Topic: Paperweight with Older Shield Label

[horochar]

My first (and only) paperweight!  Does anyone know who used this shield label?  Anyone know who made this piece and when?
Thanks,
Charles.

[lenore]

Hi,
This label is shown in Leslie Pina's Fifties Glass: 2nd Edition on page 172. But sorry to say, all that is written on it is:

Murano Made in Italy (with rooster)

. No manufacturer's name :cry: !
Lenore

[Simone]

It's a nice paperweight, but I'm sorry I can't help with the actual maker.

[Leni]

Looks like it could be AVEM, but it could also be by Eugenio Ferro.  The person to ask is Jackie Lindsay of Corner House Gallery.  http://www.muranopaperweights.co.uk/

[horochar]

Thanks all for all the helpful information, limited as it is.  Paperweights, it seems, are a tricky offshoot in collecting Murano, for purposes of dating and attributions.  For my collecting needs, it would be nice to have a few.  This one passed my test for age, style and quality.  Fortunately it didn't set me back too much, about $30.  I'll consider it a "keeper."

[Jackie]

Hello Charles and thanks for your kind comments about my website!

There are two parts to this identification - the weight and the label.

I partly agree with Leni that it could be AVEM - they certainly produced lovely hollow crowns in more recent years - BUT I have not seen any with the canes at the apex, and this weight is obviously quite old.  Fratelli Toso produced very similar crowns to yours in the first half of the 20th century - but again I have not seen one with those canes.  They are not particularly good canes either. I don't agree with Leni (sorry Leni) that it could be Ferro & Lazzarini.

With regard to the label - that is very interesting.  I have not seen a cockerel on a label before.  The cockerel was the symbol of Murano when it was independent from Venice ( whose symbol is the lion), and in 1923 there was an outcry when Murano was forced to become part of Venice.  The Glassworks Moretti (and some others) made cockerel murrine and there were many other items featuring the cockerel made at around that time as a protest. I wonder if perhaps Moretti introduced a label too to enforce the strong feeling they all had about the identity of Murano.  But  having said that Moretti is famous for their murrine and I don't know if they ever produced hollow crowns. However, this is of course pure speculation and I can find nothing at all about a cockerel label!  AVEM though did not use one, I am fairly sure.

Hope all that is of some help or interest - and I think you did very well to buy it for $30!

[Leni]

I don't agree with Leni (sorry Leni) that it could be Ferro & Lazzarini.

Please, Jackie!  Don't feel you need to apologise!   :shock: You're the acknowledged expert in this area.  I'm just guessing,v based on very little experience indeed!   :oops:  :roll:

Thank you for taking the time to contribute to this and other threads on Murano weights.  Your knowledge and experience is highly valuable to us here  

[Patricia H]

Hi Charles,
I'm a new collector too and I love your paperweight.  I've been trying to win a crown, but keep getting outbid.  I think the story of using the rooster as a way of protest is very interesting!
I just keep going to sites and looking at the type of weights certain makers produce, and sometimes I can see something and recognize it.  The links that you get from this group are so much help!
Enjoy!
Pat in VA

[langhaugh]

I have the same label on a small red and orange sommerso duck. I sldo saw the same label on some glass animals said to belong to "the Seguso fantasy animal series" advertised for sale. But I've never seen any book or other reference attribute the label directly to Seguso. The animals for sale were  high quality in "negro et blanco marbled maccia," which I presume is the same as  the animals in Pina's Seguso book ("vetro nero a macchie di smalto bianco"). As Pina's examples come from Svazzo, perhaps he might have seen this label on them?

[langhaugh]

I just finished looking at the Murano label collection on this site and this label is included, courtesy of Svazzo. The Campanella label also includes a rooster. The sample given looks more 70's than 50's and so I wonder what an earlier version might look like?