Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: LotsaStuff on November 14, 2011, 09:36:06 PM
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This paperweight was consigned to me without a tag. In the box with it was a piece of paper that said "Saint Louis Paperweight" written in old handwriting. I've been doing quite a bit of research, and the style doesn't match anything by Saint Louis. It does, however, match some of the known examples of Toso. The orange flowers with the yellow centers, in particular. Any ideas?
******* Update******
I just got ahold of the lady that consigned it- her mother is from St. Louis. The scrap of paper didn't mean anything apparently.
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I have a picture of one like it that has the Toso FT label. The picture is not mine, so I can't post it. The one in my pictures has denser filaments, but is otherwise just about the same. I emailed the pictures to you so you can compare.
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I have to change what I thought after looking more carefully at your pwt and the picture. Your flowers do not have stems. Do you think that yours may be a copy of the Toso design?
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I found a picture of one that looks just like this one on google images, with the label intact. The flowers didnt have stems either. I emailed pics of mine to a glass appraiser this afternoon, and he replied that he believes it to be original. I only paid for an ID, not an appraisal. Any idea what things like this are worth?
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To futher confuse me, here is a picture of one I found on ebay that has the same, stemless flowers.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Venetian-Murano-glass-Fratelli-Toso-Paperweight-signed-/190391956192?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c543eb2e0
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This is the google images search that I used when I found the one that looks just like mine:
http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=603&q=fratelli+toso+orange+flowers+paperweight&gbv=2&oq=fratelli+toso+orange+flowers+paperweight&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2043l10054l0l10262l42l40l1l29l30l0l190l1328l3.7l10l0#hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=vtg+murano+toso+paperweight&oq=vtg+murano+toso+paperweight&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=16744l21890l9l22196l27l20l0l15l0l1l945l3656l6-4l5l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=4ffb18cefac4ebf7&biw=1280&bih=603
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Lotsastuff, the pwt is not worth much, I'm sorry to say. I'm glad you found all the other pictures. I have one pwt that has daisies similar to yours, but it is a millefiori pwt. I think there is a good chance that yours is FT. They often made pwts that were similar to each other, but slightly different. How large is your pwt? The more complex ones look to be the type that are around 3" (7.6 cm) in diameter.
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I would say it's roughly 3" give or take. The ones I've found on ebay are priced $200 - $900. Of course, the owner of this item has seen this fact and is insisting on at least $250. I'll do as she asks, although it will likely sit around for a looooong time. Thanks again!
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The price on the one on eBay gave me a good laugh. To tell the truth, if I had a pwt like yours in my store, I would feel lucky if someone paid me $40 for it. This is not speaking badly of it. It is just a tough FT pwt market out there right now. Other people may differ in their opinion, so it would be good to hear what others have to say.
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I would say it's roughly 3" give or take. The ones I've found on ebay are priced $200 - $900. Of course, the owner of this item has seen this fact and is insisting on at least $250. I'll do as she asks, although it will likely sit around for a looooong time. Thanks again!
I think she is being greedy there! :o :thud:
:thup: ---> Anita word is Good on the value, and Anita knows the real Market.
I would walk away from that deal (http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/sport/sport-smiley-009.gif), and find yourself another FT-PW down the road, IMHO
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I'm with TxSilver on this one, $40-50 would be closer to a "normal" price in this market.
$250 seems excessive as they're not that rare.
Take a look at this sale of 24 pw's on eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Millefiori-Collection-Antique-Murano-Paperweights-Look-Deal-Guarantee-/300620794128?pt=Antiques_Decorative_Arts&hash=item45fe654910) - it wasn't the Murano pw's driving the price even tho there are some very good ones
in this lot, the Orient & Flume pw alone would probably have sold for at least $100.
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And some folk would also pay good money (maybe US $100 or more) for the Chinese pansy on latticino swirl.
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I checked the recent FT market on eBay pwts. It looks like $40 there would be wishful thinking right now on eBay. I don't know if the FT market will ever recover. It has been down for so long. The better ones are selling, and the occasional common one is being picked up. Someone needs to publish a book on them to give the market a needed shot in the arm.
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And some folk would also pay good money (maybe US $100 or more) for the Chinese pansy on latticino swirl.
Am I supposed to take this to mean that you believe it's been misidentified?
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Kev was probably referring to the one that is in the eBay link for 24 pwts. Those latticino flower pwts are actually very pretty. I had one and except for the unfinished base, it was nice.
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Gotcha :) As you can tell, I know absolutely nothing about paperweights. This one has me intrigued!
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Yes, it was the Pansy in the eBay group of weights that I was commenting on.
As for Fratelli Toso "flower" canes, (stemmed or not), Bob Hall shows a page of FT canes in his book "World Paperweights; Millefiori & Lampwork". The varied examples include several "flower-style" canes with no stem. These are mostly in the same style as those in the weight LotsaStuff has shown here, but in differeing colours.
It also shows two examples with stems but these are a simplified "flower" and "two cherries on stems".