.
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My only real but very small worry is that it might turn out to be a good piece of contemporary Chinese - something completely and outrageously wrong, that just happens to mimic the Boffo style of Earthtones.
The photos really worry me. I don't like them, but if I had beeen interested in it, I'd have taken the risk, especially for only E50.
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WhatHo! the Mdina vase you link to with numbers on it read 6007.
I don't know anything about this glass but to me that lollipop colour doesn't look anything like the link you provide here :-\
https://plus.google.com/photos/107067405711297858658/albums/5798389320540696673
the colours in the vase linked are paler whereas the lollipop shape vase is more toffee coloured throughout. Also the vase linked has some lovely meshy bubble type effect in whereas the lollipop doesn't appear to have that effect.
I'm really looking forward to seeing fresh pics of the lollipop to see how close it is to the vase you linked with new pics :)
Photography can be really weird and I just can't see the same decor 'effect' between them though I can see they are both similar decor if you see what I mean.
m
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For the record the one in the google link is to my Picasa album I know longer have the piece but in my humble opinion it is a Boffo piece Patrick.
Chris
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Here's his brother I will add the photos permanently for the record think you can see the lines better in this one m :)
A quick word of warning when buying Patrick they both sold for 'peanuts' cost more to ship them.
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The one in the link
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Lovely pictures Chris and thank you for adding them to the board :)
In both those pieces I can see lovely swirly mesh effect and a subtle ochre colour.
I wonder if the lollipop will show those effects when it arrives and is rephotographed. I just couldn't see those effects in it. It looked more flat toned and looked as though it had more toffee colour inside the squares if you see what I mean.
m
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I am sure the lollipop [wish someone would have made a better name for it] is right thought must agree the photos are really weird maybe they are scans?
Did you buy it the U.K Patrick ?
Chris
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Hi,
Well I am in glass heaven....... :)
The vase has arrived and is 100% MDG in my opinion. It is identical in colour to a piece I have with an MDG label. It also has the slightly unusual flatting finish on the base that is found on MDG pieces.
It came with a handwritten label on the base that said Malta 2002. I suspect that was put on after a trip to Malta.
Here is link to the large image https://plus.google.com/photos/103806320272106271096/albums/6077506312404706417/6077506318413685746?banner=pwa&pid=6077506318413685746&oid=103806320272106271096
Cheers,
Patrick.
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Much better image. I don't know what the seller did with his ones, but they were weird.
However, it might still have been made at Mdina, unless there is something distinctive of MDG manufacturing there, such as an oddly finished-off polishing of the base.
I'm not sure what you mean by "unusual flatting finish".
I'm pleased for you that it's not a bit of contemporary Chinese that just happens to resemble Maltese glass accidentally. I didn't think it would be, but could not be 100% sure.
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unless there is something distinctive of MDG manufacturing there, such as an oddly finished-off polishing of the base.
I'm not sure what you mean by "unusual flatting finish".
Hi Sue,
Yes it has got that flatting/polishing to the base that is not Mdina but is MDG.
I will try to take a pic. of it , it is like the vase that is next to it in the photo and also the conche shell.
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Is that the one where you can still see gouges, but is sort of slightly matt polished?
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Yes.......
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MDG then, not Mdina.
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I know what Patrick means by this base and we call it a 'Battuto' base (taken from the cutting on Murano vases).
My MDG labelled whale has exactly the same feature, its not highly polished its slightly buff and if you catch it the light and move it around you can see it is slightly faceted. I'm not sure what causes this but IMHO they can't have used a large diamond flattening disc. Maybe a smaller fine stone type wheel was used that might have been snatching at it?
Im sure however this is not a Mdina feature.
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I have a couple of oddities here when it comes to Mdina base finishes, although the majority of bases are ground and polished flat at some stage I have seen most possibilities that I can think of. The blue and purple fish vase in the photo has a ground and unpolished base. Textured bottles can have both ground and polished and just ground pontil marks as well as flat polished bases. Drinking glasses have a snapped mark, the blue vase in the photo has a huge 'prunt' stuck into the base kicking the inside up with a wide polished out pontil mark. Not sure why, perhaps the base would have been too thin to attach a rod and needed to be made more substantial.
Saying that, Patrick's vase is all MDG to my eye too.
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Hi John,
Thanks for your reassuring comment.
I have just looked at your collection on Picassa and you have some superb pieces.
Is the large blue/red fish vase you show above signed Mdina?..... If it isn't signed could it be MDG?....... They did a blue and red that could have been used to make it.
Regards,
Patrick.
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Looks good Patrick.
John, I don't say this very often about a piece of glass but that purple fish vase is the dogs.... love it.
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'tis lovely...
The group photo shows some of the variations in these early fish.
The fish vase is not signed Patrick, none of these early fish vases made in 68 or perhaps 69 seem to be, they tend to be quite small in size (5" or 6" tall). Most are not clear cased - which might be a slightly later variation. They are Michael Harris' early development of the design, the first couple were made at the RCA before he left for Malta. So they pre date MDG by a few years or so, not seen many fish vases from MDG at all, Sue has the one in the photo. I think that is Vincente Boffos style, this particular shape variation can be found in Mdina Fish vases in the mid 1970s too.
The last photo is the base of the blue vase, it was a real surprise when I first saw it.
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I have just inspected the base of that Boffo-style Fish. It has the semi-gouged and polished and shiney but marginally matt base, so it could be MDG rather than Mdina.
My lollipop has a properly flat, completely polished base, so there is no way of telling where it was made.
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My feeling is that if it is highly polished then its Mdina. Do we have any MDG labelled pieces that are highly polished?
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I was referring to the picture of the Fish solifleur John posted. The Boffo-style Earthtones one.
John has images of loads of my glass, and he can often find them faster than I can. He's better at organising computery insides than I am.
Or are you now talking about animal models?
We should perhaps always use a capital F at the beginning of the word to denote it being a Fish solifleur, as opposed to a model of some creature, for which a small f should be kept, if it's a fishy thing.
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Plenty of MDG to be found with polished bases.
Attempting to categorize via a single feature like a base polished or not rarely works, there always seem to be so many exceptions.
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I've just had a good look around. Some which I did think were fully polished are still a little gouged, but I've got a pwt with an MDG label with a proper flat polished base, sitting right beside me now.
The Earthtones "Cube" solifleur I have does have gouges. I would suspect gouges are more common on MDG than on Mdina. I haven't seen any goudgey-bottomed Mdina. Yet. ;D
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I spotted this lollipop at a fair, I'm sure it was MDG? It had red inside with frothy yellow verticals over the top and a buff Battuto base. It was angled a bit at the front and slightly curving in at the back. Too expensive to buy as he thought it was a rare Mdina piece, he was a bit hard-nosed so I didn't put him right :)
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Hi, does any one have an opinion on this piece pls?
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Not one that differs or adds anything to yours. :)
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Thanks Sue, have you seen one like this before?
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No.
The stripey pattern looks a little like the stripey pattern used on the Onion vases, it's shaped as an uncut Mdina cut-ice Lollipop, so they're still using MH designs and variations on them.
Uncut "Cut-ice Lollipops" are not unusual. ;D
8) Although you posted an image of a bud vase by Jim Munnelly, made after he left Mdina.
I did wonder if that shape might have been his (Jim's) own design, rather than one of MH's?
It's the round-bottomed, long-necked shape with flared rim, used a great deal over a long period of time at Mdina.
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It had not occurred to me before but now you come to mention it, it does look more MDG than Mdina.
John
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Hi,
In a moment of weakness I bought it via a dealer that was standing at the same fair........ I have tried to justify buying because it will display well with the other I have.
Note to self.............. I collect Whitefriars not MDG ! :)
Regards,
Patrick.
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Hi,
Well it has been very quiet on here so I thought I would add an image of the two MDG lollipop vases...... The thinner topped one that Wolfie found me has a melted in neck, maybe this has sealed the blowers breath in ...............
Regards,
Patrick.
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I really like the one on the left
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Me too, it looks much better in Patrick's well lit photo than it did in the flesh - on the sellers stand in a dark old shed.
John