Topic: Question of origin

[tropdevin]

Hi All

This paperweight is in a style that turns up in many locations (Alsace, Belgium, Bohemia, US etc).  The name 'June' suggests an English speaking origin, but is it American - or might it be English even? Any thoughts?

Alan

[daveweight]

Hi Alan
It is very clearly one of those nameweights made by Pilkington. They all have that little flower set up which is virtually a signature
Dave

[m1asmithw8s]

Where is Pilkington and when did they stop producing weights? How old is the weight in question?

[daveweight]

Pilkington Glass is located up near St Helens in Lancashire. They did not make paperweights as production items but if you went to their gift shop you couold order one of these weights and have whatever name you wanted put inside. They always had the flowers above and quite often were underlined. I believe these weights were made in the 1960's - 1970's
Dave

[KevinH]

I once saw two crates of these types of weight and I took a couple of reference photos of one of the crates (Left side here ... Right side here). There were "named" weights and other styles including small blue glass "dump-type" items, one with the name "Joe" added!

The gentleman who had them said that Pilkington management denied the making of paperweights in their works. The gentleman also said he believed they were made by Pilkington workers who had emigrated from Czechoslvakia (hence the Czech / Bohemian theme) and were friggers for friends and relatives. But Dave's explanation seems just as reasonable to me and may well be what happened with many of the weights.

[paperweights]

Very interesting discussion.  I'm planning to update the listings I have on my web site for my POLLY and BRENVIN weights.  I always thought they were made somewhere in the Czech region.  BRENVIN is not an English sounding name. 





Thanks for the info.

Allan

[tzenka]

I’ve seen exactly the same type of weights with inscriptions in German (like greetings from Vienna etc.), so I assumed they were “Bohemian”. Several Austrian sellers call them Bohemian too.

[Lustrousstone]

I think the point is that they are all in a "Bohemian" style, but where they come from may (note the may) be indicated by what they say and where they were sourced from.

[Yorkysam]

Hi! Ive just bought this paperweight commemorating the LRDG, a British military unit from WW2.



and it seems to have the flower design as you suggest above. Ive emailed Pilkingtons to see if they can help out, and am wondering what they will say!
Im not a paperweight collector, I collect memorabilia connected with the LRDG, amd Im trying to track down anything anyone knows about the weight, or any duplicates... seems it was made for a G patrol reunion - anyone seen any like it?
(Just joined the forum after Googling and finding you guys)
Cheers

[Yorkysam]

An addition to my post above - the item came from a militaria collector in New Zealand (who felt it was from a reunion after the war), who in turn bought it from another Kiwi. After that the trail goes murky!
Thanks to the emailer who messaged me today with clues ref the Pilkington link, if you are here.

Given that the LRDG (enthusiastically) fought the Germans 1941-45 (though never actually IN Germany - Sahara and Aegean islands were their stamping grounds), I think its unlikely that this piece has any connection with Austria or Prussia.... unless it was made after the war during the Occupation?

Whether a reunion item or perhaps from the immediate post-war period, both theories suggest there may be more of them - possibly quite a few more!

Opinions welcome!