Topic: is this mark for Maltese decorative glass ?

[glass newbie]

from all i have read here, it seems apparent that quite possibly my weight was made by chinese glass blowers,but i think in malta .... this does not make it chinese, it makes it maltese ... nobody questions the ethnicity of the blower or attributes that to the items identity .... if that were the case all harris pieces would be english not maltese glassware .

[Lustrousstone]

I think we don't know where it was made (not blown) but we do know it has an MDG-like mark on the bottom, so was probably sold on or exported from Malta. I'm not sure we can conclude much else, least of all about the ethnicity of the maker.

[WhatHo!]

I think the problem here is that this style of paperweight has always thought to be Chinese and more often is the case it is difficult to consider it coming from somewhere else. As previously stated we do not know for sure where they were made but my feeling is they would have made these at MDG. Lets hope some research clears this up one day.

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.  I knew I had a similar piece somewhere, and have now found it!  Mine has a Made in China label. Diameter 1 3/4 inch  / 46 mm.

I would be very surprised if any of these Chinese crimp flowers were made in Malta.  I imagine you could have them made with any mark you wished on the base, as long as you placed a minimum order of 300 pieces.

Alan

[WhatHo!]

Or more simply when the factory closed the Chinese returned home and carried on making these basic lampwork paperweights. I can't imagine that a factory employing 80 personal set up by the Chinese with Chinese materials and teachers is going be importing paperweights from China. I might wrong but I just can't see it happening. I shall research this further in the future.

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.  I think my example dates to the 1930 - 1950 period, so well before the Maltese versions.

Alan

[paperweights]

I think some of the posters are trying to make this into something it is not.  This style is abundant with no markings other than paper labels.  All of the early examples I have seen had "Made in China" labels (if they had labels at all).  This original poster's example demonstrates that there may also very few cases where someone has tried to add a factory attribution. 

Aside from the "Made in China" label, I've seen other labels which are primarily importers paper labels.  For example, I've seen them at Corning marked Avita (a known importer of Chinese goods).  They don't sell for much, often less than $5 even in shops. 

To suggest that this may be made elsewhere, such as Malta, doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  We should have other examples from the same factory and none have been found.  Actually, I am not even sure why any Malta distributor would go through the trouble of adding their mark.  Maybe the mark was added in China as part of the purchase specification.

Alan suggests that his example is pre-1950.  I am not sure that can be documented.  I've always believed most simple examples with only a flower are later, 1960s or later. 

Of course, this is only my opinion. 

[chriscooper]

Have you read the whole thread Allan and are you aware of the collaboration between the Maltese government  and the Chinese ? and the story behind it.

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.   (I realise the previous comment was not addressed to me, but there are points worth making about this Chinese aspect).    The Wikileaks material shows that the Americans were twitched about increasing Chinese influence, and it described what they feared might happen - not what had already happened.  I have seen no evidence that any huge factory was actually built.  The glass factories such as Mdina, Valetta, MDG appear to be located in a small crafts village (Ta Qali Crafts Village).  If you check out Malta Decorative Glass now they are a tiny outfit described as importers / exporters / manufacturers - and the latter appears to be fused glass items.  I still suspect that they imported the flower paperweights from China.

Alan

[chriscooper]

Me too Alan I told the poster this somewhere else months think he was hoping it's actually something special maybe a 'Boffo' piece with his connections to the MDG factory.
Other Allan I have added a couple of examples of these obvious Chinese type weights earlier in the thread one with a MDG label and one with a MCG craft label so were clearly sold out of the factory I see no evidence whatsoever of a Mdina or Malta Decorative Glass or indeed a Boffo influence in any of these pieces apart from the base stamp on one.