Topic: Lily of the Valley-unidentified so far

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.

There was an article about 'Lily of the Valley' paperweights like this one in the most recent issue of the PCC Newsletter (Issue 111, April 2013). No one seems to be sure what country they are from, and so do not know the maker.  I have not been contacted with any further information since the Newsletter was issued, so I suspect they remain as 'unknown European'.

My guess would be that they were made in the Alsace or Belgium, but it is only a guess.

Alan

[w8happiness]

Hello everybody,
the Lily of the Valley weight has laid back into oblivion,
unfortunately there are no messages to shed a little light
on where it was made, and when...-

I'll put it here once again with proper illustration, maybe it
will be recognized by someone one day....or moved to the unresolved box,

cheers Erhard     

[w8happiness]

...this is total coincidence,
I have pulled up my search this morning,
and the weight sold via eBay was one of the
pieces I got to compare with for the PCC article; 
will I bid along? I do not know yet. A crowd of
six or seven known examples is tempting to do so...

A recent opinion locates weights like those
to the Rive de Gier/Loire area but there is still no
evidence...

kind regards, Erhard

[KevinH]

I have merged three separate topics into one and changed the title for all posts to be the same. Please use this thread for all discussion on these weights.

[w8happiness]

Well done, thanks a lot Kevin,

Cheers Erhard

[flying free]

when you first posted that weight I looked up lily-of-the-valley for information (I had seen that weight for sale and ummed and aahed about buying it at the time).

What I found on Wikipedia  under the heading Symbolic  was the following:
'At the beginning of the 20th century it became tradition in France to sell lily of the valley on international labour day, May 1, by labour organisations and private persons without paying sales tax (on that day only) as a symbol of spring. '

There didn't appear to be another country for which it had long term connections, except for that it was the floral emblem of Yugoslavia.  It is the symbol of quite a few organisations again according to Wikipedia.

m

[w8happiness]

Hi flyingfree,
Thank you so much for this valuable facts!
It really helps, because the glass has a certain "French" quality (and UV fluo) to it;
my hope is that the spiral ribbons, flowers or torsades might have found their way into
another product, like a vase, a seal or ashtray...

The lily of the valley does certainly NOT belong to the group of weights from Bulgaria, with diverse mottos for
spring break, easter, birthday, christmas and anniversaries laid out in white glass powder spatter,
showing flowers, trees and short texts like "Tschestit prolet" or "Tsch D" and so on;
but their glass is different, pontil/bottom of other type, profile high, and the white spatter parts seem to be serial/sieved through a matrix.

Cheers and kind regards, Erhard

[flying free]

You're welcome

I have also just looked under 'May Day' and also found this on Wikipedia

'France
On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1. The government permits individuals and workers' organisations to sell them tax-free. Nowadays, people may present loved ones either with bunches of lily of the valley or dog rose flowers.'

So it seems the lily of the valley has quite a long history in France.

Also, have you looked under St Louis, Clichy etc for small vases in filigrana or opaline that have a spiral twisted cane as a rim trail.  I can see that the base of the paperweight is not how I would think (but what would I know?) a French paperweight from one of those houses would finish their bases, but I believe they did make vases with fluted rims that have a spiral twist rim trail, so perhaps other French makers might have done as well?  Perhaps those canes were used in paperweight production as well?


m

[w8happiness]

Very nice!
Indeed, the finish of the base (broken pontil mark) is not consistent with any French paperweight maker of the "classic period"- they show all kinds of finish from polished concave to flat-

so this is one of the points for dating it to "post classic"- after 1900, but maybe before the 1950ies.
Stunning is the fact, that the metal rod for making it was much slimmer than the tool that Vasart used- at first sight, the base looks like a Vasart base, except for the much smaller pontil mark...

The style of Art Nouveau/Art Deco would have been much more elegant, and possibly had used other techniques like etching or metal lusters and shades- compared to what I said, the lilies have a somehow native, rural makeshift- this ethnic touch also makes me think of postclassic European weights...but again most of these have a flat ground base finish;

You are right- the filigrana and twisted canes are seen as rims, but I feel they must be much finer- maybe trial material that was still good enough for a series of friggers? 

What it is certainly NOT: Russia 19th century, Murano, Bohemian/Silesian, classic French i.e. Clichy,St.Louis,Baccarat,St.Mande- and NOT Scottish-which I regret the most- (Ysart,Vasart,Strathearn or Perthshire).

Another possibility- I have seen Gentile weights from West Virginia/USA, they use foam grounds sometimes, but higher profiles and bigger size. The Coke is Coca Cola weights have the translucent cushions, but with inserted bubble nets.

I agree with Alan, who thinks of Belgium or France/Alsace or Loire district as a source, and hope for a local museum find to get some evidence! I also will ask Boisgirard for their thoughts,

cheers Erhard



   

[flying free]

I've not seen the article I'm afraid and forgive me if you've already noted this    I'm aware I've very little idea about paperweights at all 
but have you seen the weight on page 142 of Paperweights (Jargstorf) It has a wrapped type twist cane surround.  Although different to this one, it is slightly more rustic than the twisted canes used for the rims on St Louis/Clichy vases I think.  The weight is from Val St Lambert.

m