[If any of the links I have used in this post are bad, please add a reply and I will provide Manual Instructions. This is because my PC has recently stopped working for the smugmug website. I can get in via mobile but cannot copy & paste urls between mobile and the PC.]The weight I was puzzling overIt is a Sulphide Crown over Bright Concentric Millefiori. The "Yellow-Brown" cane alternates with an Orange-White cane in the outer row. A "JA" signature cane (for Jack Allen) is present amongst the other millefiori.
The weight is in Richard More's smugmug site in a gallery for "Experimental Sulfides":
Sulphide Crown over Bright Concentric Canes.https://strathearn.smugmug.com/Strathearn-Paperweights/Experimental-Sulfides/i-T5jGQ3M/AI believe that, along with the three weights Gary has shown or linked to, the “Yellow-Brown” cane of each weight is identical in original structure and colouring.
The Distinct “Yellow-Brown” CaneThis image is located in the "canes" area of Richard's site and belongs with the Blue-Ground weight that Gary has linked to earlier.
https://strathearn.smugmug.com/StrathearnVasart-Ysart-canes/1946-to-1955-Ysart-Vasart/i-b6G8mTZ/AClose inspection often reveals “accidental differences" in cane slices such as, in this instance, the merging of two adjacent yellow rods in the outer row. The same merging of rods is seen in all of the “Yellow-Brown” canes in the Crown Sulphide. This is due to slippage of the hot glass during the making of the cane length. In the other weights the same slippage, indicates that the cane slices used in these four weights must have been from the same length of original cane.
In some cases, for the Blue-Ground weight, there are two occurrences of merged yellow rods. This probably happened during the making of the weight rather than in the pulling of the original cane. Another “accidental difference” can be seen in Gary's weight where the central cane shows little colouring around the white cog canes. This is caused by slippage of the orange (or is it pink?) coating of those white cog canes.
And on colours I have kept to the general “Yellow-Brown” description. However, close examination of each element, in each weight, shows that the “Brown” appearance is actually a shade of amber/orange and is quite bright in some images.
Comments on the eBay (Pinterest image) “Fountain” design weightThe weight was stated on eBay to be made by Jack Allen, I find that hard to believe. It is in a pattern known to have been used by Salvador Ysart. But with a top facet and no coloured or spattered ground, it raises doubt for it being by Salvador. How about Paul Ysart?
I have not, so far, seen a Paul Ysart weight like that example with all “early Ysart / Ysart Brothers” canes rather than a mix of mostly his own canes.
How about “Experimental Strathearn (1979/80)? I would be happy with that, as I know some of the “experimental” items did use “early Ysart” canes. But I would still prefer it to be checked under short wave UV to be sure it has a lead-based clear glass, and therefore ruling out Salvador or Paul's brothers, and indeed, Paul's pre-Caithness years.
Comments on the Blue Ground weightA good example of typically “Salvador / Ysart Brothers” work (pre-1956).
It would be good to see how the base is finished but I would be surprised if it did not fit in with general “Salvador / Ysart Brothers” items.
Comments on the Crown Sulphide weightThe weight has significant features: a JA signature cane; the overall appearance; the distinctive blue/white/red cane (which I have seen in at least one other Jack Allen item), I am comfortable with this weight being made by Jack Allen and I believe it would have been made in the Vasart Ltd period (1956-1964).
Richard has placed this rare Sulphide weight in the smugmug Strathearn “Experimental Sulfides” Gallery. However, it cannot have been a Strathearn Experimental (1979/80) because Jack Allen had left Strathearn Glass in 1968 to work at the newly formed Perthshire Paperweights company.
There is evidence that the “JA” cane used in this Crown Sulphide weight was made in 1963, and that it was mainly used in the period 1963 to 1968 (i.e. last year of Vasart Ltd and up to the date of Jack Allen moving to Perthshire Paperweights).
Ref: GMB thread from 2011 -
help needed - Jack Allen paperweightConclusionDetailed comparison of each weight and their canes (all by photo images) has allowed me to accept that:
a) The "Yellow-Brown" cane is from the "early Ysart" period of "Salvador Ysart (1930s) to Ysart Brothers (1st period Vasart 1946 to 1956)".
b) Gary's Concentric Milleffiori weight is most likely to be from the Ysart Brothers (Vasart) period
c) Based on this latest evidence of weights linked by the “Yellow-Brown” cane, other canes I have seen and queried could also be from the “early Ysart” years.