Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Malta Glass => Topic started by: michael hill on December 04, 2017, 05:07:36 PM
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hi, just joined, i love mdina glass and have a few nice old pieces, i was lucky enough to find a large mdina onion shaped glass with stripes running down to the base, the stripes are like a turquoise blue and have a yellowish colour in between, i found the vase at a car boot and was hoping to find out the artists signature, i have seen michael harris's and its nothing like that, it just looks like a jumbled set of letters after mdina glass malta, only letter i can really make out properly looks like an s at the end and maybe an H, not sure at all. just wondering if anyone thinks it might be worth researching ? i can do some pics later if needed.
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It sounds like the proper thing, a Mdina Onion vase.
The scribbled "signature" on the bottom is likely to be a mark made by either Eric Dobson, or Marie, Vicente Boffo's niece who officially worked in the packing department.
Bigger and more complex peices were deemed to need an "artist's mark on them, to single them out, but it was never the maker who signed them. The only exception to that is finding Michael Harris' signature. He didn't like doing it and only did when asked to, or for things that were supposed to be exported to america, because they demanded signatures.
Michael personally thought the work should speak for itself.
We don't know if the mark is supposed to represent anybody's name in particular.
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many thanks for letting me know, it has a lot of wear underneath and i think it might be one of the earlier pieces, do you think its worth posting some photos ? cheers, mick.
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Yes please. We like seeing photos of glass. All Mdina items are unique, so your Onion will not be the same as the one I had.
Here are images of the two different "squiggles" which are found on the bases of these superior items. And the Onion I had. :)
(sorry, got my pics tangled)
The first image is of Marie's mark, the second is my ex-Onion, the third is Eric Dobson's mark.
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many thanks for the photos, it definitly is not the one at the bottom with the date on, it looks very much like maries with the letters all jumbled up together, the shape of the vase is almost exactly the same as your ex onion exept may be a little more bulbous ? i will get my camera out and post some pics, cheers, mick.
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Looking forward to seeing it. :)
These are not at all common, and one of the best and most desirable early pieces.
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that's very nice to know, i saw one similar in a cabinet, i think it was in a museum recently and it said some of michael harris's early works were on the left hand shelf and the one similar to mine was on the right shelf so maybe its reasonably early ? do you think it at all possible for him to have created this piece ? many thanks again for all your help.
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My ex-one has no marks on it, but I did suspect it was MH's work, but only from the elegant curve of the slope from the body up to the rim.
Yours has a mark on it that doesn't actually tell us much about who might have made it.
They're big and complex, only somebody with considerable skills could have made them.
That does limit who could have, a bit.
I've seen them really rather wonky, with bulbous lumpy bottoms and stretched out top parts, completely different shapes. :)
I'm curious to see yours.
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this one is pretty large and heavy, around 7.5 inches wide and just over 11 inches high, it looks to be really well made even all over pretty bulbous the colours look fantastic when hel up to the light, i'm going to try to get a couple of pics done tomorrow, just got a new camera and had a few problems with it.
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tried loads of times to reduce photo size to be able to post but nothing worked ?
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p.s. if you send email address i can try to post again to you.
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:)
There is loads of techie help and info here:-
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,34093.msg366621.html#new
Failing that, click on the envelope icon under my username to send me a private message and we can get into email contact after that.
I should add that it is perfectly feasible that Boffo could have made the one I had too - he was a masterglassmaker, with a lot of experience under his belt, and could make elegant things.
We'll never really know, not for sure. :)
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hi, sorry i tried a few times again but can't find any that work without paying for them, i used to use picasa and it was easy but they are finished now. my email is mhill1234 AT gmail DOT com.
[Mod: email address made spam-harvester proof - change AT and DOT to usual characters and delete spaces]
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Hi Michael,
For resizing images I recommend http://www.picresize.com/ which is free to use and simple to operate with easy instructions. Basically, upload your image, follow the instructions, if the result is ok, download the image.
Within the routine, start by setting the longest side of an image to 700 pixels and let the routine do the rest. If the result is still over the 125Kb limit, go back a few steps and change 700 to 650 and see if that works (and so on).
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hi, tried that before but remember using PAINT app before so will try that.
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signature
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That's a nice elegant one - not all lumpy and bulbous at the base at all.
The ones I've seen which I describe as having a "bulbous" bottom part are decidedly lumpy, the neck seems to sink into the body, it's not a lovely smooth sweeping line like this.
I use paint shop pro, but I also use a big deskful of computery equipment and I'm still on xp. No plans to update any of it, ever. ;D
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made it at last, don't know what happened today with all the attempts, probably old age getting to me, i never used to have problems with resizing pics, thanks for all the information, its been very helpful, there's no need to change if your happy with equipment you have, i just treated myself to a new surface pro and pen, only because i have always been fascinated with using a stylus on a computer screen and the new pen has great features now, thanks again for everything, mick.
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>:( I need a new mouse mat. They're not made any more. ::)
You do have rather a spectacular and desirable bit of Mdina, one of the really good early and scarce bits. ;D
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yes, i was lucky to pick it up cheap, i don't suppose its worth trying to research it though if there is no way of finding the artist ?
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I think you already know everything there is to know about it. The "signature" is fairly meaningless, as Sue has explained because they are not maker's signatures
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thanks christina, that's what i was thinking, i am just wondering now what sort of value to put on it, does the signature mean much or is it pretty worthless if there is no way of telling the artist ?
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The so-called signature was genuinely applied at the studio. Collectors know about these and the only one that adds value is a genuine Michael Harris signature done by the man himself.
As Sue says "You do have rather a spectacular and desirable bit of Mdina, one of the really good early and scarce bits."
So yes it has value and will find its level at auction if correctly described. You will not get a valuation here because values are too subjective
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that's great christine, many thanks, mick.