Topic: WHY A PAPERWEIGHT VASE?

[bobsaunders]

By definition please, why are some new or recent Studio glass vases called a paperweight vase?  This is sometimes on ebay listings and art gallery listings.
 They still seem to be standard size in height. 5-6 inches. Thickness or weight of glass? 

Thanks Bob

[Wuff]

Could it be (at least for ebay) just a way to attract more viewers by adding a popular (though incorrect) keyword?

[Lustrousstone]

The original Tiffany paperweight vases had more base than vase http://www.earlyauctionco.com/art-glass-auction-features.asp
scroll down and I suppose it's a term you can apply to those stem vases with paperweights as the base but not much else.

[ttttootall]

I like to call this my paperweight vase by David Leppla.

[Ohio]

These are some Erickson (1943-1961, Breman, Ohio) paperweight base pieces which were frequently used on vases, bowls, compotes, candlesticks, etc.

[KevinH]

My understanding is that Tiffany Glass Company made a few large, footed "paperweights" ... domes internally decorated with an underwater scene. They called them "aquamarines". They also made the range of vases that had thick walls containing what looked like an "underwater scene", but usually more like flowers in a watery setting. I guess it was the similarity between the decoration of the vases and the "aquamarines" that gave rise to the term "paperweight vase". Whether that was what Tiffany Glass Company actually called them, I have no idea.

I do not believe the term had anything to do with the base of a vase being larger than the open portion. And stem or bud vases (and wafer stands etc.) with a paperweight base are simply that ... items with a paperweight base.

Maybe the various modern vases with decoration in the walls (set on clear and covered in clear) could reasonably be called "paperweight vases"? I wonder if there are any current makers who use the term?

Or is it just a "collector / seller" terminology for anything that looks broadly similar those particular Tiffany Glass Company vases?

[Lustrousstone]

They certainly call the one goldfish one in the Howarth collection a paperweight vase

[Fuhrman Glass]

I think the paperweight vase idea came from the "California" style of making paperweights that was developed by Lundberg, Correia, Orient & Flume, etc. They worked with rods directly on the paperweight and then they continued to use this technique on vases and perfumes, etc. There are some good videos on the web of Lundberg making weights this way. They would spend 15-20 minutes doing lamp work techniques on the surface of the weight and then encase the piece in clear. I have several vases that were done the same way.
I think up until 35 years ago though the paperweight vase was considered to be as the items that had been discussed here.

My understanding is that Tiffany Glass Company made a few large, footed "paperweights" ... domes internally decorated with an underwater scene. They called them "aquamarines". They also made the range of vases that had thick walls containing what looked like an "underwater scene", but usually more like flowers in a watery setting. I guess it was the similarity between the decoration of the vases and the "aquamarines" that gave rise to the term "paperweight vase". Whether that was what Tiffany Glass Company actually called them, I have no idea.

I do not believe the term had anything to do with the base of a vase being larger than the open portion. And stem or bud vases (and wafer stands etc.) with a paperweight base are simply that ... items with a paperweight base.

Maybe the various modern vases with decoration in the walls (set on clear and covered in clear) could reasonably be called "paperweight vases"? I wonder if there are any current makers who use the term?

Or is it just a "collector / seller" terminology for anything that looks broadly similar those particular Tiffany Glass Company vases?