Topic: decagonal honeycomb magnum paperweight, any ideas?

[graymalkin]

I am attempting to ID this decagonal honeycomb magnum paperweight that my husband inherited from his grandparents, who had a large selection of vintage Baccarat, Clichy, and St. Louis weights. This does not seem to be in that category, and despite much searching, I have yet to make a positive ID.

Any further suggestions provided will be greatly appreciated!

[Mod: Edited to remove base photo of different weight]

[tropdevin]

Hi.  I too would rule out a classic French maker.  I suspect it is from either Czechoslovakia, Alsace, or the Lauscha region. As for a specific factory - probably impossible to say.  But an uncommon and interesting piece.

Alan

[KevinH]

Hi graymalkin welcome to the GMB.

It would be good to see a side view of the weight as the elements below the flower petals and also the cutting pattern from a side view may help in narrowing down an ID.

[graymalkin]

Thanks so much, I will post those later today. (I have to resize them first...)

[graymalkin]

Alan,
Thank you so much for this information. It would make sense that the weight is from these regions, as my husband's grandfather emigrated from Prague in the 1930s, and much of his estate contains arts and antiquities from this region. I will post more photos soon and hope that it is possible to narrow this down!
Erika

[graymalkin]

Here are four more photos.

[KevinH]

Thanks for the additional photos, which show details of the separate elements.

I agree with Alan's comments and I, too, think it is an interesting item.

I was hoping to find some matches to features that are seen in other weights of the type, especially the many weights illustrated by Peter von Brackel in his book on "post classic" (roughly 1870-1910 & 1920-1930) weights, mostly covering European countries. But I could not find the sort of matches I was looking for.

Points of interest:
1. The use of a black cushion ground
2. Two differing "petals" in the upper flower
3. Two layers of flattened twist (*) canes, rather than usual flattened "trumpet flower canes"

(*) Although it is not easy to see the detail of the white "patches / canes", it looks to me as though they are flattened canes formed in a similar fashion to the pink and green ones. The pink ones (two-tone pink) show that a length of standard two-colour twist has been coiled as a short spiral. The green canes also show a coiled effect but there are some individual lengths that show the cane is a "corkscrew twist".

The use of coiled twist canes could be a feature that points to a particular region or maker.

[graymalkin]

Dear KevinH,

Thank you so much for your analysis--it is very helpful to understand the unique aspects of this weight, especially the unusual coiled twist canes that form the second layer of small flowers, which I have never seen before on any weight.

Where do you see the black cushion ground? In the side-view photo, the black that you see is from the countertop upon which I photographed the weight. I don't see anything black in the other photos.

Do you have any advice on books I could use to research this?

Many thanks again for your expert eye,
Erika

[KevinH]

Where do you see the black cushion ground?

Ah! It was the second photo in the first post. But I now see that the pic is named "lion weight", and I should have noticed the ring of millefiori too. Not the same weight. If that is correct I will remove the pic for you.

[graymalkin]

Oh no!!! That was the wrong photo. Yes, please remove! Sorry, and thanks.
I have posted the correct photo here.