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Salvador Ysart Harlequin Paperweight

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KevinH:
A few comments for the record, based on my latest findings and re-thinking on some past ideas:

Dave said:

--- Quote ---... a Harlequin style paperweight made by Salvador Ysart and Kev Fluoursced this to the 1930's ...
--- End quote ---
Although some folk have claimed a UV result that can distinguish between pre- and post-war Ysart ietms, it is not something I have confirmed for myself. I only ever state that an item is "early" meaning it is before 1956 (for Vasart) or before 1963 (for Paul's work). Some weights stated as "early Vasart" could feasibly be 1930s but as yet I have no definite proof of this.

And also:
--- Quote ---It is intersting that Salvador used this Harlequin bubbles design well before Paul ...
--- End quote ---
Hmm, I wouldn't go as far as that in my assumptions. Certainly, Dave's Harlequin is of a style that is usually stated to be by Paul, but there are known Harlequin weights by Paul that show all the features of 1930s production. So, if Dave's weight was a 1930s piece, maybe Salvador did make it but was copying something that Paul had already done? Or maybe it was made by Paul !! ?? Personally, I think the weight is likely to be an early Vasart from the 1940s or early 1950s.

What I have evidence for is the use of the some canes in "Vasart" items which are also found in some of Paul's weights, either from the 1930s (attributed by usual visual factors of "dark glass" and form of pontil scar, etc.) or post-war. It is this fact, together with diffrent base finishes [the way stress lines are formed from the cutting-in prior to removal from the punty iron], that suggests the possibility of millefiori weights by Salvador in the pre-war period. (There is evidence, however, from family items, that Salvador made "European-style upright flower" weights in the 1930s.)

And this ties in somewhat with what Frank said:
--- Quote ---The cup in the Perth Museum is stated to be 1920's but I think Kevin was unable to verfy that.
--- End quote ---
True ... I can't verify it. But the canes in that cup are of a different structure than any I have so far seen in any paperweights. It is the same with the very few canes I have seen in early (1920s) Monart wares. One of the ex-Ian Turner vases had a selection of canes that were fairly visible in terms of colour and structure. These, like the ones in the cup, were different from regular Vasart (or Paul) canes. One of my thoughts was that those very early canes may have come from France - or they may have been pulled at the Moncrieff works ... we just don't really know.

Regarding the millefiori picture frames ... yes, there were two, one with a photo of Salvador and the other his wife Enriqueta. Catherine, daughter of Vincent & Catherine, now has these and she shows them on occasion when she does a talk, such as she gave at a paperweight club meeting in the north of England a while back. I am sure I have personal photos of these somewhere but I can't find them (%&£*) and anyway, I promised Catherine that I wouldn't publish them. When (if!) I find the pics, I will comment on the canes used.

David555:
The Paul Ysart Harlequin seems to come up on eBay with great regularity - here is one claiming to be 1940 - 50s
 
link

This one 1950s - 60s

link
 
This one 1970s with a CG cane
 
link
 
How can one tell between an early and late one - from looks wise, did his style change?
 
Also there must be lots on the market that are good look-alikes, not forgeries - it was a popular style of weight
 
 
Adam P

KevinH:
The "Salvador millefiori picture frame"

I have located my lost image. There is just the one shot. It's the item with a b&w photo of Salvador and is held by Catherine, Vincent's daughter. It's not actually a true millefiori decoration, but has a "bed" of coloured chips and a surround (around the central circular photo viewing section) made up of 8 orange "lobes" [like rounded petals] with at least three lines of looping yellow stripes traversing all of the lobes, with the loops following the shape of the outer part of the lobes.

I don't have any details of the similar item for the Enriqueta photo.

Adam's questions re: Harlequin weights

For the first link, I personally think this is more likely to be a European weight. The base finish is not consistent with usual Paul Ysart items and I have not (yet!) seen any PY Harlequins with 5 (partly misplaced) bubbles. But 5 is a number seen in Bohemian / Silesian / German examples.

The seller's comment, "Paul Ysart Harlequin ... dated ... between 1946 - 1956, Moncrieff Vasart/Strathearn period", shows a mix of uncertain information. If it's a PY piece, I have no idea how it could be dated to "46 - 56". The "46 - 56" period does apply to early Vasart but it can't be anything to do with Strathearn if it's no later than 56. Also, the winning bid seemed to indicate that no regular Ysart fans were confident in it being a PY weight.

The second link, to a 1950s - 60s period (based on the clarity of the dome), showed an interesting example of a "double Harlequin". Like the 1st item above, the base did not look like Ysart to me. The use of gold aventurine would certainly make most people think hard about this one, but the quality of the bubbles was lacking, and there were stray bubbles, too. The bright red ground did not seem to be Ysart and the lower layer, made of the bright red over white was not typical of Ysart work, either. This was another one that only achieved a very low winning bid - indicating that none of the usual Ysart collectors were really sure about it.

And then the third one, with clear Caithness Glass details (cane and etched info) was based on the Harlequin design by Paul Ysart but was a regular production item from Caithness Glass ... not actually made by PY. The Caithness catalogue info shows that Peter Holmes made these in 1972 - 1975, and he added his "PH" cane. In 1976 these were made with a CG cane. The dating info shows that Paul Ysart had left Caithness before any of these these were made, but he was credited as the Designer.

So, very probably none of the above were actually made by Paul Ysart and therefore their features will not assist in showing how to date the actual PY examples - which is not an easy thing to do with some of them! Yes, the appearance changed over the years, with 1970s examples being very bright and usually with lots of multi-coloured twists. I have no info about any Harlequin weights made by PY while he was at Caithness. Any that are clearly not 1970s (by label, cane or just the appearance) can be reasonably thought to be 1930s - 1950s ... but splitting those into further periods is the difficult part.

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