Glass Message Board

Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: peteralba on February 05, 2013, 04:16:46 PM

Title: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: peteralba on February 05, 2013, 04:16:46 PM
 I Wonder if someone could help me please , in one of my carboot jaunts I picked up a paperweight
because it stood out on the table and was just a few pounds.
As i normally do, I searched the net for any info on it .Some of the paperweights I have seen are
stunning and I now see why people collect them,they make  mine's look quite shoddy ,however
all the one's that i see  appear to have to have the pattern within the glass where as this one is painted
on the outside, I must confess at first I thought it was ceramic and only discovered it was glass when I held
 it to the light looking from the base.The style appears to be milliefiori

Regards Peter.
Title: Re: Help Please !
Post by: Nick77 on February 05, 2013, 05:03:01 PM
Hi Peter
Welcome to the board, it sounds rather odd to have a painted design, can you upload a photo as we'd only be guessing otherwise.

Nick
Title: Re: Help Please !
Post by: peteralba on February 05, 2013, 05:16:27 PM
Thanks for the quick reply I did take a photo with my mobile but cant upload as it s saying that the attachment is to big
but will try again.
Cheers

nopt it wont let me, its says 125 kb is the max allowed ???
Title: Re: Help Please !
Post by: KevinH on February 05, 2013, 07:46:37 PM
Hi peteralba, welcome to the Board.

If the surface looks like millefiori then that is what it is (99% certainty). There are plenty of surface decorated weights from various makers.

Perhaps the easiest way (for now) to get your images resized is to send them to me and I will add them for you. Just click on the email icon below my user detail on the left of this post and attach the image(s) to the email.
Title: Re: Help Please !
Post by: peteralba on February 05, 2013, 09:10:43 PM
Hi Kevin thanks for your response i've send an email.
I'm afraid the picture quality is'nt great but appreciate
your kind offer
Regards Peter.
Title: Re: Help Please !
Post by: KevinH on February 07, 2013, 12:43:39 AM
Peter's images (cropped, resized, sharpened a touch and optimised for Kb size):
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: KevinH on February 07, 2013, 01:44:05 AM
For general info, resizing and compressing images can be easily done through a free website service: http://www.imageoptimizer.net/Pages/Home.aspx

Anne, (GMB Techie Wizard) has suggested input parameters for using that site of:
Quality ... Normal; Max Width ... 700; Max height ... 700

That information is yet to be included in the Board "Techie Tips" (mainly my own fault for not completeing a review of the various Help topics on the subject of Posting Photos :-[ ).

So just for the exercise, and to check it still works ok, I have run one of Peter's photos through the site and it has produced the result below, taking an original file of 1600 x 1200 at 368Kb down to 700 x 525 pixels at 41Kb. This works well as long as the main subject of a photo is visually large enough to stand the resizing.

Edited to add: The information is now included in the Techie Tip for "Resizing images to fit the board using Paint Shop Pro".
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: peteralba on February 07, 2013, 06:51:36 AM
Thank you for all your work Kevin and for increasing my limited web knowledge , I'm sure i'm not the only one.
Can anyone shed any light on the possible origins of my paperweight or any addition info at all.
I'm becoming rather attached to it, have I caught the bug  ::).

Regards Peter.
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: Lustrousstone on February 07, 2013, 07:24:14 AM
[Perhaps you should also change the title of the help topic, as it is now more wide-ranging than Paintshop Pro]
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: petet63 on February 07, 2013, 09:24:05 AM
Hi, a bit spooky...I was in a charity shop yesterday and picked up and looked at two of these. They seem to be covered not in glass but some kind of resin or such. They are very cheap and as you say 'shoddy looking'. Sorry I cant help with maker. They caught my eye as from a distant they look like, I use this term very loosely  :D 'millifiore'  Be careful peteralba, glass is a bug that is easily caught and has no known cure. You are in the right place to learn, this site helps one and all and has a great success rate (IMHO) at identifying pieces.
   Welcome to the GMB. Pete
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: peteralba on February 07, 2013, 10:22:17 AM
Hi Petet63 thanks for the response .

I often go to charity shops and have on several occasions been tempted
to buy what I consider ( a novices eye )unusual pieces of glass for a few pounds.
But a lack of knowledge, display space and grief from the wife ( not more junk !!! )
curtail my urges . The paperweight serves a purpose so passed interrogation !!
But I do like the compact nature of paperweights for such beautiful objects and
wonder why they have stayed below my radar.
The problem I have is one of focus ,something takes my eye  ::) :P
I am now on the search for a more salubrious one to adorn my desk
at which time my find! will probably wind its way to the charity shop
But if it has done anything at all, it help me to discover this forum
and maybe take the plunge into the world of the paperweight
and of glass, now I know help is at hand.

Regards Peter.
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: petet63 on February 07, 2013, 10:46:21 AM
I started buying from charity/bootsales and paid only 1 or 2 pound for pieces that I liked at the time, Pressed Glass mainly, and soon began to learn which pieces were better quality. It is easy to get it wrong and I still do but I also get a few more really good pieces (crystal and Art Glass) and its a buzz when you turn £10 into £50 or even £1 into £5 the amounts change but the buzz doesnt . As I said, its addictive and a lot of fun. Ask lots of questions and if its paperweights you collect dont put them on your windowsill in the Summer. Look through paperweights on here and you will find out why  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: Nick77 on February 07, 2013, 11:04:19 AM
I've seen these around but never examined one in detail.
 From the image it does look like a plastic printed sheet has been heated and formed over a glass ball, if that's so I guess a very much cheaper method for mass producing a paperweight with the appearance of millifiori canes.
There used to be a company producing similar equipment for a few thousand £'s that would allow even photographic images to be applied in this way to various different products for the personalised gift industry.

Nick
Title: Re: Help Please ! Surface decorated millefiori.
Post by: chopin-liszt on February 13, 2013, 06:20:20 PM
These are the latest Chinese glass "New goods" from the British Heart Foundation Shops. (as of 2012)
(I am referring to the surface decorated millifiori weight at the beginning of the thread. They are glass, I have picked them up and studied them.)

The peacock ones are older.
[Mod: Chinese peacock weight now has its own thread]