Topic: Badge Weights

[Skybird]

Please can anyone tell me if Paul Ysart was the only person known to use Scottish Army Cap Badges within weights?

[KevinH]

Some folk believe that many could have been made in Belgium.

[Skybird]

KevH Thank you for your reply.  I recently bought a badge weight on ebay, it wasn't attributed to anyone but I thought I recognised it as a cap badge and proved to be correct when it came.  I'm relatively new to paperweight collecting and was totally mystified to find that the weight had a very rough pontil, as I had thought that PY usually either ground this or polished it.  Unfortunately the weight is in very bad condition, but at least I was correct in identifying the weight as having a badge in it, which wasn't at all clear from the picture or description. The glass is very grey/blue, and the spatter colours are identical to others attributed to Paul.  I don't suppose I will ever really know the maker, but at least now I know that perhaps some were made in Belgium, so thank you.

[KevinH]

... mystified to find that the weight had a very rough pontil, as I had thought that PY usually either ground this or polished it.

Some of the "badge weights" do indeed have a ground / polished base but it is quite likely that Paul Ysart made many with an unfinished base. Probably the majority of his 1930s regular weights had unfinished bases, so I imagine he would not have been too concerned about an unpolished base on items that were personal mementos made on request.

... the spatter colours are identical to others attributed to Paul ...

It's a difficult area to be sure about. Lots of makers used coloured spatter, often combining red, white and blue - and other colours, too.

It would be nice to see some photos of your weight - although it may not help much in deciding if it was made by Paul Ysart.

[tropdevin]

I got a 'cap badge' weight off eBay last year - a Salvation Army badge. It came from Scotland - but the shape is not like typical Ysart badge weights I have seen. It is rather low domed, and has a protruding pontil mark, ground flat. I doubt this one is Belgian, given the source and subject - but it may not be by Paul Ysart.

I will post some images when I get back from holiday.

Alan

[Skybird]

Thank you both for the information, its very much appreciated.  Unfortunately I cant seem to upload pictures of the weight, keeps telling me that there are too many KB, each picture I have is over the 500 allowed and I'm afraid I don't know how to reduce that.  The badge is the Cameron Highlanders, and as I said the glass is very grey, in fact its darker than an early Baccarat that I am lucky enough to have access to.  Do you think that a Belgian maker would be more likely to polish the base?  Presuming of course that the maker would have wanted to sell them on.
Please, if anyone knows how I can upload an image of 600KB or a bit more, I would be grateful to learn how to do it!!!

[Lustrousstone]

See here for how to upload or attach pictures. At the bottom is a useful link to help resize you pictures, although most programs that will open pictures will also resize them (try under image properties). If you resize in pixels (not cm or in) and change the biggest dimension to 400 pixels, then save as "new name", you should have a small enough picture to attach. Hope this helps

[KevinH]

Do you think that a Belgian maker would be more likely to polish the base?

I think that polishing the base of a personal memento weight would be a factor of cost and convenience rather than being "more likely" by any particular maker. For the "convenience" side of things I am thinking about cases where a weight does not sit flat after removal from the iron and is then ground and perhaps also smooth polished to tidy things up.

Presuming of course that the maker would have wanted to sell them on.

I doubt that these weights were made as a sort of general range to be sold on. In many (most / all ?) cases, the badges are from WW1 regiments which had often been disbanded by the 1930s/40s or merged into another regiment. The the owners (or maybe family members) would have requested the encassing of the badge into a simple paperweight as a keepsake. Perhaps each item was made at a cost agreed with the person requesting the weight, and those with polished bases being a bit more costly.

Posting large images
If you have trouble using the info linked to by Chrsitine, please email your pic(s) to me [click on my envelope icon to the left of any of my messages] and I will make the adjustment and post on your behalf.

[alexander]

These are two badges that were part of a collection I just bought from the UK.
Both british, one is the "Royal Army Medical Corps" and the other the "Kings Royal Rifle Corps".
From the looks I think two makers. Polished pontil marks.

The medical corps one with a slight grey tinge to the glass and brighter colored frit.
Fashioned to stand upright on it's own. The other with pedestal.

Hope it's ok to add these images to this thread.

Thanks

[Skybird]

Hi Alexander, Thank you for putting your pictures on here for me to see.  I have just tried to upload mine, but I am still doing something wrong because even though I followed the instructions given, it still wont let me upload them.  Frustrating, to say the least.  Your pictures are super, both weights are very very much brighter colour glass than the one that I have. it really is very dark indeed.   
KevH Thanks for offering to put the pics on for me but I cant see a little envelope beside your name, there is one beside another post, but yours are not comg through to me with it on. 
Chris