Topic: Probably Italian

[tropdevin]

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The first onw, with generic 'trumpet flower' or 'ice-pick' style flowers, could have been made in many places, but a lot of these come out of the Czech Republic or nearby.

Alan

[ahremck]

I agree with Kevin H re the second weight - the signature looks like Mtarfa from Malta.

The first weight seems to have slightly brown glass rather than completely clear (See photo #1) - if that is so I would suspect an Indian origin.  We saw lots brought over here by the Education Dept. - presumably because they were ultra-cheap.  It does not seem to me of sufficient standard to be a reputable artist's work - and most would put there initials on the base if not the whole name.  Hence I suspect it is of Far Eastern origin anyway.

Ross

[Lustrousstone]

This is an old thread resurrected and I am now much wiser about paperweights. The second one is definitely Mtarfa.

The second one I am more inclined to go with Japanese than Indian. It is nothing like the Indian ice pick flowers we see here - there are plenty.

This particular paperweight only seems to appear in this colour and it is actually more sophisticated in construction than many icepicks.

More discussion about this here
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,28925.0.html