Topic: Baccarat? paperweight

[ktiggeloven]

Dear fellow forum members,

I recently added a paperweight to my collection which is of a very high quality. The canes in the piece are very refined and very well executed. It instantly reminded me of some of the big 19th century makers. The piece shows a decent amount of wear, both to the bottom and (unfortunately) to the top (little scratches). It has a nicely polished out pontil. The piece reminds me most of Baccarat pieces, but wether from the classical period or the Dupont period I am still in doubt. I have added pictures for you to see, in the hope that one of you can tell me whether my hunch was correct, or what it otherwise is. The dimensions are about 6,5 cm in diameter and about 4,5 cm in height.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Kind regards,

Kasper

[tropdevin]

***

Hi Kasper.

I am sure it is a Baccarat piece.  The canes are too good for Dupont, but that would not rule out 1950s-1960s period. However, the detail of the canes, the style of the paperweight and the base suggest to me that it is probably an 1845 - 1860 period item.

Alan

[ktiggeloven]

Thanks Alan for your info.
I believe most 1950-60 pieces were signed with the acid etched Baccarat mark, weren't they?
I'd also like to have the forum's opinion on the scratches on the top of the piece. I've been thinking about having the piece repolished by a proper restorer (as the scratches kind of interfere with the viewing of the piece). Will this be considered to much tampering with the piece for a collector, or is this an allowed restoration?
Any opinions are welcome.
thanks in advance,

Kasper

[tropdevin]

***
Hi Kasper

If it was mine I would have the scratches removed.  Regarding 'allowed', who knows what has happened to antique weights in the past 150 years - many may have been repolished, perhaps more than once - and some even in the factory at the time they were made.  I think what is unattractive to collectors is when the profile gets changed significantly, so that the paperweight ends up as a flat pebble, or the change to the profile makes the optical properties different, and so the outer canes 'vanish off the edge'.  Removing shallow scratches should not affect either of those aspects.

Bruises are a more difficult issue than scratches, as much more glass has to be removed. But there is always a risk if you have a paperweight restored, even just to remove fine scratches: stresses within the glass can cause them to fracture into several pieces. That is a smaller risk with lead glass antique weights than, say, early Paul Ysart weights, which were not always annealed effectively.

Alan