Topic: Bohemian butterfly weight ??? any help would be greatfull

[stew2u2]

hi
i think this might be bohemian not 100% with this glass identification expertise yet well im not even 10%. am i right with this
no idea of age ect any help would be greatfull it has a very rough pontil infact it wobbles.
stew

[Lustrousstone]

Looks like it's only flown from St Helens (Pilkington ) to me. That's where these are thought to have been made

[stew2u2]

  thanks Christine like i said not even 10%
you got me laughing now not flown very far 

[stew2u2]

any age to them seem very rough base are they end of the day work

[Lustrousstone]

The bases vary from slit your wrists sharp through a bit fire polished, to ground flat and one is even polished. No-one is quite sure when but mid 20th century onwards. Or whether foreigners or through the museum, no-one knows that either and Pilkington denys all knowledge.

[tropdevin]

***

I think the Pilkingtons aspect has been written up elsewhere (with Czech workers in the 1960s-1970s teaching local glassworkers the style, but no paperweights being produce 'formally' as a production item).  However, there are some older, Czech examples around too in the UK, and no doubt elsewhere.  There are stylised flowers as well as butterflies, and all tend to have less bright colours, and poorer glass with a slightly yellow rather than slightly (or sometimes quite distinct) blue-green tinge. I think it is not always easy to tell them apart.

Alan

[pooleandpaperweights]

Just in case I see one out and about, do they have much value?

Ian

[tropdevin]

***

Mine have cost me about £10 each, I recall, a few years ago. I don't know whether they have moved much since then.

Alan

[stew2u2]

i suppose it depends where you buy them from. a dealer you would probably pay through the nose for one but a car boot next to nothing 

[Lustrousstone]

One of the dealers at a local antiques fair has a white one at £40; he's had it for several years now. I'd like it for £10 but...