Topic: Old English Paperweight

[Krecik]

Good morning ,

   This recent purchase looks to be old English ? Who made it?   It has an annealing crack , is there any way to repair the crack. If the glass is heated to molten state again do they go away?

Thanks ,

John

[SophieB]

Hi John,

Yes, it is definitely Old English. The canes look Richardson ones to me but it is not my area of expertise. I am sure someone else will come along soon to confirm/infirm this identification.

Yes, some people had tried to have such cracks 'repaired' before (and as I understand it, it is indeed done by re-heating the weight - but I know little about this process). I have seen and handled a weight that had been 'repaired' in this way and it was far from perfect. In the weight in question, a line was still definitely visible. Sometimes air bubbles can get trapped along the crack too (especially in the weight actually broke into separate parts - which is not the case here).

SophieB

[Krecik]

Good afternoon ,

     Thanks. The crack is totally internal , it far from the surface.  When looking from above it obscures the center large cane. Trying to repair probably would not make its looks worse unless it actually made it totally crack.


Thanks,

John

[tropdevin]

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I agree Old English, but I think it is from an as yet unknown maker who was capable of high class work (although some books may suggest 'Bacchus', I think there is no evidence that supports such an attribution: it was just a "that's a nice piece, must be Bacchus" approach).  I fear you have to live with the crack...I have never seen an attempted repair that improved the situation.

Alan

Alan