Topic: SeaBee Glass Sculpture....with machine gun.....the strangest thing

[ckscot]

I thought some of you might like to see this most bizarre piece of glass, and maybe could throw some light on it.  All I know is that the bee is a model of the logo of the US Navy engineers, the "Seabees".  I assume that it was made in the States, but how it got to the north of Scotland, where I found it at an auction, who knows?

It looks as if the body, which is hollow, has been blown and then the wings and arms (?) legs(?) added via what I believe is called flameworking. From end to end it is 11" long and once set into its wooden base it stands 7.5" high.  It has the initials LRP 94 on the glass stand.  Does anyone have any idea who might have made it, and if it is as rare as I imagine it to be? Or could there be a whole swarm of these beasties in the world?

[Ohio]

LRP in US military termonology means Long Range Patrol. There is a Seabee Squadron 94 & perhaps they were part of the Holy Loah dry dock team. The USN Seabees assembled a huge floating dry dock at Holy Loch, Scotland, for the service and repair of the Polaris missile submarines which cruised beneath the waters off Northern Europe & a Seabee simply left it behind. Ken.

[ckscot]

Aaaaaah.  That's a distinct possibility that I hadn't thought of.  I know that the US Navy was based there from 1961 to 1992 so maybe that's the source of it.  I will contact the Seabees  to check that out.  I'm still curious about who might have created it as it seems to me, (as someone who knows nothing at all about this type of work!), like something requiring real craftsmanship.

[ckscot]

I've done some checking out on US Navy websites and it appears that the initials would be LRRP for Long Range Reconnaissance  Patrol.  The only Squadron 94 I can find is a strike squadron not connected to Seabees.  The seabees did construct the dry dock at the Holy Loch back in 1961 so maybe there is a Scottish connection, and I'm checking out with a Seabees museum, but I'm back to thinking that LRP 94 does refer to the initials of the glassworker and the date. :huh:
So I'm open to any ideas anyone has.......

[chopin-liszt]

Perhaps the marines had it made locally, as some sort of trophy?
It's not as if there aren't several very competent glassmakers/lampworkers around the vicinity!

[ckscot]

That's quite possible, except that as far as I can tell the Seabees only worked here in Scotland in 1961, so if I'm correct in my assumption that 94 refers to the date that the piece was made, then the local connection becomes more tenuous?
Any ideas as to how to check for names of any local glass making/lampworking?  I've looked through Scotland's Glass and the great Glass site but can't find anything that helps.

[chopin-liszt]

You  might get info from the Marines themselves?

For all you know, the LRP bit could read lap 94, and it's a trophy for something stupid, like doing 94 laps round something they're not meant to be doing!

[Anne]

Nothing on the Glass Zoo? http://www.debook.com/animal/index.php

[Lustrousstone]

Ian Pearson might be a good bet www.glasscreations.ukf.net/ and if not might know who.  
And this might be helpful http://www.scotlandsglass400.co.uk/data/brochure.html

[ckscot]

Thanks Anne and Christine, I haven't found anything on Scotland's Glass, but I might post the same question there.  I'll also follow up your leads Christine, Ian Pearson sounds most interesting.

Especially since I have just heard back from the Seabee Museum in US.  Turns out they have one exactly the same that was donated by a naval officer who had been stationed at the Holy Loch in the 1990s.   Apparently the "Bee" was given as a form of recognition and appreciation of service rendered, and according to information attached to the museum's piece, the glass sculpture was created in Scotland. but they have no info on who might have made it, and my respondant suggested that LRP might be the initials of the owner rather than the creator, since "Seabees are known for marking their collections".  Thank goodness all glass collectors don't do that......
Anyway that constitutes progress!
I'll keep you posted.