Friday Fun Bottle

[forestman]

Dear Joey,

If it was a veiled reference to your Judaism then it would have been "Owner of the Beak". 

Regards, Adrian.

[forestman]

Hi Tom,

Hope this picture demonstrates what I am referring to although not all the marks come from polishing, some are age and wear related.

The pitting looks to me like errand larger grains of polishing medium have dragged across the surface before becoming embedded  into it. It would be consistent with them using large iron polishing wheels with silica powder poured between the wheel and the object being polished.

You need a good loupe to see it and the right angle to the light. It may well be that the highest quality bottles were polished continually to really clean them up but it is something I see in varying degrees, especially noticeable on glass bottles.

Regards, Adrian.

[George]

There are a couple things going on there.. Pitting for sure, and the lines running across are not from course grinding tool, I think they are there because the person who made it I used an abrasive belt, leaving the harder ( darker ) material higher than the softer ( lighter colored ) material..

Can I see a pic of the bottle so can ID the mineral ?

[George]

Hi George,

It's very frustrating but I can't see any of the video clips that have been posted recently, I just get a black square.

I am curious Adrian... What browser do you use ?

[Rube]

Happy Friday Everyone,

I've mentioned on the Forum that my brother and I often bid on bottles together at auction, sometimes a double lot, and then the next time we see one another, we will play a hand of cribbage or 2 out of 3 ( depending how bad we like the bottle) to determine who gets first pick and so on.  Well, we successfully bid on a lot at the last Bonhams auction (not as nice a bottle as yours, Samson) but we were both in the mood for an overlay.  Well, he's coming up for a visit for our holiday Labor Day Weekend and we will be playing again!

So, for a Friday Fun Bottle, make that bottles, I thought I'd pose a question to the group:  if you had first pick, which bottle would you choose?

Hi Everyone, in case anyone was wondering, I ended up with the aqua bottle with brown overlay.  Thanks again for playing along!
Cheers,
Rube.
Thanks for playing!

Rube.

[Wattana]

Good 'score' Rube, but I think it was a win-win game all along....   

Tom

[Wattana]

It may well be that the highest quality bottles were polished continually to really clean them up but it is something I see in varying degrees, especially noticeable on glass bottles.

Hi Adrian,

Yes, I see what you are talking about, and it may be more noticeable on glass. Is you photo of a glass bottle, or quartz crystal?

I don't recall seeing this kind of pitting on any older bottles made of natural mineral. But then I haven't examined all of them with a high magnification loupe.

Best,
Tom

[forestman]

The first picture is of my faceted octagonal glass bottle which I think was posted in the "2 plain bottles, are they too plain" thread in the glass bottle thread.

In the previous picture the darker bits are indents in the surface so aren't raised areas.

The first picture in this post is of a modern agate bottle, not the clearest picture as it is hard to record, but the polishing is much finer and very consistent with none of the pitting.

The second picture is of a glass imitating Realgar bottle and it again shows lines being made on the surface before ending where the courser grain then catches and embeds itself in the surface.

Regards, Adrian.

[George]

Ah... Now can see better... The glass bottle simply did not get hit with the last couple finer grit abrasive..

The glass imitating realgar is pitting..., but combined with same thing.. Failed to hit it with the proper final few finer grit abrasives.. 

[forestman]

Hi George,

I'm sticking with my feeling that it's a case of errant larger grains getting into whatever polishing powder is used because the surfaces are very well polished on the whole so very fine grades of polishing medium have been used.

Regards, Adrian.

[forestman]

I think I may have hit the sweet spot with this Friday Fun Bottle.

I know what it looks like but it's not, it's a snail.

I have no idea of the age of this and it can be hard to tell with some Yixing wares. I first thought it was modern due to the impressed mark being on the body of the bottle and not hidden away on the base but I have since seen old examples where the mark or marks are made on the body. It's hard to see the mark clearly to try and identify it which doesn't help.

Regards, Adrian.

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Yup, Adrian.
You know what I thought it was, at first...
I was going to describe it as the 'South Park' bottle. 
 Best,
Joey

[Rube]

Happy Friday Everyone!

Though I don't have any new pics yet of the fish overlay bottle, I'll share a one of a kind, fun one, in the meantime.
My grandfather commissioned a family friend/jeweler to embellish in monogram, a bottle with loose freshwater pearls he had collected.

Cheers,

Rube.

[forestman]

Hi Rube,

A worthy Friday Fun bottle.

Next weeks entrant is on it's way to me unless someone else wants to step forward with something hidden away in their collection.

Regards, Adrian.

[Rube]

Thanks Adrian,

The more the merrier!

Cheers,

Rube.

[Wattana]

Rube,

It looks like your grandfather also enjoyed having fun with snuff bottles. Possibly not only on Fridays either....!   

Tom

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Rube,
 
     Very impressive! Was the monogram E.O.M. or E.D.M.?
I once saw a bottle with a 'shou' symbol done in such pearls inset into lacquer.
Best,
Shabbat Shalom,
Joey

[joearp]

Very special and unique.  Joey's comment reminded me of another unusual bottle that was featured in an article on the Helen Pritchard Collection by Dr Vincent Fausone Jr. in the Autumn 2017 ICSBS Journal.  It  is a gilt metal bottle overlaid with coral chips mosaics and embellished with a shou charter of split seed pearls.  Thanks for sharing your very special bottle.

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Jo,
 
     Whoops ! That was the bottle.  I mixed up the red coral with  cinnabar lacquer.
Thanks,
Joey

[Rube]

Thanks Jo! I've seen that bottle, it's nice! Joey, her initials were E.O.M. Tom, as best I can tell, he gave her 2-3/year later in life. I'll start a thread later just of his bottles commissioned from his minerals. If nothing else, they'll serve as a good example of the craftsmanship of Hong Kong lapidaries from the 70's and 80's.

Cheers,
Rube