From: Byron Bush
Location: Houston / TX
Date: 02 Jan 1999
Time: 13:29:37
Gary,
We see the same old question here... "Was this unmarked piece of stoneware manufactured in Red Wing?" And we see your same answer... "Unless it's marked it's impossible to tell."
There's got to be some resolution to this!
Why couldn't we take clay particles from the bottom of know pieces of Red Wing (from the dump or your collection) and have their make up analyzed by some modern piece of machinery to ID its DNA. This would undoubtedly involve lots of time, talent, energy, and money but hey, what the heck!
Then, when someone asks these questions we can get them to file off a little clay from the bottom of the piece, send it in for camparitive analysis and, more probably than not, they'd have an answer!
Seems like Grandpa Bush used to play with a Gas-Cromatagraph (sp) in his chemistry lab. Would this work? Who else has some good ideas? As a matter of fact, my next door neighbor owns a company that diagnoses large power plant problems (like the engine to a sea-going tanker) by analyzing the metals content in the lubricating oil. By knowing the exact composition of each part in the engine, and frequent monitoring of the oil contaminants he can tell you exactly what's wearing out in the engine without turning a bolt. Could his same, specialized equipment be of use here?
Look forward to hearing what you (and others) think here Gary.
BBBush