Topic: St Louis 1977

[donaldf]

Hi All. I bought this St Louis 1977 upright bouquet the other day. It is the certificate that came with the weight that has me puzzled. In Gerard Ingold's "The Art Of The Paperweight - St Louis" book, the paperweight model is listed with a limit run of 650 units. The certificate that came with the weight states that it was certificate number 1753. The certificate also suggests that there were "450 bouquets dresses" of which 200 were reserved for the USA. Lots of conflicting numbers, can anyone switch on the light for me?

Don

[antiquerose123]

Wow..................that is interesting confusion.

Wonder if anyone can shed some light on this for our Friend here on the mystery

Your paper thing looks real to me, IMHO

[SophieB]

Hi Don,

The weight is definitely right and the description of the certificate seems to match. Also, the certificate is genuine: I have seen others from the same period and yours match these. However, I am puzzled too by the certificate number (I had never noticed this before). Would it be that it has nothing to do with the edition number but with the number of certificates issued that year.

It is only a thought, I am no specialist of modern French weights.

SophieB

[tropdevin]

**

I am guessing that some of the confusion arises because Saint-Louis are treating 'certificate number' and 'paperweight number' as different things. They may have issued certificates from 1 to several thousand in sequence, assigniong batches to different designs of paperweights. So the Limited Edition run of 450 (of which 200 were reserved for sale in the USA) could have certificates running from 1500 to 1950, for example.

The question of 650 or 450 suggests to me that there was a misunderstanding by the author about 200 being reserved for the USA, and that he treated these as an additional batch (450 plus 200 giving 650).

This is speculation, I hasten to add.

Alan

[donaldf]

Thanks All, it might be a question I'll keep for a potential visit to the factory (if there is a visitor centre?) It is all a bit of a diversion really. The paper certificate is after all just a piece of paper, whilst the paperweight is a thing of beauty..... The almost sherical dome grabs all the light from its surrounds making the paperweight truely radiate with colour.... amazing....now all I need is a sunny day to see it's true potential.... are we ever going to get a sunny day?

Don

[tropdevin]

***

Hi Don

Saint-Louis have a splendid museum, opened recently, with lots of glass and paperweights on display. Well worth a visit. You can visit the workshops by booking in advance.

Here is the link: http://www.saint-louis.com/en/museum-manufacture/grande-place

Alan

[donaldf]

Thanks Alan, It is a dangerous proposition going to the Factory... the temptation to buy more than you can afford must be overwhelming.