Trying to identify this glass

[summertime]

Hello all,
I have this old pitcher / jug with a controlled bubble effect that i'm trying to identify. I've been told it could be, or is similar to Bollicine glass but as i said i just don't know. Has a made in Italy label under the base. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TxSilver]

Hi, summertime. It is a very pretty pitcher. If the outside feels pitted and bumpy, it is usually called pulegoso glass. If it is smooth outside, it is usually called bollicine. I don't know the exact difference between the two techniques, but I believe what I said is close to correct. The bubbles are uncontrolled. They are created by adding a chemical to the glass, then heating. Kerosene or something similar is used for pulegoso, while carbonate compounds are often used for bollicine. (Discussion on this is welcome because I am in uncharted territory.)

IMO, your vase is made in Italy buy not Murano. The technique used was developed in Murano, but it was then used in many countries in Europe. The shape of your pitcher is not typical for Murano. I don't know exactly where it is from, but it is a nice one.

[artifice]

Hi Summertime Anita is correct in both respects, in that your jug is not of Murano origin,and the effect within the glass is pulegoso with overall smooth surface giving a foam/sponge effect this process uses glass free from impurities to which carbonates either sodium carbonate or bicarbonate of sodium is added this results in carbon dioxide gases which form the closely packed random bubble effect your vase has. Again an external effect on the glasses surface similar to orange peel or poc marked is also given the pulegoso title this is more associated with work of Napoleone Martinuzzi in 1920s Its my understanding that bollicine is a descriptive of the A.Bolle effect in that a metal tool is used or fixed metal spikes in a mould to which the molten glass is added "controlled bubble " simply describes the uniform pattern of bubbles evidenced in the resultant look of the produced item. This is my view others may differ.Cliff

[Langhaugh]

I remember doing a bit of digging around and finding that there was no consistent means of differentiating a bollicine from pulegoso, both terms are used to describe bubbles created by the addition of substances to the glass, no matter what the effect that is (a rough or smooth surface, big or small bubbles), or what substance is added to the glass to create the bubbles.

Cliff gives a great explanation of how bubbles are added mechanically to glass, but I think he is equating "a bolle" with "a bollicine," when really it equates with "bullcante."

IMO, this piece could be called either bollicine or pulegoso without much fear of contradiction. I agree with Anita that it's Italian rather than specifically Murano.

[artifice]

Hi Langhaugh nice to have your input so as I read it you think that I have got my terms mixed up ie equating "A.Bolle" with "A. Bollicine" when it equates to "Bullicante" My understanding of Bullicante is that its not a glass term but a pattern name for encased bubbles so on that point l would agree with you that all glass with bubbles can be described as Bullicante ,however different terms describe the shape and distrubution of bubbles forming different effects as in large regularly arranged bubbles as oppposed to closely packed random bubbles so other terms are useful albeit that all encased bubble glass is of the pattern "Bullicante".Thats how I see however others may differ.Cliff

[Langhaugh]

Just to clarify: I wouldn't say all glass with bubbles is "bullicante," only those pieces where the bubbles were produced physically by piercing the gather with sharp points. I would say that all glass where the bubbles have been produced chemically by adding material to the vat of glass might be called either bollicine or pulegoso. (You can also create bubbles by rolling the gather in substance placed on the marver and then dipping the gather into molten glass, but this creates a quite different effect.)

The following definition comes from the Barovier & Toso web page.

" BOLLE (Bullicante)

A particular decorative effect used in thick glass and consisting in a myriad of large and small "bubbles" , distributed in layers within the thickness of the glass. It may be obtained in two manners: the first requires the glass that is being worked to be rolled on a metal surface covered with small sharp "points" so that, as they print a depression on the glass in its malleable state, it comes out with "holes" which will be successively covered with another layer of glass. The result is a real air bubble which remains "trapped" in correspondence to each "hole" . A second system is to use a conic mould patterned with "points" on the inside in which to blow the glass which will come out with "holes" . The subsequent overlay of transparent glass will make the "bubbles" themselves appear."

David

[Langhaugh]

I may have stumbled across the reason why Martinuzzi's pulegoso is so distinctive. According to the De Bono book, the bubble-creating substance was added to pasta vitrea, creating a quite different effect from when it was added to the glass that was usually used in Murano.


David

[TxSilver]

This explains why the green is richer and more opaque. Great information, David. We'll know that the more transparent pulegoso glass is not Martinuzzi.

[fossilfly]

Originally Posted by Langhaugh

Just to clarify: I wouldn't say all glass with bubbles is "bullicante," only those pieces where the bubbles were produced physically by piercing the gather with sharp points. I would say that all glass where the bubbles have been produced chemically by adding material to the vat of glass might be called either bollicine or pulegoso. (You can also create bubbles by rolling the gather in substance placed on the marver and then dipping the gather into molten glass, but this creates a quite different effect.)

The following definition comes from the Barovier & Toso web page.

" BOLLE (Bullicante)

A particular decorative effect used in thick glass and consisting in a myriad of large and small "bubbles" , distributed in layers within the thickness of the glass. It may be obtained in two manners: the first requires the glass that is being worked to be rolled on a metal surface covered with small sharp "points" so that, as they print a depression on the glass in its malleable state, it comes out with "holes" which will be successively covered with another layer of glass. The result is a real air bubble which remains "trapped" in correspondence to each "hole" . A second system is to use a conic mould patterned with "points" on the inside in which to blow the glass which will come out with "holes" . The subsequent overlay of transparent glass will make the "bubbles" themselves appear."

David

Ive actually seen this demonstrated in Murano. I always thought of the mold as an inverted or inside out pineapple. The spines are on the inside of the hollow mold, rather than the outside as with a pineapple. The glassblower then places the molten ball of glass in the mold and then gently blows, expanding the glass which is then pricked by the pattern of spines. The mold is then removed, and where the spikes touched the glass, are now glass bubbles frozen in the final piece. I'll see of I can find a video or a picture of one of the molds somewhere.

[fossilfly]

Here is something close:






or
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/763...00/4299360230/