Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: cfosterk on October 05, 2010, 04:39:49 PM
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auction buy, unsigned so sold for £30.00 but it is AF (multiple bruises to the base, has someone used this as a hammer!!!)
http://img180.imageshack.us/i/dscn0700.jpg/
http://img100.imageshack.us/i/dscn0699c.jpg/
http://img180.imageshack.us/i/dscn0698t.jpg/
The butterfly and millefiori hover above the powder blue mottled base.
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I know this may seem cynical, but I just wonder whether this has been 'used as a hammer' in order to damage the base, so that the signature or style of the base is no longer recognisable, in the hope that it might be mistaken for a Paul Ysart piece? The overall style of the piece, and the ground, remind me of some of the pieces made on Willie Manson courses, and also of the weights that Dave Moir is now making. But the butterfly does look very competent, and quite similar to Paul's style.
What is the glass like - crystal clear? Tinted? Bubbles?
Alan
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I would like to see photos of a) the base finish (full view) and b) a full profile view (not angled).
Alan's comments are interesting and highlight a possible confusion with some of the "ysart-like" items that have been made.
However, I believe this weight is very likely an early Paul Ysart item. His lampwork butterflies [as opposed to those with wings formed entirely from millefiori canes] usually had small dots to the outer edges of the upper wings in addition to the larger dot on each wing. But on occasion there are no small outer dots. My own examples (shown here (http://www.btinternet.com/~kevh.glass/pages/catalog/py-butterfly.htm)) do not include the type without the outer dots. But there is a good example in Colin Mahoney's book, Masterworks: The Paperweights of Paul Ysart, page 88 lower left, which certainly shows the garland canes as "floating" implying that the butterfly does the same.
As well as the example in Colin's book, this particular weight has garland canes which are known in other Paul Ysart work. But to be more sure about this one, UV and Specific Gravity tests would be useful.
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I'll get onto the uv and sg work for the weekend.
I've looked at the base a little more closely - there appears a distinct basal rim and there are 'fractures' off this rim, so perhaps the damage was caused creating this rim??
dimensions are 2.5" high (the blue cushion base is extends 1" into the dome, the butterfly 1 1/2") diameter is 3" (the blue cushion base has a diameter of 1 3/4" but 'fills' the whole dome due to the refractice qualities of the glass).
the glass has a dark grey/steel tinge.
the pontil is deeply recessed, snapped off almost within the blue cushion, and there is a slight concave quality to the base with a 1/4" basal rim.
got home too late to take pics, but they will follow....