ID request if possible for blue / green bowl

bought this one today, its nice little thing but dont know who made it, has plenty of wear to the base which suggests a bit of age, also has a pontil mark, hope someone is able to identify this for me.

thanks

rob

Looks like Isle of Wight glass... that should be their 'flame' logo impressed onto the base.

Thanks Nic, I thought it was a big pontil mark

Rob, I've got a book on Isle of Wight glass somewhere - I'm off to work shortly but will have a good look through it later to see if I can find further info re: shape, date etc.

Thanks pip, very much appreciated, i've had a look on the net but did'nt see anything similar to take any info from.

Right, I've looked through Mark Hill's Mdina & IOW glass book and your vase is pictured however it's actually Kerry Glass from Ireland (not Isle of Wight Glass). It's a very easy mistake to make because it has a reverse flame pontil mark. Your vase is called a Disc Bowl; the colour is Shamrock and it was in production from 1978 to 1985. Michael Harris and two friends from Malta, Ross & Elizabeth Lewis, set up Kerry Glass in an old cinema in County Kerry in 1978 - sadly Ross died in 1985 and the company was sold, Michael Harris' involvement ceased at that point.

That is very interesting Pip and very sad at the same time, this one has a fair amount of wear on the base so maybe closer to 78 than 85 (i hope)
and would the pieces made by Micheal Harris be signed?.

Thanks again Pip for being very helpful as always.

rob

Mark's book says that when Ross & Elizabeth returned to Ireland from Malta they wanted to set up the glassworks in order to provide an income for themselves in retirement and some much needed local employment. Michael Harris' involvement was in helping them get set up by providing designs, equipment and training and beyond that presumably by offering support and practical help. There's no mention of Michael Harris personally producing anything commercially there and I would imagine he'd have been very busy at the Isle of Wight studio at that time. Although the design of your vase is definitely one of his it would probably have been made by one of the five resident Kerry Glass workers.

A little more info about your vase - they produced various shapes in 3 main colours - Shamrock (the colour of your vase), Heather (purple) and Peat (greeny yellow). These were made using the same blue coloured glass body which was rolled in enamel chips of a second colour, returned to the furnace then worked to created the mottled effect.

(source: 'Michael Harris: Mdina Glass & Isle of Wight Studio Glass' by Mark Hill)

Thanks Pip for further info on this, I must start buying some reference books but some do seem a little pricey