Topic: Gossamer flower in a gossamer pot ID?

[cpccpc]

This lovely egg-shaped paperweight is described in my link. I'm totally ignorant of paperweights since my field is normally elsewhere in the glass domain. However, when we saw this extraordinary one we simply had to buy it. It was part of a large collection here in Switzerland.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23088&id=1656425427&l=28d8c89cf4

thanks in advance for any help 

christian

[keith]

The internal decoration reminds me of the old 'dumps' or 'door stops' most of which are late 19th century(and green)but never seen one in that colour,does it have any wear and what is the base like?Keith.

[SophieB]

I agree with Keith, it looks very much like a glass dump (19th or otherwise). The colour is indeed unusual but I seem to remember seeing other dumps of a lighter/clearer colour than the standard Victorian bottle green before.

I copied a link below to an article that I came across in the past and that may interest you. It may not be completely accurate in all its details (I am not a specialist on Victorian dumps, so it is difficult for me to say) but it is an introduction:  

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/home-garden/2009/05/09/how-victorians-recycled-their-green-bottle-glass-91466-23580027/

Also scroll down this paperweight forum, there was an interesting discussion about such weights on 31 July started by traditionaljazz.
[Mod: For the July discussion click here]

Finally a note of warning: it is a similar glass dump which lured me into bidding for it at an auction and started me collecting paperweights a year ago!!!

SophieB

[cpccpc]

Dear Keith and Sophie,
first to Keith, the bottom bears quite a bit of wear and tear, the pontil mark is slightly submerged while the bulge around it is uneven. Someone seems to have added 3 different sized dots of black resinous (?) material (like the dots glass artist fit to their vases, when it tends to wobble) to make it stand better. The glass body itself shows a few impurities and tiny stray bubbles. So despite the "wrong" colour it might well be of the dump type of manufacture.

As to the link Sophie gave me I don't seem to manage finding the button to open an image (if there is one). The text is helpful though.

Thanks for your help!

christian

[keith]

The pieces I have sound very similar in regards to the uneven base,bulges etc...and I've seen a number with black impurities on the base,there is no reason why they all had to be green I suppose if the factory had that particular colour left over then why not,Keith.

[Lustrousstone]

"Colourless" bottle glass came in many shades, as no decoloriser was used because it was an unnecessary expense. Only the most expensive and purest sand produces colourless glass, so the dump paperweights came out whatever shade of green or blue the leftover glass batch was.

[obscurities]

Finally a note of warning: it is a similar glass dump which lured me into bidding for it at an auction and started me collecting paperweights a year ago!!!

SophieB

Isn't that what happens to all of us....   I have a coffee table with a collection on it of Italian glass in Vaseline and either orange or red....  Started with a "nice" piece I bought cheap at a yard sale many years ago......   turned out the ashtray wasn't "cheap" at all..  ended up costing me a bunch.....   

[tropdevin]

Hi

I am of the view that the very pale, bluish-green dumps (made from good quality glass with flat polished bases) all came in a big crate (or several big crates) from China about 5 or 6 years ago: that is when most of them appeared in a burst in antique shops and on eBay, all in perfect condition (but labelled antique, and with antique prices of course).  There are some paler Victorian ones, but these are of typical poorer glass with inclusions, and are yellow-green as opposed to blue-green.  Hartley Wood made some reproduction dumps in the 1950 - 1970 period, I believe, but although of better quality glass they are closer to the Victorian style and colour than the Chinese ones.

I have seen a few clear glass dumps rather like the subject of this thread, and felt that they were modern rather than antique, given the excellent condition the surface was in - but I have no other evidence to back up that hunch.

Alan

[SophieB]

To Christian
Sorry about the picture. It seems to have vanished. To make up for this, I attach pictures of my Victorian dump, so that you can compare.

To Alan
I did not know that there might be Chinese copies of these dumps around. Thanks for the warning. Can you tell us what the bottom of these weights looks like?

To Obscurities
I propose a campaign to have all glass items inscribed with the following Government warning:
‘Glass can seriously damage your (financial) health’ ;-)

SophieB

[cpccpc]

Dear Sophie,
thanks a million for the images. We think they resemble our piece very well although it is not quite clear as to whether the flower of very similar design is as "gossamer" as ours. But the egg-shape the  colour of the glass fit very well. As for the Chinese angle our piece is by no means nicely polished at the base!

So we are happy to have an answer to our first ever paperweight - so far our last as well...

Christian