Sand Pontil tumbler?

[Bass]

For me, the outer line is too perfectly centered to be a ring left by a pontil rod.

 

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[NJKLAGT]

For me, the outer line is too perfectly centered to be a ring left by a pontil rod.

Oh no, that outer ring definitely isn't a pontil mark. The sticky spot in the middle is what everyone's calling the pontil. The outer line is just as mysterious though.

I feel like if the outer line wasn't there, we'd all say pontil, and that if the sticky spot in the middle wasn't there, we'd all say machine. That they're both there makes things challenging.

I'm gonna stick with my gut about it being machine-made until I find out how else that outer line would get there. It's a weird beautiful piece for sure!

 

[Bass]

There seems to be some of the same "residue" outside the mysterious ring. Look at the first picture posted and look at the bottom part of the photo outside the line. It has the same appearance as the surface inside the line only it is worn

 

[Dug]

There seems to be some of the same "residue" outside the mysterious ring. Look at the first picture posted and look at the bottom part of the photo outside the line. It has the same appearance as the surface inside the line only it is worn

By residue, do you mean the micro pitting in the center? Here are the same two pics before I resized them so that magnification works a little better for all.

 

[NJKLAGT]

I think he could be referring to one or both of these areas. They do appear similar to the mark in the middle. The plot thickens...

 

[Dug]

The area in the large red circle are spots of iridescence versus actual pitting like the center. Tried to take a better pic of bottom.

 

[NJKLAGT]

From this angle that outer line looks more machiney than ever though. 'Still hoping for someone to explain that outer line if it's not machine-made. I think we've gotta give that line more attention, divert our eyes from the middle spot for a while. We're just staring at the boobs of the thing, so to speak!

 

[Bass]

Looks machine made to me

 

[Dug]

Looks machine made to me

I would agree. I went back and looked at all my iron pontil bottles and they all shared one thing this tumbler does not have and that is some form of irregularity or crudeness in shape. As was pointed out in an earlier post the tumbler is quite uniform and precise in shape. I suppose the strange center pitting could be nothing more than how the molten glass cooled.

I think I have wasted enough of everyone's time on this and do thank you all for your input.