Hi Blair. Well I ended up being a bit stunned when Marion answered & I emailed another source (private) who is also a noted Pairpoint expert. It seems that not only did Gunderson use molds, but even pre-Gunderson Pairpoint used some molds. Now it wasn't alot of molds, but it was a stunner. Many stoppers were molded in both pre & Gunderson era production, the mold lines were carefully ground & the stoppers hand tapered for a proper fit, but the one that absolutely floored me was this one....virtually all Pairpoint ball connectors & Gunderson swirl connectors were hot formed in a mold for exact uniform size, spun when they came out of the mold, applied hot & polished when the connector cooled. Now Gunderson it seems used a few molds & neither party would be suprised if Gunderson era production used any number of molds for things such as the square bases you sometimes see in Gunderson bases & who knows what else. Neither party was certain on the Waterfall candlesticks, but again they would not have been suprised if Gunderson used a mold. Years ago Marion talked with the gentleman who was in charge of the molds when the old plant closed in 1959 & was able to purchase one of the stopper molds the gentleman still had. I guess this question really hasn't doesn't come up up often so because of this discussion we now know a little more about Pairpoint production techniques. I'm suprised & then again I'm not suprised, I mean Steuben has used molds for on certain pieces for who knows how many years & has polished off the mold lines, all the Steuben figural flower frogs, Elephant, Kneeling Lady, Diving Lady, Doule Fish, Lady in the Circle & Quan Yen were all molded so I should not have been caught off guard by Pairpoint's use of molds. Still the ball & Spiral connector mold did suprise me even after all these years. Well live & learn as they say. Thats what I've found out. Ken