Topic: Honeycomb crystal PW..??

[Martyn K]

Hi All,

I'm not usually much of a paperweight buyer but this caught my eye (and was cheap) ....

7cm (2 3/4in) diameter, honeycomb type design that I'm guessing was blown into a mould then cased in clear glass giving a mirrored lens effect. The base is very slightly concave polished, with flat polished outer ring that has wear consistant with some age, no makers mark.

I dont recall seeing another, but given my limited of knowledge of PW's that's not saying much, appologies for the grey photos and thanks in advance for your help.

Martyn.

[SimonD]

It's a lovely little weight. I've come across a couple of them in the past and think they are quite unusual and very pretty. There are a couple of such weights in the Bergstrom-Mahler Musuem, and appear in the book. The descriptions read

Origin unknown, possibly French, 19th century. Encased mold-blown hollow colourless glass; allover closely spaced circular indentations become radial strands ending at the basal center. Trapped air creates silvery appearance. Smooth concave colorless base. D: 3 5/9" (9.2cm) EBH acquisition: June, 1937

and

Origin unknown, possibly English, late 19th century. Mold-blown "quilted" hollow cushion. Polished flat colorless base; basal ring. D: 2 25/32" (7.1cm) Gift of Paul Hollister, 1978

As far as I can tell from the color plates in the book, the two are very similar apart from their size. Quite why one is described as (possibly) 19th C French, and the other late 19th C English is a mystery.

[Martyn K]

Many thanks Simon much appreciated, to be honest I was getting a bit worried that nobody had commented because it was so common and I'd made a PW 'faux pas'.

Very pleased to hear it may be a bit unusual and 19C....size wise it must be (possibly) English then ... and museum quality! 

I think it's a very pretty weight but my photos are a bit dull and really dont do it justice, it's very sparkly when the light catches it and reminds me of an optical device like a lighthouse lens, though the finish of the dome has a few irregularities.

Still a little mystery.....any other comments gratefully recieved.

[KevinH]

Martyn, in here folk tend not to reply when they don't know what something is. If something is "common" it will receive responses quite quickly. We don't actually ignore things, but we also try not to fill up threads with lots of "sorry, haven't a clue" replies.

I am glad that Simon checked the Bergstrom book. I did not recall this type of weight in there so I didn't look