Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: WhatHo! on November 27, 2015, 10:17:04 AM
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Hi Guys, I have got some great new info which clears up ongoing confusion regarding sigs on 1970s pieces :)
I have been speaking to an ex-Mdina worker who was there in the early 1970s concerning the signatures in the pics below, which I sent him via mms. He did not particularly recognise any of them apart the one that is dated 1973 that he thinks is Dobson, as 'his signature leaned to the right'.
Pieces were signed by Dobson if he was available, if not they were signed by Marie who was in charge of quality control and packing. He also states that (apart from friggers) no other members of the team signed pieces apart from the two mentioned. I think we can conclude from this that quite a few signatures were done by Marie and therefore totally random and not the signature of the actual maker or designer. This new info must put in to doubt pieces that are claimed to be signed by Said, he didn't sign pieces, certainly in the earlier days and these would have to be by Marie.
This is what I have suspected and explains the very random nature of the signatures we are finding on the bases.
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I would say that the if the 1973 sig is Dobson then also the 1975 is as well?
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I would have said that if the '73 is Dobson, then the mark on the blue and yellow, undated piece is also Dobson, not the other ones. Those are the ones I have thought were Dobson, the really spikey ones.
But fascinating to discover that Marie did the others. ;D 8) ;D :) :) :)
Still no joy on the other, much scarcer "signature"?
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I think the blue and yellow piece , which shows an example of the signature , is quite different ...the 'N' at the end of 'Dobson' is a bold , significant 'N' . The "n's" on Wolfie's 1973 & 75 examples tail-off to a very insignificant small 'n' (almost to a lumpy line ) . They also have a big 'D' and a large swirl of an 'S' (if it is an 'S'...why have a big S though....could just be a flourish ?!) which is above a good part of the signature.
I'm no handwriting expert though...only my thought !
What you need is a copy of a signed document by Mr Dobson ..just to confirm !
Cheers, Mike
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I've turned this one upside down, to see if it looks any more like the others, this way around.
However, I think the big take home message is that Said did not sign anything. :)
So in no way could a piece be artist signed, unless it was Micahel Harris. It was either Marie, or Dobson who made signature marks.
Do we know what the mark was supposed to read? Whose signature was it meant to be?
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I have been looking at as many signatures as I can find and I have noticed something which might be of importance.
There seem to be a difference in the style of writing of the 'G' of (Malta) Glass.
This is a guess of course but it seems to me that all the Dobson 'G's are more cursive. They start at a low point then loop up and down the back of the G.
Where as the other ones, likely Marie, are more capital and start at the top of the G.
All the ones I have seen with this cursive G seem to then be followed by a Dobson looking sig.
I have put together a couple of pics to help describe what I am referring to.
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The G (and other letters) in the 'Donbson' examples is/are standard copperplate script taught in many private/public/grammar schools in the U.K.(I had to endure a whole year of it ). Michael Harris also wrote in copperplate handwriting , not his though :)
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Here is a link to an IOW studio glass paperweight (in Seaward type colours c1973) which shows Michael Harris's handwriting.....
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,61612.0.html
Just for comparison. Lucky to have found it just recently. The 'M''s in the first & fourth photos above (which started this thread) look 'loopy' to the top , not standard copperplate (which would be pointed to the top,normally ) , but might just be artistic licence /personal preference.
Ta ,Mike
P.S. I'm not a handwriting expert but did study it for a year and Michael Harris's handwriting is as near to standard copperplate as you can find (IMHO)! :D
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Here is a a dated , 1977, Mdina goblet . ' Mdina' looks the same as the first photo (reproduced here) . A gap between the 'n' and the 'a ' and the 'M' and 'd' . The same style 'M'. The '7's' have a curl in a different position but look at the '9' ...exactly the same ! ...plus a little hook at the bottom of the 9 .
Either this is Dobson's handwriting or it isn't and Dobson signed some pre-inscribed (and dated) pieces ??....Or someone could have signed on his behalf ?? The photo number 1 at the start of this thread could be the same hand as shown in this goblet . Photo number 4 (apart from the signature ) could be a compacted version of photo number one. ??? Also the first 's' in glass is joined to the second 's' in glass from below in the same way despite the loops to the tops of both the 's'..s ....in the goblet example ;) ....If you can see my drift ::) :D