Topic: Pressed Posy-Ring Stand?

[meegs]

Roy,
Thank-you for your kind offer.
I have sent you an e-mail.
Cheers
Meegs

[Angela B]

Hi Meegs,
Lucky you with the Pelican and its frog.
I have given a lot of thought to your tower with its bloom troughs, and I've consulted others who worked at Bagley. So far, nobody has ever seen your tower before.
I've also gone through the catalogues and other Bagley documents, and nowhere is there anything like your tower. That in itself is not proof, of course.
What makes me sure it is not Bagley is that the bloom trough which is sitting on your tower has its inner edge extended out to fit around the tower and hold it sitting on that ledge. This is clear when you look at the magnified version of your second picture. Bagley's did not make a bloom trough in that shape, or anything like it. Perhaps you could show a photo of that bloom trough separate from the tower, Meegs.
The larger bloom trough around the base of your tower could well be Bagley. But looking at the base of your tower, maybe it was meant to have something closer fitting.
The suggestion that the Quebec bloom trough might fit on the top is interesting. The Quebec bloom trough doesn't have a hole in the middle. It has an indentation big enough to hold the base of a thin candle, with a bloom trough around it. The one I'm holding on my desk just about fits my thumb into the candle indentation, up to the top of my nail.  So the only way it could go onto your tower would be if it was perched upside down and balanced on the top.
Your tower is a fascinating piece of glass, and I would love to know who did make it. So much glass was imported into this country (New Zealand) that it could have come from almost anywhere. It would need to be a company that made bloom troughs, so that narrows it down just a little.
I hope you are not too disappointed with this information. Its still a great find.
All the best
Angela
ps do you ever come up to the Bay of Islands?

[Anne]

Meegs, can you add photos of the bottoms of the troughs please?

[meegs]

Thank-you Angela for your response,
I find it an intriguing piece of glass., and would love to know its history and maker.
The more I handle the two non Bagley pieces the greater the difference in texture I can feel between that and the Bagley posy ring which is more silky and even in texture. The centre pieces texture varies from very soft and silky in places to areas which are almost grainy. The flared ring to fit the stand has a visible (but difficult to photograph!)  flat spot about 4mm wide around its bottom (in the same position as the Bagley ridge) as if it was designed so it could also sit on a flat surface. I think this is similar to other odd posy rings I've seen.
I would have designed a ring whose purpose is to sit off the surface on a stand to have a true curved bottom. Here are the photos, the bottom of the inner bloom tray and the bottom of the large one.
I'm guilty of not having been much further north than Whangarei in the last couple of years, so its probably time...
If you are ever in Auckland you would be very welcome.
Cheers
Meegs

[Angela B]

Thanks for the extra pictures Meegs. Could you add a picture of the smaller posy ring the right way up, to show that extended lip.
Many thanks
Angela

[meegs]

Angela,
The diameter of the ring is approx: 6 1/4 " ( 16cm) with the diameter of the hole being approx 2 6/16" (6cm).
Cheers
Meegs

[meegs]

Hello Everyone,
I was privileged to have Angela exam these pieces of glass. Angela was able to decipher a registration number on the ring that balances on the stand.  Now, even knowing where to look I'm hard pressed to see it but can feel the mark!The mark appears to read:   Regd no 6505/8
We were unable to find any similar mark on the stand itself.
Any help with identifying this mark would be appreciated.
Thank-you,
Meegs

[Anne]

Meegs, how exciting to find a number!  :rah:  Zooming close into it on the photo, it looks like there is another digit in front of the number, which looks like a 1 which would make it  Regd no 16505/8... can anyone else make out the 1?

[Angela B]

Hi all,
It was great meeting Meegs and her family today - especially the little parrot who climbed up my arm and said "Hello" into my ear!!
My memory of that Regd number (that I was fingering just a few hours ago) was that it was very clear - even if very tiny. I did not see a "1" in front of the number. However, Meegs - could you get your daughter to have another look with the magnifying glass to see if there is any remnant of a one in front of the six.
I have been thinking about the /8 at the end, and my interpretation of that is that the four piece set of a tower with three fitting posy rings had a number for each piece, namely 6505, 6506, 6507, and 6508.
I also think the number is an Australian registration number, as if it were an English number 6505 would be for the year 1843 :ho: and even with a one (and I don't think it has a one) it would still be much too early for this kind of posy vase. 16505 would be 1844.
So, over to you friend Cathy in Aus land. Is this an Australian registration mark?

[Anne]

Hi Angela and Meegs, Barry and I have been peering at it on screen & we can both see something which looks like a figure 1 - I've cropped the image, resized and zoomed in to show where we're seeing something. It is feint (could it be a scratch instead of a number 1?)   I'm adding the cropped piccie with an arrow pointing to where we're seeing the number to see if it helps. Cameras pick up on tiny indents that aren't always visible when looking - it's weird isn't it?