Glass Vase

[Oceans64]

I was researching a couple of old vases of my Grandma's tonight on eBay and stumbled on a vase I adored.  It's a new vase made by an artist and is fairly pricey ($169). What struck me was the bottom and the roughness of it.  I was under the impression this is not a good sign and it reminded me of a vase I bought on eBay 10+ years back.  It too has the roughness on the bottom with the added "bonus" of looking like it spent a few years sitting on sandpaper     No biggie to me I just think it's pretty!

It the roughness in the center and indication of quality?
Did it sit on sandpaper or is the "cloudy" part across the bottom, where it touches the shelf normal?
Anyway to tell an age?
And finally would you call this Murano style?  Or can you tell if some thing came from Murano?

As always, thank in advance for any help



The middle has a roughness from being handblown - a small part is clear where it doesn't touch the shelf

[ironlord1963]

Have not run across such a rough looking bottom as this.  The center is where it was broken off the Pontil, which indicates it to be hand blown.  As for the rough bottom this looks to me like it was ground down to sit flat.  Then not polished down Afterwards, just a guess.  As for it being a Murano style, that would be really hard to discern.  Murano Glass is basically Art glass made in Murano Italy, by several Art glass Comapanies.  My guess would be to consider it as Art Glass.  I would think a real special piece of glass from Murano would not let this pass and would of buffed and worked a bit more on the bottom.  It is a Wonderful looking vase as for if it is a true Murano Vase well not a expert yet, but just maybe we all will by by the end of this thread.  Thanks for sharing, I really like this vase.

[mariok54]

Hi Oceans,
A nice vase.... I like it!  You can sometimes tell if a piece of studio glass like this has any age by a good look at the base for signs of 'wear', but only if it has any 'real age'. The problem with this piece is that you'd be better off looking at what it stood on. A rough pontil could just be down to lateness of the day, or a Friday afternoon specimen, but some pieces are renowned for having rough pontils ....See comments below from


pontil.http://www.blenkocollectors.com/isitblenkopages/blenkocollisitblenkopontils.htm


BLENKO PONTILS

Rough Pontil Theory
 
People often assume that if a piece of glass has a rough pontil, then it must be Blenko.  They have also been taught that if it doesn't have a pontil, then it can't be Blenko. Sorry to disappoint the true believers, but this theory is incorrect.
 
Other American glass companies located in West Virginia left the rough pontils on the majority of their designs.  Bischoff, Pilgrim, Rainbow are always found with a rough pontil.  Ohio's Erickson Glass pieces are mostly polished pontils but are sometimes found with a rough pontil  
 
The majority of Blenko designs can be found with rough pontils. Just as with everything else, there are always exceptions to this rule. Some designs were designed to have a polished base. Then some pieces had too large of a pontil that made the piece wobbly. The piece was then taken to the grinding shop to be ground and polished.
 
Please remember the first thing a Blenko collector looks at is color. Learn your colors, learn rough pontils and polished pontils can come later.