Topic: Tall faceted paperweight, odd coloring. Murano?

[bloclevel]

Hello all! This is my first time posting to your forum. I hope I do this right. I'm looking for help with a possible ID for this 8 sided weight. The panels work up from 8, ending in 4 at the tip. The glass is well polished and the facets are very smooth to the touch. The body coloring of the weight looks smokey yellowish green.  I don't know if the elements inside the weight are causing the color shift. The bottom is polished smooth with quite a lot of wear. The weight stand approx. 5.5" high. Very heavy. If anyone has any points or leads to help me with narrowing down a maker. (Or country!) I would be very appreciative. Thanks for looking. Tim

[tropdevin]

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I fairly sure this is a Czech item - hard to say how old, as similar pieces have been made for around 100 years. Both the internal decorations and facetting are typical of these paperweights.  The tinge to the glass suggests older rather than newer, so maybe 1900 - 1930. I'm not sure you will narrow it down to a specific maker.

Alan

[bloclevel]

Thanks Alan. I would't have thought it was that old. It does help explain the wear on the bottom. Thanks! Tim

[m1asmithw8s]

I have 2 examples of this design in my collection. I've considered them to be Bohemian, made between the wars.

[bloclevel]

Wow Mark, your weights have very similar faceting to mine. Do you know of any reference for these? Thanks, Tim

[m1asmithw8s]

For this particular design, no. I do like Peter VanBrackel's book, Art Deco, as a reference for Bohemian paperweights in general.

[tropdevin]

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The attribution of weights to 'Bohemia' is a complicated matter, due to central European history!  In 1850, Bohemia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire (as was Venice, and Murano, and Pietro Bigaglia was regarded as 'Austrian' by some).  After World War 1 Bohemia, together with parts of Silesia and other territories became the new Czech Republic.  So 'Bohemian' paperweights post 1920 were made in the Czech Republic - but not all Czech paperweights were (or are) necessarily made in Bohemia! The large Béranek factory, which shows around 60 different current designs of paperweight on its website, lies within the old Moravia-Silesia territory rather than Bohemia, I believe.  So unless you know the precise location of the factory, it is difficult to be sure something was made in Bohemia - even though it may be Czech.

As a result of these geographical complications, I tend to use the attribution 'Czech' rather than 'Bohemian' for post 1920 paperweights from this area!

Alan