Honestly, I'm really not sure, but finishing a large object like this decanter might have meant that when breaking the attachment to the pontil rod, the scar that remained needed to be ground down to avoid problems when standing the piece upright. Perhaps it's only the smaller pieces from Bristol Blue that were sold with the scar remaining.
There is a fair amount of C18 and C19 glass, mostly clear of course, where if you look closely, not all of the pontil scar imperfections have been removed with grinding/polishing. Smallish bubbled inclusions like yours often remain.
I'm sure that the 'four' marks on this decanter aren't significant - just a random defect left after polishing.
I notice that the b.b. pieces from the T/Webb range (from the 1960/70's), appear to have quality ground/polished pontil depressions plus a distinctive factory backstamp, or at least my six pieces do.
Unlike the Bristol Blue pieces which appear to be copying more closely their antique counterparts, the T/Webb pieces don't incorporate genuinely old features such as, for example, the 'top down handles'
Obviously modern backstamps and dremeled signatures are there to avoid confusion with genuinely old pieces.
Topic: Bristol Blue Ships Decanter. ID = Bristol Blue Glass (Read 872 times)
