Topic: ID Paperweight Please with unusual base

[jove14]

Hi.
At first it looks a lot like your typical p/weight, that is until you look the base.
The base has a round lump sticking up in the centre.
It's approx. 5mm across by 3mm high.
The weight itself is approx. 4cms across by 2.5cms high.
Also strangely there is a very good amount of wear ( arrowed ) all around the base which would indicate some age to it.
I have in my glass cabinet a paperweight topped bartool ( corkscrew ) is this from one of the bar tool ranges ??
Thanks for looking.
Joe.

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.  I think you are correct: a Vasart mini, similar to those used for bar tool tops, but never drilled out to have a shaft fitted.  I have seen a few with the hole partially drilled, and sometimes chipped.  I guess they were not considered good enough to use.

Alan

[KevinH]

And for extra confirmation ...

The Vasart "bar set" and "gear shift knob" items had an approximate diameter of 1 1/2 inch (3.8 cm) but they varied to within 1/16 inch (0.2 cm) either way. The larger ones being 1 9/16 inch (4.0 cm) - or a touch larger. Also the heights can vary slightly even for the same diameter.

[jove14]

Hi, KevinH & tropdevin.
Thanks for the confirmation.
Joe

[paperweights]

I'll jump in and add some additional details.  Although your paperweight is the same size as the barware handles, Vasart was also making this size to be sold as paperweights during the same period.  I suspect your paperweight was a "second" from that production. 

The drilling of holes in the barware and doorknobs lasted for only a short period and was replaced by a process that pressed a hole while the glass was hot.  Angela Bowey and I described the process in an article in last year's PCA annual.  It is also included in the new book by Angela Bowey and Bob Martin Pirelli Glass: Volume 2 (London Lampworkers) released last week and available on Amazon. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pirelli-Glass-2-London-Lampworkers/dp/1484086309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456728588&sr=8-1&keywords=Pirelli+Glass

The barware items were actually made by Lassman & Co., Ltd in London.  They purchased the paperweight heads from Pirelli Glass (also in London).  This was George Dunlop's company.  Pirelli got the paperweights from Vasart.  At the same time, Pirelli / Dunlop were selling the paperweights and also doorknobs and barware under the Pirelli label.  Advertisements and catalogs from the period acknowledged that the paperweights were made at Vasart Glass in Perth, Scotland.  By 1959, the Pirelli catalog referred to Vasart as a subsidiary of Pirelli, although there is no evidence that this was true. 

[Angela B]

I was surprised to see the base on your paperweight because I have a very similar one with exactly the same deformity on the base. I thought mine was probably a one-off error. Now I wonder how they came to have that projection. Mine won't stand straight - its useless as a paperweight. I agree with Allan that it was made at Vasart. I'm away from home just now, so I can't take a picture and post it, but I can do that later. I wonder if Dave Moir remembers this peculiar base.

Angela

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pirelli-Glass-2-London-Lampworkers/dp/1484086309