Pontiled Salt Shaker

[RIBottleguy]

I believe I posted this a while ago, but since then I had lost it for almost a year, and recently re-discovered it. Who would have guessed that my first dug pontil would be a salt shaker! I took some new pics for everyone to enjoy.

Sterling silver cap

Ground and refired pontil

Finely ground lip

 

[GuntherHess]

Could that be a mark from the pressed glass process rather than a pontil mark?
Not my area of expertise.

 

[RIBottleguy]

If you look closely (it's better seen in person), you can see the original open pontil circle, and the "hollow" mark in the center. I think the swirls are from the grinding, only the remelting made them look like they do. RedMatthews would know for sure.

 

[GuntherHess]

I'll take your word for it, its hard to judge stuff in 2D photos.

 

[RED Matthews]

Well RIBottleguy; I am not sure that I know either. I don't think it is a mark from the press process. I also do not understand the flash around the inside of the finish. I do realize that some of these shakers were for sand and the combination was an ink blotter source of sand to absorb stray ink. I have seen this pattern before, so I guess it is a salt shaker. The cap holes are not quite large enough in diameter for sand.
This type of container was seldom pontiled, and I can not really relate to the making operation. Sorry RED M.

 

[ruccello]

Nice shake RI. The bottom does look very much like this cruet bottle I dug - I attached a photo of it. I think Red called this the cut & shut mark. I thought it was a pontil originally too. It has kind of a swirl pattern, and excess glass like a pontil mark would, and an indented area as well. Red can expound on this type of mark more than I can.

Richard

 

[Dugout]

That is an awesome ground lip!

 

[Buffalo Hunter]

It's not a pontil but a very common attribute to turn of the century pressed and pattern glass. The top was married to that shaker and dollars to doughnuts it originaly came off a cut glass shaker. As to pattern it could be Zipper but I don't trust my memory especially when it comes to patterm glass.

 

[RED Matthews]

Hello again, Well I was in the process of typing a post to put on this thread and the electric went off at our house and street. So I lost what I had put together. Now the electric is back on so I will start over again.
One thing I would like to clear up with you RIBottleguy is the flashing on top of the finish. Is it actually glass that was pressed thin on the top and not all removed by the grinding of the finish?
If your on please get back to me. RED Matthews

 

[RED Matthews]

Hello RIBottleguy and the others on this thread. You also Richard Uccello. Well I am going to write this on Word and cut and paste it here so I don't run out of time.
This shaker was obviously made on an early press machine with limited details to be seen in the process description without actually getting the item in my hands and under some magnification. The clear glass is probably a flint glass formula. It obviously has a CT (Continuous Thread) finish (without a transfer bead). So the glass finish was created in the inverted mold that had the thread and neck form machined into the mold base detail. If the flashing I see on the top of the container is glass, then that tells me that there was a solid plug in the lower opening of the mold which the forming plunger pressed to the solid plug. The mold cavity for this shaker had the design and the ribs machined into the mold, but these ribs would have came up with a radius to the center of the height and then spread slightly from that center, to the intended bottom of the shaker. The mold extended higher by at least two and a half inches with a gripping ring at the top of the formed glass. This would have and obviously did, leave a flat flash of glass that shows signs of cold and clowdy thin glass solidification. I am surprised that this was not cleaned out of the closure top on the product, after forming was done. The extra glass that created above the intended bottom of the shaker, was pressed a little thinner than the shaker outside wall structure. After the press was completed the mold halves were opened and the glass form was removed from the mold. At that time the glass on the lower half of the shaker was pulled in with a body form similar to the top shoulder radius, This glass was slightly reheated with a heat source, like a gas flame torch, then the top of the moil was gripped with a tool and twisted to a central double cone shape, This cone center was then sheared off[/b] (CUT)[/b] from the main glass product. The top of the moil cut off was discarded.
Then the (SHUT)[/b] end the cone bottom was flattened on a carbon plate or a marver plate, so the shaker could set on the radius’d edge of the shaker base. This giving the swirl from the twist and a cut-shut mark.[/b]
So I hope that makes sense to everyone. If not let me know. RED Matthews