Topic: Ostler(?) Press Moulded Bust of Shakespeare

[neilh]

ok you've got me dusting off my cut & moulded Molineaux Webb rather than the pressed stuff. The pic here is from a celery dating to around 1872, an obvious difference to the frosting on the pressed items. Does the roughness of the frosting lines as they hit the clear areas tell us anything as to process?
I also have a couple of earlier cut & moulded frosted celeries I would date to c1860 as to design, though the date of manufacture could be later. The style of frosting matches the photo shown here.

It looks like frosting on mass produced pressed glass was done differently, not something I have considered.

[Ekimp]

Ha, yes, I may have even hijacked another thread on the subject of frosting…..

I would say your first two examples (reply 9) used mechanical abrasion where the item being frosted has also been spun against the abrasive - I assume they are circular with no protrusions such as handles to get in the way.

I believe your second example (reply 10) has also been mechanically abraded but without being rotated. It’s difficult when there is a uniform texture like that so would look for other clues like scratches/feathering out at the edge of the frosted areas, scratches where they shouldn’t be, or low areas that have been bridged by the abrasive tool and not completely frosted.

For example, on your celery,  there looks like there might be areas where the abrasive has scratched unintended areas, indicated by my arrow. Is that what you meant by the scratches hitting the clear areas?

…then there is also sand blasting to consider.

Nice pictures by the way, very clear - hope it was ok to draw on one.

[mikenott]

I have photographed my (abraded?) Shakespeare bust and my Derbyshire acid etched frosted greyhound. I think the difference is pretty clear but interested to hear others viewpoint. Apologies for colour variation - had to use some Photoshop tools to draw out detail.

[Ekimp]

Thanks for showing the photos. I’m not sure, based on what can be seen on the photograph I would say not mechanically abraded but it’s difficult not having it in your hand with a loupe in the other I can just about see the streaks you mention but they don’t look very conclusive, just based on the photo.

I would expect to see a few areas that hadn’t been perfectly frosted (that would partly show the original gloss surface of the glass) in the deep areas such as in the corner of the eye - where the abrasive tool hadn’t got into the depth of the cavity. Maybe have a look in the corner round the back where the bust joins the pedestal where perhaps they wouldn’t have been so bothered by the finish.

The texture that can be seen on the side of his head looks quite like the acid frosted finish in my photo?

Has the base been frosted? If not look for scratches where the frosted finish meets the unfrosted areas.

[flying free]

It says here in this from 1859 that at Osler busts of celebrated men decorated the showroom and that the bright surfaces were removed by abrasion 'after they were cast':

Source - The Official Illustrated Guide to the North-Western Railway - see page 242 (see pages prior for more description of Osler)
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_official_illustrated_guide_to_the_No/6goHAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=f+%26+c+osler+uranium+glass&pg=PA238&printsec=frontcover