Topic: Caithness "Mars" pweight

[carolglass]

What would make this paperweight a second?? D 8cm H 6cm.Just purchased and a little curious, any help would be appreciated. Many thanks

[KevinH]

A Caithness "second" can be sold that way for a variety of reasons. such as:
- a colour is not quite right or is too weak
- part of the design is not as expected according to the control info
- there is a fault (perhaps just a minor one) in the quality of the clear dome

Sometimes, many people would find it hard to see what the fault is!

[carolglass]

Thanks KevH for the information-any books on Caithness glass you would recommend for further reading?? regards Carol

[josordoni]

I believe that weights sold in the factory shop, even though no faults, were also marked CIIG to differentiate from the same weights that were sold in retail gift shops at a higher price.

But I can't remember where I learnt that....

In any case, I have seen so many factory seconds, not only glass, but ceramics also, where you can go over the piece with a fine tooth comb and still not find a noticeable fault. Seconds may have slight glaze faults or more often the design isn't up to the design standard, if there is a distinct problem then the item would normally be classed a third rather than a second and either sold to the factory staff or destroyed.

[ALLAN]

Hi Carol,
          By the look of your weight it,it is facetted on the top.If I remember correctly the original wasn't so this would be a weight that had damage on that area and rather than throw it out it was cut and sold as a second in the factory shop.

[carolglass]

Thank you all for the various opinions about my paperweight, it has been fascinating. The rare occasions I post I have always been impressed with the generous sharing of information by the various members in all forums. All the very best for 08. regards Carol

[KevinH]

For the query about further reading on Caithness weights, I'm afraid there is little to offer. The main reference is A Charlton Standard Catalogue, Caithness Paperweights 2nd edition which was published in 2004. Although it covers all (?) the Caithness weights from 1969 to the time of publication, it sadly has mostly black and white images and only one image per weight. In many instances, the photo of a given weight leaves a lot to be desired and it can be hard to see the detail!

However, Frank's "Scotland's Glass" website does have a good range of colour photos and info on Caithness weights, but as far as I can tell, does not include the 1969 version of the Mars weight.

Allan's comments promted me to check the book and sure enough it's quite obvious that the original design for Mars (which was issued as part of the original 4-weight Planets set - and which were the first official abstract weights issued by Caithness) did not have a facet. So this faceted example even though it was presumably not part of an original set, is presumably much rarer than the ones that formed the limted edition of 500.

[cfosterk]

On the subject of the Charlton guide which is far from satisfactory there is a very intriging lot on ebay at present which is a colour guide "Caithness Paperweight Collector's Guide Vol 2 1979-83"

If anyone is successful with this item it would be great to pass this info on!!!

It looks like an invaluable aid - clearly there must be more amoungst you Caithness collectors!!!

[Frank]

PKay had all of those plus most of the catalogues but he has completely dropped out of sight. As he was providing the catalogue images for SG Caithness growth has slowed down. I had intended to work back in time as the latest catalogues tend to have the best images and by working from catalogues xrefd to Charlton. However, I do still have some low res scans of some of the other catalogues and a lot of collector contributions which I intended to upload after the catalogues.

If someone does want to win this catalogue and either loan it to me for scanning or scan it for SG, that would be great. I am unlikely to bid as I am completely broke at the moment, relying on subscriptions to the Glass Zoo and Study web sites to carry on the work and they slowed down for Christmas. I have the time but lack the resources   

[Frank]

Seller has Vol 1 too http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180202116713
Vol 2 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180202116744