Topic: But is it a paperweight?

[ALLAN]

First of all I just want to say what a good message board this is compared to others.The threads are almost always interesting and full of discussion unlike the others which quickly seem to become a place only used to request valuations.

Anyway I thought I would add a couple of comments to this one for obvious reasons. Kev is spot on with his understanding of the original Jay Glass weights. John and I took great pride and care in our work and we would not let anything go out that we did not think were good enough,(some did find their way out by the backdoor themselves though,it was a cowshed we worked in after all ). Unfortunately I also have to agree with the idea that the need to stay in business these days definitely affects what everyone in the glass trade makes,at Caithness we know that only too well. On the bright side though, they have allowed the lampwork designs to be put back down to only editions of 50 weights for this year. This has allowed us to put more time and work into the paperweights. We also have been doing "one-offs" for our various events and our forthcoming collectors convention which totally takes the pressure of time off us so we can just make what we want without worrying about streamlining designs for reproduction. This means that prices rise(thanks to gas increases as well) but we have decided we would rather make quality pieces than churn out any old rubbish to survive. Not everyone will like everything that we or anyone else makes but that is why we have good discussions on this message board.

Anyway back to the thread, I am surprised at Adams JD weights; I cannot believe that they are actually John's, they have the look of weights made up of left-over flowers almost like someone had used what was lying around to let somebody practise making a lampwork weight. It is certainly not like john to let designs like that out. I would be interested to find out from John himself if he recognises the work,  am even surprised at the cane (although I am by no means "up" on all his cane designs), the difference between the J and D is quite extreme which is not like him at all. Kev will be able to tell better than I can though.

The lampwork flowers of Nadines I think are all done by Duncan Smith; the style of joining the petals is more recent Perthshire than the style that Rosette learned from me when she trained at Caithness and Willie Manson's lampwork leans, naturally, more towards Ysart.
As ever though I am prepared to be wrong, so I will finish off this longer than intended post and go read somebody elses

[David555]

Hi Allan

Not all the weights posted have/had the same JD cane - I used a pic of the first and pasted it into the rest as I was intending to sell on eBay, I just wanted to show they had a JD cane, in fact about three of the ones posted did sell on eBay and at low par prices perhaps reflecting the quality of the work.

There are also some red and blue JD canes and although not included in the pictures most of the weights had the paper label with the thistle on it.

What do you think of my 1995 butterfly weight (JHD cane)?

I am avid collector of John’s and indeed your own work as well as other Scottish makers – interesting to hear you were making the weights in a shed !!

It is interesting what you say about the quality of my 2002 weights, I would be interested to know what John says as well - they are from my regular dealer/friend - I believe in telling him about items he has sold me that are suspicious. I mean if I got a low price because they were perhaps fakes, I would seek redress (without mentioning anything or anyone on this board of course)

BTW Allan, do you recognise any of these weights with paper label (no ID cane) all c 2002







BTW Nadine, your JD lampwork pieces are beautiful


Thanks


Adam

[mjr]

A further comment on individual lampwork pieces. A couple of years ago, my wife and I attended one of Willie Manson's courses (which for a collector give a wonderful insight into how to do lampwork and create weights). I was all thumbs but the mrs had a knack for it and came away with a lamp, tools and glass rods so she could practice at home - which she did for a while (until pregnancy got in the way). Consequently we have numerous lampwork flowers etc - not quite to the standard of the better ones shown above, but not far off. The moral of this is  - Who knows how many others have the equipment and the skill to turn out decent lampwork (particularly flowers) which by its nature is not identifiable to an individual. Having said that - the ebay item is very nice and very accomplished.

[Leni]

I have only just realised that a John Deacons weight, which Peggy and Steve of 'Paperweights Plus' show, has a sunflower identical to Nadine's lampwork, set over a lace background.  They say the lampwork was made by Willie Manson!

It's in the middle of this page:
http://www.paperweightsplus.com/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/pwp?opendocument&part=7

You will also see on the same page a toucan weight in which the lampwork was done by Duncan Smith.  The toucan is almost certainly by the same hand as the one Nadine shows in her pictures above!     :shock:

So I think it's fairly certain that her pieces are all 'John Deacon' pieces, in that they were all made to be included in 'John Deacon' weights, although not all the lampwork was made by John's hand.  

[ALLAN]

Hi Adam,
            Sorry I do not recognise any of the weights you posted,I will ask John about them when I next see him.I like the butterfly weight,John always liked to do multi-coloured signature canes.I was going to post some images of the first designs John and I sent to America all those years ago but they took so long my dial-up keeps disconnecting( I really have to get broadband :lol: ).Maybe Ray,if he reads this, will post them as I sent them to him the other night.They are images of the brochure that Larry Selman printed for them.

[RAY]

here you go

click on thumbnail

[Leni]

Thank you, Ray!  

And Allan!  Thank you very much for the background information, too    We are so lucky to have such knowledgeable people posting on the board!   :shock:  

[David555]

Thanks Allan

Also thanks for the J glass brochure that Ray has posted - these are just knock out quality - I have a few like them I collected years ago, but they rarely come up for auction on eBay and command high prices on certain websites.

Oh - I also wanted to show you this weight, I love it but was it an 'end of day' piece or a stock item - I see it as a very well executed scramble with a silhouette cane, a thistle cane, JD 2001 cane (letters in red and blue), and a cane with the name SHEILO (in different coloured letters) - also notice the posher paper label with thistle and 'by John Deacons'



Sorry for all the questions, that is the last weight I will post on this thread

Adam P

[RAY]

Adam any idea who or what SHEILO means?

 Sorry for all the questions, that is the last weight I will post on this

why? if youve more post them, thats what this forums for

[KevinH]

Adam's weight with a mix of cane slices, including silhouettes, and lengths of cane was, and perhaps still is, a regular design.

Name canes were introduced in the late 1990s and were produced on request for such as anniversary gifts (info from John Simmonds' book, Paperweights of Great Britain 1930-2000). Again, perhaps John still makes these. I don't know for sure, but name canes might be found in a variety of weights although I suspect they are all of a fairly simple design.

In the example shown, perhaps "Shielo" is a real variation on "Sheila" or maybe it was an "o" pciked up instead of an "a"?

Regarding the variable quality mentioned earlier of the "JD" signature canes, the "J" and the "D" often appear as "thick and thin" in these canes. The blue-coated JD is a much-used cane. I assume that different pullings of the letters, and perhaps the whole cane, have resulted in variable sizes and thickness of the letters. This is also true of some examples of name canes which are composites using separate letters. It is also true, for example, in the JD 2001 signature cane seen in Adam's latest image above ... the "D" is larger and thinner than the "J" and the "2" is the largest of all characters.