Topic: How was this made? Graal? Fused? I'm stumped.

[krsilber]

This is driving me crazy.  I can't tell how the item in this listing was made:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250250750126&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=015
Where the donuts made separately and stuck in the sides of a mold?  Were they marvered in? From the bottom it looks like they were cased with clear on the outside.  Is it graal?  Fused glass?

From the top is looks ceramic.

Photo's now uploaded to GlassGallery, full permission granted from kindly Ebayer.   

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-10350
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-10349

[azelismia]

Kristi, I posted this one on the ebay board... I want to know who made it. the base of it looks like china to me, the gravelly bottom cut clean off. I think it's cased glass. the donuts look like bloomed crystalline glaze. I've never seen it on glass before but it does look like cased glass to me. I'd been all set to bid on it if it was finishing in the ten dollar range out of curiousity but 141?? WTF is it? Looking at the range of stuff the buyer has bought it looks like they are into contemporary art glass.

[Ivo]

looks like modern american studio glass to me - so not vintage and not bohemian.

[Frank]

Nor is it graal, search board for details on that. The discs are probably marvered on and distorted in the blowing.

[krsilber]

Azelismia, that's how I first saw it, through your post - thanks for bringing such a curious object to my attention (even if inadvertently!).  I don't know if I like it, but it sure is intriguing.

So if the "donuts" are marvered in, how are they made?  Looking at the bottom, they seem to be a layer of bluish on the interior with some thin reddish brown over that.  The black lines (which are quite thin, sharp and distinct) seem to penetrate the blue just a bit and there's black around the donuts' edges.  I would think in the process of marvering the lines would lose some of their sharpness by being stretched and flattened. 

That's why I thought of graal.  I guess I'm thinking of the term pretty loosely as being twice-heated with some kind of decoration between layers.  What if:
- Object was made with the bluish/brownish donuts marvered in and annealed. 
- Once cool, etched to create the shape of the black lines, which were then filled with black enamel (or fine frit). 
- Item reheated, cased clear and annealed.
- Etched again on yellow areas, which are matte and slightly recessed.
Total guesswork on my part!

It's also a little odd that it's dark on just part of the inside of the vase - a thin opaque brown layer that looks a lot like glaze.  I wish I could examine it closely!  I wouldn't be surprised if it actually is ceramic, though it would be pretty odd to have a pontil mark on a ceramic piece.

I found a few threads that talked briefly about graal (http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,3004.0.html, http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,1025.0.html, http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,1660.0.html,) but didn't look at all that resulted from a search for "graal."

This piece of graal is somewhat, sort of reminiscent of the vase in question, at least insofar as there's a textured-looking area bordered by another color (though of course, totally different in other ways!):
http://www.siddy.com/index_files/Page4783.htm

[Frank]

Graal is one or more coloured layer cased over the base, after annealing a design is then created using sandblast or acid. Finally, usually clear cased and blown to final size. It is one of the most expensive decoration techniques there is, hence not widely used.

In this case I suspect small bubbles were blown and decorated, flattened out and then used on the other vessel.

Examples of Graal on SG link.

[krsilber]

Is the Hoglunds' painted graal then not considered real graal? (Honest question, not meant to sound cheeky.)

In this case I suspect small bubbles were blown and decorated

  But this is the part I have trouble understanding.  How would you decorate something to get it to look like those donuts?  Where do the sharp black lines, and the black outline come from?  I need specifics!

[Frank]

The paint method was originally marketed as easy graal but is in reality a completely different approach. some have used the paints effectively but mostly it produces garish results. One aspect of graal is the subtlety of shading that can be uniquely achieved - think of it more as freehand cameo that then gets blown larger. An artist can spend days or even weeks on a single piece only to see the composition destroyed in the final blowing - one reason that it usually gets priced in 4 figures. Lindean Mill produced one design a year and, if they got lucky, about 12 pieces were made each year. One year the entire edition cracked during annealling.

[krsilber]

One year the entire edition cracked during annealling.

How heartbreaking for those involved!

Graal can be extraordinarily beautiful.  I love the Dragonfly vase on the SG link.

I agree that the painted "graal" can be garish.  Seems like it wouldn't have to be that way - depends on the painter.  Still, I appreciate the depth and shading that true graal can produce which couldn't be achieved with paint.

[aa]

I think that the base is combination of being misleading and yet a giveaway. The doughnuts are applied as trails . The trails are a made from a thick layer of opaque celadon  that has been rolled into a combination of different powdered colours, probably at least one brown and black. The celadon only becomes apparent on the base because this has been ground down to level it and some of the thin brown/black layer has been removed.

Once applied the trails are marvered or papered into the surface, prior to blowing up the piece.

Those who commented that this is nothing to do with graal are correct!

As to painted Graal, one of the masters of this technique is my friend Vic Bamforth http://www.vicbamforthglass.com/