Topic: Lustre Iridescent Blue Gold Glass Paperweight ID Help.ID= IOW Studio

[Sally P]

HI, I have a gorgeous lustre iridescent swirly glass paperweight in blue and gold colours with a flat pontil but no ID. Possibly I of W studio glass, but can anyone help? Weighs 575 g 7 cm High and 8 cm Diameter at widest.

Thank you

[chopin-liszt]

  It is Isle of Wight Studio Glass. I'll have to find my book to be able to name the pattern - it looks different on paperweights to other items, and pwts are not my thing. With the swirls pulled into it, it should be something related to one of the Mosaic designs. Which are quite desirable, high-end pieces. 

This is the link to Anton's wiki site of IoWSG. You might find it there. I'll have a look too.
http://iowstudioglass.wikidot.com/collections

It's a bit like silver mosaic. But I think you have too many colours in it. I'm looking at a large purse vase in silver mosaic right now and trying to compare screen and my lap.

Your weight has greens in it my vase doesn't. But your weight has a clear core - my vase has a base colour of deep purple - almost black.
But Silver Mosaic is about the closest I can get to it. Even the colours of my vase change with the lighting in the room - sometimes it's cold and blue-black silver - in other lights, it has a warm pinkish gold lustre.
But there is no green in it.

[glassobsessed]

This is the only Silver Mosaic image on Anton's site:
http://iowstudioglass.wdfiles.com/local--files/mosaic/Mosaic002.jpg

Silver Mosaic does look very likely, not many other images available online but there is this perfume too:
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8d/cf/3a/8dcf3a1baea18da03aedc80ac795b5d8.jpg

John

[chopin-liszt]

That perfume bottle is quite a good match for the weight. There is very little Silver Mosaic to be found on line. There really isn't much of it around. I've had my vase out and the more I look at it, the more I think this weight is Silver Mosaic. I do have photos of my vase, but I can't resize them.

[chopin-liszt]

  I sent images to John for resizing, but he tells me they are already.
The Silver Mosaic is the thing with curly rim edges. The Lollipop bottle is Nightscape.
Under no lighting conditions does my Silver Mosaic produce greens, but you can see that the Nightscape does.

[glassobsessed]

The base colour of Sue's vase is blue and I suspect Anton's candle holder is too, the paperweight is made with clear glass. The base colour will greatly affect how the patches of coloured enamels, silver or gold foil and the trails will eventually appear. It seems Silver Mosaic is fumed as well to create iridescence, this further affects the overall appearance and the colours displayed. I think it is the various techniques used rather than those colours which are important here and the paperweight looks to be spot on.

Sue, take a look at your vase very closely where the base is ground flat, are the various coloured enamels exposed enough right at the edge to see any of them? The trails that are tooled into spirals are apparently clear glass.

[chopin-liszt]

Only the applied rim of the vase is blue, the body is a very deep purple, the sort that is supposed to be black. You have to hold it to a very strong light source to find that it is purple.
There are no other colours. The iridesence and the patterns stop at the edge of the base and do not continue around it. It is pretty much just flat and black. With a long, rectangular, gold "30 year anniversary" sticker. Everything on the surface is iridescent. All the swirls and the background. Not the applied rim.
Suzy's pink Mosaic purse vase was white inside.

All things considered, I think we're in agreement, John. It's the technique and the swirls which define it, rather than the specific background colours per se.
This is a Silver Mosaic paperweight. 

[ahremck]

Just noticed this posting.  I think you have been given a sensible attribution.  The only reason I am commenting is that the general apperance is reasonably close to this paperweight of mine.  It has the square label and is engraved 2001 BM.

After much to and fro it turned out to be design by Timothy Harris for the British Museum.  I was not able to establish if they actually sold them, or whether it was just a design piece.  The colours are very similar to yours I feel.

Ross

[chopin-liszt]

It is the "British Museum" design. That was only sold in the isle of Wight's own b&m shop, or in the shop in the British Museum. The museum had asked the studio to create something akin to old Roman glass for their shop.
British Museum doesn't have the spiral swirls which are what define Mosaic.

Anton's page on BM, Ross.
http://iowstudioglass.wikidot.com/bm

[glassobsessed]

A Mosaic Silver medium cylinder vase (17cm).