Topic: Faceted paperweight with rose in pot

[rocco]

I am not usually drawn to paperweights, but this one intrigued me

Faceted weight, with nicely done dark red rose growing from a green "pot". The flower is surrounded by 3 green leaves.
Base ground and polished with quite a bit of wear.
Height 9 cm, diameter appr. 8 cm.

My best guess would be Bohemian, and older -- but I may be completely off, so any help with maker / date highly appreciated!
>> Here is a similar one on German ebay...

Thanks,
Michael

[SophieB]

Hi Michael,

Ooooh, nice one!!!

I would have said bohemian too but it is not my area of expertise at all. Let's see what our more informed members say.

SophieB

[KevinH]

I vote for "more modern". Czech Republic maybe.

The style and cutting is in keeping with Bohemian / Czechoslovakian from the 1920-39 period (as suggested  by Peter Von Brackel in his book on these types). However, I think the colour of the petals is not in keeping with the earlier periods. In the book, there are none shown with the same colour petals as in this example and the eBay one.

The eBay example (although differently faceted) seems to be exactly the same colours, with similar "uncontrolled bubbles" around the pot and leaves. This makes me think of a more recent production run rather than the varied colouring normally seen among the many examples of earlier "Bohemian" weights of this type.

[rocco]

Thank you very much, Sophie, Kevin!

So at least I got the region right

Not easy to find much info about Czech Republic production paperweights online...

Are there many companies still making paperweights in this old style?
I am a bit confused as to why two modern -- likely mass produced -- weights should show different styles of cutting and varying quality.

Michael

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.  If you search the past messages on GMB you will find links to modern Czech makers - Beranek being an important one, with around 50 different designs of paperweight in the last 10 years or so. Google Beranek glass or Beranek paperweights and you will get links to relevant products.

Regarding cutting, it is done by people rather than machines, so it can vary.  And the cutting pattern is sometimes determined by flaws in the glass that the maker wants to remove, rather than a design concept, so the precise shape changes.

Alan

[rocco]

Thank you very much Alan!

I am a dedicated collector of Beranek/Skrdlovice glass, but never came across anything remotely similar by them. IMHO not very likely...
(On the other hand it would fit into my collection very well if it was Beranek )

I found that Egermann s.r.o. had a few similarly faceted weights in their 2009 catalogue >> Link.

So if it is just the colour and the bubbles, I guess I will have a hard time learning to distinguish between older and newer production

Michael

[bat20]

Hi rococo,can I just ask how much wear you have on the base,I have a faceted 'bohemian 'with orange flowers and very little wear so I've got it down as recent after reading a passage in world paperweights about these types still being made when the book,or just before ,was written.

[rocco]

Hi bat20, thanks for your thoughts!
I attach a pic of the base (which doesn't show the wear very well -- there are lots of very fine scratches which cannot be seen in the pic).

BTW, I came across this interesting website about paperweights from the Lausitz area, showing several with similar roses (and faceting) >> http://briefbeschwerer.kulturpixel.de/index.html
Some direct links to pics:
>> rose 1
>> rose 2
>> rose 3

Michael

[bat20]

Thanks rococo,got to say I do like this type of weight and the bubbles being squeezed out of the fat petals works amazingly to my eye,if they were meant to be there or not.

[marc]

Hi everyone.
I have a similar one. the base has a lot of fine scratches, could it be Bohemian first third 20th century?
Best regards.
Marc.