Topic: ID for paperweights 3 of 8

[chucksbikeorama]

Hi,

If anyone can help me identify these paperweight(s) I'd be most grateful (original post separated into individual posts).

Inherited from a grandparent, so are assumed to be '60s or 70s. Some say 'Caithness', another 'Phoenix (something)', a few are 'signed', other than this I know little about them. All in good condition.

Thanks in advance! 

[chopin-liszt]

 

That looks like two halves of a paperweight, clinging together.
It has what are known as "Ice-pick" flowers in it, that multicoloured core might indicate Bohemian...
But best wait for somebody who does know about weights to comment. I know very little.

[chucksbikeorama]

I know, it's pretty zany huh? No accounting for my grandparents' taste that's for sure

[chopin-liszt]

It might fall apart. There is a huge crack running right through it.
However, I don't think it's hugely valuable, even perfect. These things happen.

[chucksbikeorama]

Are you sure that's not part of the design? I've just had another look and it seems sturdy enough, no external cracking at all. It's always been this way I think. Maybe I'll take another snap, see if that sheds any light…

[chucksbikeorama]

Here's some more angles.
Either way, it's a design of… acquired taste 

[chopin-liszt]

The crack might not run to the outside surface, it could be completely internal, but it's still there.
Otherwise I wouldn't be able to see it. 

This sort of thing happens to glass that hasn't been cooled properly, it's known as an annealling crack. If glass cools too fast, stresses and strains get set up inside it and it can "go" at any time.

[chucksbikeorama]

Hmm too bad! Do you reckon it's best bound for the charity shop rather than eBay?

[chucksbikeorama]

The crack might not run to the outside surface, it could be completely internal, but it's still there.
Otherwise I wouldn't be able to see it. 

This sort of thing happens to glass that hasn't been cooled properly, it's known as an annealling crack. If glass cools too fast, stresses and strains get set up inside it and it can "go" at any time.

Interesting though, I love this sort of specialist info

[chopin-liszt]

I used to be the bric-a-brac person in a charity shop, and I wouldn't put that out on the shelves. Too much of a risk a customer might get hurt by it.
I also tell somebody in a charity shop about this sort of damage if I do see one that has been put out.
It's the business of it could "go" at any time and hurt somebody that would worry me.
I'm afraid it's really a lost cause.

Having said that, there is a certain sort of very highly collectable glass, Monart, which is often a jig-saw of annealling cracks, but they still do hold together.
It was made way back in the '30s, and the place the Ysarts worked in was a bit primitive. The shed that contained the annealling oven was wooden and very draughty, so the cooling temperatures were not adequately controlled.

Monart "jig-saws" are still sellable, but they don't make much. I have one, a very good piece which I got for £20. I would have left it sitting, if it had been perfect and a proper (sky-high!) price. It's still decorative.

I've had other bits of glass just develop these cracks while sitting on my shelves.