Topic: Strathearn Paperweights and a Harlequin

[David555]

Some Strathearn paperweights

This is 3” diam, 2.25” high – partial label. P7? - The glass is very clear.



Any further info, dates


This is 2.4” diam, 2” high with full label. P8? – The glass is visibly slightly darker taking into account the different ground colour.



Any information on the glass colour and cone shape, compared to other weights of this size. I have had many (medium Strathearn) P8s but very few with such an obvious cone shape as this, what date do people think it is?


This is 2.5” diam, 2” high – no label and has a slightly raised button pontil to base. I would call this a double harlequin with a purple base. I always thought these were by Strathearn, but I can’t find any information at the moment. C Terris book shows Caithness single and double harlequin, but they look nothing like this. I am sure it is a common paperweight as my dealer has about three left on his shelf.



Thanks everyone for your continued help. I love paperweights and have many now – please don’t forget my new Murano Aventurine paperweights are in this forum as well :?  :?    


Adam P  

[RAY]

hi Adam

the last weight is made by perthshire 1969-71, it was called aladdin's cave

[David555]

Thanks Ray

I should have known that - ouch

I am not a Perthshire collector but have seen the weight often on websites and ebay, often with a dubious attribution

Stock number 46769 - PP8 at Sweetbriar seems like a single layer version of my 'aladdin's cave' what a price it is. Then again it is most likely much rarer than mine. I see they have not given it a name, is it still called 'aladdin's cave'?

http://www.sweetbriar.co.uk/weightlist.php?maker=Perthshire


Thanks

Adam

[KevinH]

Hi Adam,

As Ray says, those Perthshire "fountain" designs were called Aladdin's Cave, but that name was apparently used only in their early literature. I don't know when the name was dropped. The example in the Sweetbriar site is a triple-layer and is correctly listed as a PP8 design. Your two-layer example is a PP7.

The details of Strathearn weights are well covered in Richrad More's fantastic site: http://strathearn.smugmug.com/
Richard gives the P7 sizes as, "over 2.7 inch to over 3 inch", so your pink weight, at 3 inch, is indeed a P7 and the other one is a P8, being smaller.

Dates are from 1964 to 1980 - regular production throughout all their years.

The high dome on your P8 is perhaps less common but the shapes do seem to have varied quite considerably.

[David555]

Thanks Kev

It was indeed Richard More's site that I used to do my basic research on these weights.

Thanks for explanation ref the 'Aladdin's Cave' - PP7 it all goes down in the databanks for future reference.

This is a lovely John Deacons paperweight of similar form, the diam is 3”



I have noticed an increase in cost for Vasart / Strathearn and early Perthshire paperweights on the high street and on web stores / eBay.

I guess as online databases, books and experts increase in quantity and the accuracy of attribution is now so good, it is having an effect.

The label is the thing - I do lust after it as a completest, but prices are always at a premium - the two Strathearn cost me £50.00 each (they are perfect).


The first paperweight I ever sold on eBay was bought for under £1.00 and sold for £130.00 back in 2002 to a Christie Saferite of the USA

The pictures are awful as it was less than a 1 megapixel camera and I didn’t know how to use it. Do you recognise the weight Kev



Adam P

[dreamticket2]

I have a Perthshire pwt which I understood from the seller was Perthshire and Aladins cave but it is not the same.
I have put three pics up in my PWT album -the first three.

http://tinyurl.com/b5vy3

Have I got the name wrong!
 Thank you for looking.
jean

 :?

[KevinH]

Jean's link has an added full stop. The actual link is:
http://tinyurl.com/b5vy3

Off the top of my head, I can't be sure whether this Perthsire Paperweights item was also called Aladdin's Cave. If so, it is a post-1997 version. It is very much like a regular production miniature scramble weight that the company produced in its later years.
----------------------

Adam commented:

I have noticed an increase in cost for Vasart / Strathearn and early Perthshire paperweights ...  ... I guess as online databases, books and experts increase in quantity and the accuracy of attribution is now so good, it is having an effect.

Perhaps that's true, but for Perthshire items I think the closure of the factory had the biggest effect on the second-hand market (or should I call that the "collector market"?)

And Adam also said:

The label is the thing ... ...  but prices are always at a premium - the two Strathearn cost me £50.00 each (they are perfect).

That price seems to be an average these days for the daily production spoke pattern weights. But they can still be found for much less as well as for quite a bit more.

And:

The first paperweight I ever sold on eBay ... ... Do you recognise the weight Kev

It is similar to the SP100 design of 1979, but that design was (or should have been) signed and dated. See my own example of an SP100 (listed as a private collector item) in Richard More's site:
http://strathearn.smugmug.com/gallery/258519/8/50134150

[dreamticket2]

Thank you KevH for your input again-
apologies for the full stop!!
I managed to find two Strathearn yesterday at reasonable price so they are out there- and a great 1973 Whitfriars.
I went out not going to spend!!! trouble is opportunity is never there second time.
Best wishes
Jean