Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: WhatHo! on June 12, 2015, 10:25:53 PM
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Hi Guys, I found these quite interesting, are they Mdina pieces and made for someone on the island of Gozo Malta or made by Gozo Glass, who is G Hadella? Not sure what the numbers mean either?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUNNING-GOZO-STUDIO-ART-GLASS-VASE-CITTADELLA-MALTA-/291467430377
http://www.propertyroom.com/l/handmade-italian-art-glass-paperweight-c1960s/9457362
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Don't know who made these, but the script reads "Cittadella" and not G. Hadella ;) >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cittadella_(Gozo) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cittadella_(Gozo))
Michael
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Thanks Rocco Cittadella it is then :) I notice the bases are all flat ground but not polished.
Also this must be made by the same hand?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131529294682
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The design of the first piece is from Mdina - Crystal Blue Stripe and with the very heavy use of silver chloride and the jewell-like blue, would suggest a later execution of this design rather than early - there was a later period of the silver salts being very heavy in these, but the design itself is one of Michael Harris' and has been in production almost from the start of Mdina.
I don't know why the inscriptions are there or what they mean, but perhaps they might be pieces from when Gozo was being set up and designs modified for that purpose? (in the '80s, which would be about right for the heavy salts and the jewell-like blue)
The small size is interesting, but I've checked it against a surface decorated "miniature" from Mdina and it is bigger than that, so I don't think it's part of that range, but I do have a Mdina small flat disc bottle, which I think is this size, in the more plain blue with the silver chloride ochre streak design. (I can't find it atm.)
The last piece shown, with the browns and reds, over a crizzle background, is a very unusual thing, I've not seen one before, it's possibly an early experimental thing... ;D
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Hi, why has the ID been now stated as Cittadella Gozo, this implies that Cittadella is a glassworks and I dont believe that it is?? This ID = Cittadella needs removing please, (unless someone knows any different).
I understand that these designs are Mdina type but where have they been made, obviously not Mdina? Thanks for your input Sue.
Mod: ID removed, thanks for the heads-up!
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According to p.68 of Mark's book, Gozo was set up in '89 by Michael Harris with Leonard Mulligan (who had set up Phoenician Glass) and Rupert Brooke, as a retirement project.
"Samples for the ranges were made byTimothy and were based on typical Mediterranean characteristics including sun, sea, sand and shells. Forms were shaped like pebbles, with matte, stone-like surfaces that did not include gold or silver leaf."
Timothy would have been working at IoWSG then, and I do not think they used that clear shade of blue in the crystal blue stripe design shown above, ever.
The writing on the bases of the pieces you've shown doesn't look anything like Tim's writing, which is neat and quite italicised. ???
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obviously not Mdina?
I think that's jumping to conclusions, particularly as Gozo is part of Malta. They may have been made for a gift shop in the Citadella
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Hi, sorry you have understood me, it was more of question than a statement. I could put longer version saying, to my mind they are obviously not Mdina does anyone else agree? :)
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I'm afraid I don't agree, Wolfie. The appearances of the pieces are far too Mdina-y to rule it out, the numbering written on them looks like some of the numbering written on Mdina, (the kind nobody knows any meaning for yet), and so there is every possibility they were made at Mdina for something or somebody else.
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Hi,
This is an interesting topic and the images that we are talking about will be gone in a few months. I have therefor done a screen grab that can be viewed here. http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/bargiepat/Random%20pics/Vase%20question%20_zpsika6wyk1.jpg
Could these pieces be Mtarfa......... ?
Cheers,
Patrick.
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I've never seen the Crystal Blue Stripe sort of pattern produced by either Mtarfa, or Phoenician.
Phoenician did do an ochre/bubbly stripe moulded pattern, and the one with a blue background and the "spread" ochre streak, and they used two different textures of background blue, one in which there are clear blobs of blue, heavily spread over a clear gather.
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I don't think Mtarfa made this shape dump Patrick.
I find strange that both of these unusually signed 'Cittadella' ones both have flat but unpolished bases. I would think is not normal for Mdina especially if it was a gift shop order?
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Flat bases, not polished to a high shine, (almost satinated in appearance) are fairly common for later ('80s -> '90s) Mdina.
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Thanks Sue :)
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My problem is I don't know I know these things until it comes up in a query, such as this.
I'm afraid I'm not able to pull it all out of my head as a coherent load of info., not without the prompt of a query :-[
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the numbering written on them looks like some of the numbering written on Mdina, (the kind nobody knows any meaning for yet), and so there is every possibility they were made at Mdina for something or somebody else.
Hi Sue, can you show us any examples of this numbering please?
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They're on the sort of stuff I don't collect, but I may have something stashed away somewhere. I'll have a look.
There have been images posted here several times - folk have a tendency to ask what they mean in a posting, but sadly, nobody can provide a decent answer.
Numbers such as 03 or 09, might concievably refer to a date.
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Mdina numbering has always been a bit of a mystery to determine. The below linked thread reply 8 by Mark Hill in 2007 highlights some of the difficulties in trying to determine these codes/numbers, such as 'what the number actually is', 'where it is', and 'when the piece was made'. Amongst many of their meanings they can refer to 'the shape number', 'the order number for a clients particular order', 'the clients reference number', and 'date'.......
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,11201.0.html
Current/ very recent production also confuses the issue slightly, the codes on the bases of the two paperweights in the following thread I gather relate to both the shape and colour after contacting Mdina a couple of years back. I gather the year would also be engraved under these codes, however, seems to be absent from these two examples........
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,46503.msg261925.html#msg261925