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Author Topic: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please  (Read 6127 times)

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Offline SimonD

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Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« on: May 28, 2014, 08:30:59 PM »
Hi

I'd like some help identifying this remarkable weight. It has a good size (3.125 inches diameter) and a lowish profile (2.125 inches high). The dome is packed full of filigree and polychrome twists in great variety. Each is surprisingly narrow, so it looks pretty crowded in there. Set on top is a coloured murrine of a cockerel, which is surrounded by 8 complex canes. There isn't a trace of aventurine in sight. The twists are set on a dark blue ground (visible from underneath or held to light). The base has a slightly raised pontil scar, which has been ground flat. The glass itself seems to have a green or grey tinge - the photos look a bit brighter that in reality.

The paperweight has the feel of early Venetian c1840-50s but is unlike any of those that we've read about or seen. The murrine looks like those by Francini, though I have only seen monochrome examples of a vaguely similar design in books to compare. Maybe it's a Murano cockerel/rooster. The canes appear to be complex arrangements of simple rods rather than mould-formed, though the cane that appears four times has an unusual 7-pointed star element in it (green with white centre).

I'd love to hear people's thoughts and impressions on this one.
-Simon

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Offline w8happiness

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2014, 08:06:21 AM »
Hi Simon,
this is no doubt one of the most splendid Italian weights I have ever seen! You are right, there are only a few hints to known canes, especially the rooster - I thought of a distorted harlequin figure in chequered Cloth at first. I have found nothing similar in Sarpellon or Kulles...

One Thing must be noted: the red White green torsade can suspiciously refer to the Italian flag, so I would think that the weight was made after the separation of Venice  to Italy  from Austrian Empire, means after 1866- the Austrians watched out for nationalistic symbols very rigidly and caused anger by seizing and confiscating red-white-green beads and canes sometimes - reported by Paolo Zecchin in a Pietro Bigaglia biography (2006).- pls see fn

Second thing is, Vincenzo Moretti (and L. dalla Venezia) used a technique, where a lot of  preformed square,round  and triangular color and white rods were bundled (cold!)to patterns, tied and slowly heated until they fused together, then pulled- the white cane with red and blue inserts looks like this...(Sarpellon p.95 ff) - so it is fused mosaic glass rather than millefiori in strict sense.
Suggestion for a date Frame: post 1866, but before the 1914 WW I outbreak...the latticinios look much older and remind of Bussolin's work, the canes don't...
Sorry the capital letters are occuring at random and I am tired of typing over.... 
Anyway- no doubt, the most fascinating weight from Venezia I have ever seen! Kind regards, Erhard

-fn-Pietro Bigaglia, poliedrico imprenditore muranese / Paolo Zecchin. – 2006
In: Journal of glass studies, 48.2006, p. 279-296 Zsfassung in engl. Sprache S. 374
EJM

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Offline SimonD

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2014, 05:45:34 PM »
Hi Erhard -

Many thanks for the information. I agree the red-white-green twist/torsade does look patriotically Italian, so your suggestion of date seems a reasonable working hypothesis.

My suggestion that one of the canes had a seven pointed star cane is wrong on closer inspection in broad daylight. What appears to be a star cane is in fact a small version of the larger adjacent green-in-white cane (surrounded by seven white-in-translucent-blue rods.)

I have counted over 25 variations of twists in the weight - all twist upwards to the right (as in the manner of Saint Louis/Cliche/NEGC) except for three (which includes the red-white-green torsade). I would have expected all to twist in the same direction. Perhaps this suggests the twists comes from multiple sources?

Best wishes,

Best wishes, Simon



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Offline SimonD

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2014, 06:35:35 PM »
Here is a close-up of the canes and murrine. I apologise for the quality of the photo, but this is at the limit of my camera, not to mention the weight is a little scratched on top.

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Offline Roger H

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2014, 08:01:57 PM »
Hi there, I know very little about 19th century italian weights but this looks absolutely historical and great, well done.
     Regards Roger.

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Offline w8happiness

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2014, 06:55:17 AM »
Hi Simon,

thanks a lot for the info and the Details! One Addition has to be made: the Island of Murano had been administrated independently until 1923, when it was "annexed" by Venice- much to the protest of the Murano citizens... a rooster cane had been made and circulated a lot, but was also seized, banned and confiscated by Police from Venezia during some protests (I wrote an article about this in the PCC News).

v. Minutoli came to Venezia and tried to find somebody who could reconstruct the antique Millefiori- he had no success, but some trial globes survived and are kept in the CH Museum in Berlin. I attach a clipped Picture from one of the globes, I have one and attribute it to this group- very crude canes and fat twists and latticinio...

When researching, I found Mrs Giusy Moretti, granddaughter of Mr. Moretti, she still works with some "rooster canes" from this era!!!
If you don't mind, I can make contacts to hear if she knows more about your weight, reference pieces ....
A notice about this new find will be published in the next PCC Newsletter, I hope.

For the latticinios and twists, it is accepted that some canes (made by Domenico Bussolin) "wandered" into Bohemian weights in the early time (1845-1850?)- Mr Bussolin traveled to Bohemia and Silesia and may have brought the canes along. His fabulous twists and filigree (he kept a patent for a short time- expired because he could not afford the fee for prolongation!) were sold on to other glassworks with high probability. - Remember Pietro Bigaglia- many of his weights contain another glassmaker's canes (G. Franchini)-so trading the raw material was a common practise!

Kind regards, Erhard 
EJM

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Offline w8happiness

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2014, 08:06:06 AM »
Hi Simon,

thanks a lot for the info and the Details! One Addition has to be made: the Island of Murano had been administrated independently until 1923, when it was "annexed" by Venice- much to the protest of the Murano citizens... a rooster cane had been made and circulated a lot, but was also seized, banned and confiscated by Police from Venezia during some protests (I wrote an article about this in the PCC News).

H. v. Minutoli came to Venezia (it was before Dr Fuss was successful in summer 1833) and tried to find somebody who could reconstruct the antique Millefiori- he had no success, but some trial globes survived and are kept in the CH Museum in Berlin. I attach a clipped Picture from one of the globes, I have one and attribute it to this group- very crude canes and fat twists and latticinio...

When researching, I found Mrs Giusy Moretti, granddaughter of Mr. Moretti, she still works with some "rooster canes" from this 1923 era!!!
If you don't mind, I can make contacts to hear if she knows more about your weight, reference pieces ....
A notice about this new find will be published in the next PCC Newsletter, I hope.

For the latticinios and twists, it is accepted that some canes (made by Domenico Bussolin) "wandered" into Bohemian weights in the early time (1845-1850?)- Mr Bussolin traveled to Bohemia and Silesia and may have brought the canes along. His fabulous twists and filigree (he kept a patent for a short time- expired because he could not afford the fee for prolongation!) were sold on to other glassworks with high probability. - Remember Pietro Bigaglia- many of his weights contain another glassmaker's canes (G. Franchini)-so trading the raw material was a common practise!

Kind regards, Erhard

Giusy Moretti (Info) info AT giusymoretti DOT it - this is the contact to Mrs Moretti, Kind regards Erhard
[Mod, email address modified to avoid spam harvesting - replace "AT" and "DOT" with usual charcaters and removed spaces]
EJM

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Offline KevinH

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2014, 04:49:04 PM »
Simon, I have only one weight that is broadly similar and I think it is a "typical" example of what I have always thought to be "late 19th / early 20th century Venetian". It is much smaller than yours (62mm diameter and 38mm height), has no millefiori / murrine, and the twists are primarily red/ white / blue, with yellow also featuring. It also has some lengths of aventurine.

My main reason for commenting is that my weight is also "surface filled decoration" and has a neatly ground base finished with a "frosted" grinding. As such, the overall appearance is similar to your weight.

Regarding your Rooster, it seems to be less precisely made than those shown in respect of the Moretti family in the 1920s (Sarpellon, Miniature Masterpieces Mosaic Glass, 1838 - 1924).
KevinH

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Offline SimonD

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2014, 07:06:56 PM »
Erhard - thanks for the contact address for Giusy Moretti. I'll happily follow up with an email.

Kevin - thanks for your comments. I'd be very interested in seeing a picture of your weight for comparison.

Best wishes,
Simon

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Offline KevinH

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Re: Old Murano Paperweight - ID Help Please
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2014, 12:27:34 AM »
Images of my weight now provided.

Again, please note that the size of my weight is small in comparison to Simon's (and it is not as nice as his, either!)
KevinH

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