Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: Leni on October 12, 2005, 03:20:03 PM
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I'm now collecting flower paperweights (well, they're generally cheaper than Antique French or Bohemian millefiori :lol: :roll: )
Most if not all are 'Chinese' :twisted: crimp or lampwork weights, and yes, alright, they do have the 'traditional' :roll: flat matt base.
However, this one is a little different. It is nice clear glass and it has a smooth polished flat base. http://tinypic.com/eimtlw.jpg http://tinypic.com/eimvsz.jpg http://tinypic.com/eimvww.jpg
So anyone got an idea who made this one? :shock: :?
Leni
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Regular Chinese, Leni. May be 1990s or later.
Not all have a matt base. Many have a fire-polished finish to the base which leaves a rather rounded edge. Others have a crisper base finish and some are almost properly circular in outline!
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Thanks, Kevin.
So frustrating! :x :x :x
Doesn't anyone have any idea who made these weghts, or where? :? :shock: :roll: China's a big place!
I'm really going to have to make a mission of this! :twisted:
Has anyone got any suggestions as to how I might start researching the subject?
Leni
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Contact the Chinese embassy and talk to the Trades contact perhaps Leni? They may be able to give you some basic info and suggest where/who to try next.
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5 years ago (is it really that long?) via a contact that Ivo pointed me towards, after he had attended a trade fair, I received some trade catalogues from the Zibo Zhaohai Light Industrial Products co. Ltd. (Zibo Imp & Exp Devp Co. Ltd.).
One of the web addresses on the catalogues was for:
http://www.zhaohaichina.com
This link still works and may provide a starting point for research into the actual makers of the giftware paperweights.
Another link was for "www . asiansources . com" but that now redirects to:
http://www.asia.manufacturers.globalsources.com
And the set of pages that are given don't seem to offer much hope of finding info on Chinese paperweight makers. But it may be worth a thorough browsing just in case there is something hidden in a no-so-obvious link.
Go for it, Leni. And good luck.
:)
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Thanks, Kevin. I'm sending various people in China emails, but not getting any replies so far :?
The first one 'bounced' so I'm now trying the second.
I might try the embassy next, as Anne suggested :D
Leni
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I agree there really should be a limit to what you want to know. I was guided around the Zibo Zhaohai stand which was 40 m2 of shelves, three rows of paperweights per shelf, twelve shelves high, like a miniature supermarket. Really friendly people, too, trying to sell me containers of assorted paperweights.
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There has been a bit of discussion here concerning Chinese weights and the merits thereof. As with a lot of things I must add my two cents worth.
Here is one of my favorite weights, chinese of course.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/Muscadale/chinesefountain.jpg
It did not cost a lot of money, and as far as the future-who can tell, but for me I really don't care (think Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind)
It sits very well amongst the Held, Ableman, Glass Eye studio, Eickholt and others. I find it a fascinating object and that is all that matters.
Leni, I find myself being drawn toward orange and yellow (Peter methinks) and I really like your weight. Terry
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Mine are not so old as yours Ray, but they were presents from my Mum so have sentimental value...
(http://www.yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/albums/new_images/paperweights/thumb_unknown_blue_flower_paperweight.png)
Full size image: http://yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/displayimage.php?pos=-57
(http://www.yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/albums/new_images/paperweights/thumb_unknown_yellow_anemone_paperweight.png)
Full size image: http://yobunny.org.uk/gallery1/displayimage.php?pos=-60
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Any progress Leni?
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None, I'm afraid, Frank! :(
However, as I have observed several times since I posted this particular weight, the weights coming out of China now do tend to have a smooth polished base.
With regard to my investigations, I must admit that after several enquiries resulted in nothing more than eager exporters wishing to sell me large quantites of mass-produced weights, I gave up. I didn't actually get round to contacting the embassy, either. Sorry!
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I have a weight quite similar to Leni's except its yellow. They make quite a variety of styles in China. I'm not very fond of their abstracts or millefiori but I find their 3 dimensional florals irresistible. I've built quite a collection of them over the years.
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I've built quite a collection of them over the years.
Me too! ;) http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10048/DaD_Cabinet_sml.jpg
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Wow. You must have that bolted to a couple of studs. I have a large old gun cabinet that I put shelves in for my collection but it's packed solid with my 'fancier' weights so my Chinese beauties are lined up on windowsills.
I've been tempted by some Chinese florals on Ebay but I am invariably put off by the steep shipping.
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Wow Leni, they look great! I especially love the pretty cornflower blue ones together on the shelf. Good thinking to have them enclosed - less dusting! ;) :D
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Dear glasstrufflehunter.......a friend of mine had her paperweights on window sills. Not being too hot on the domestic front, she didn't do much cleaning of window sills, but when she did, finally, she found scorch marks on the wooden sills from the sunrays.
Do be careful if they are in a sunny spot! Emmi
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Mine are in windows that don't get sun except when it first rises. Then the wooden frames of the sash shade the weights. The window looks out on a covered porch. I am looking to getting a bigger cabinet so I can keep all my weights in it.
The worst offenders for scorchy sills seem to be weights that are nearly perfectly spherical.
I know a lady who had a glass shop. She stopped displaying paperweights in her front window because they burnt holes in the cloth she had arranged them on!