Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: Christie on February 07, 2011, 12:31:23 PM
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I have a Caithness "Iguana" paperweight designed and made by William Manson. A limited edition of 50 of which i have number 25. i would appreciate any information as to date of manufacture, if indeed 50 were made, and a rough value if possible.
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Hello Christie,according to my book it was a ltd edition of 50,closed at 31 and was issued in 1995 the book gives a figure of £300 but I wouldn't really know present prices for these weights, ;D ;D
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thank you for that info keith. very helpfull. its not the prettiest of pieces i,ve come across so not intending to keep it. any ideas on the best place to sell/ auction it?
many thanks
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Lot of people on the board use ebay,maybe someone would be interested in buying it from you direct,see what responses you get,you may have to wait a while as many only use the forum occasionally ;D
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Christie, please note that many Caithness weights currently change hands for much less than the "value" (as at 2002) listed in the book "A Charlton Standard Catalogue, Caithness Paperweights". Some GMB members have good experience of this and perhaps somebody can comment on the Iguana weight's present sales experience - but with so few actually being made, there may be little information on this.
If you sell the weight via the internet, add a post to the GMB Glass Market Place forum, so folk here can get a chance to follow it.
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I cannot comment specifically upon the Iguana, but I have sold some 40 Caithness weights over the last 12 months, most Limited Editions with box and certificate, in pristine condition. Very few made the original issue price. Lampwork - as ever - seemed to do better than the ugly (IMHO) 'swirls and bubbles' type, the latter achieving maybe 25% to 40% of issue price. I think your Iguana would be a readily saleable piece, but the issue price was somewhat heroic; my guess is you might expect £150 or so - but you never know what might happen on the day.
More generally, I think Colin Terris' estimates of market price were some way off when the book was written, and have got worse as time has passed: in particular, he seemed to think that prices were bound to increase (despite Caithness flooding the market with several million items during their existence), and also that some of his 'swirls and bubbles' creations had appreciated in value far more than Allan Scott's or Willie Manson's lampwork. Wishful thinking, I guess.
Alan
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The comments Alan has made are totally correct but to understand the situation regarding Caithness paperweights and their values you have to appreciate that if you go back to the early 1980's Caithness would issue about 15 new weights in January as their annual editions for that year then in July they would issue maybe another 6 weights as their mid year editions so the total number of new editions would be in the order of 20 - 25 a year but in the late 1980's this rose to about 600 new editions and I told Colin Terris this could only result in the weights being devalued. He said that the collectors club had then grown to some 10,000 members worldwide and in many instances dealers were ordering more copies of certain editions than were actually being made so commercially it made sense for Caithness to increase supplies to meet demands. However, the inevitable result is that the market was flooded and prices have dropped so weights which probably cost around £35 in the mid 1980's do not fetch this on Ebay now and in many cases don't even make half this amount.
Dave
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Hi!
I've just bought a Caithness Iguana on ebay (~£125):
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180667608980&ssPageName=ADME:B:ONA:GB:1123#ht_500wt_1061
It's number 24 - so the one next to yours! The previous posting is correct, it's not the most attractive paperweight, being a sort of muddy brown lizard (base is nice though). I was keen to get one, however, as I already have one that has been given the most magnificent faceting job - and I wanted an original to compare it with! I'm also generally a great fan of Willie Manson's weights...
And yes, anybody buying Caithness weights as an investment is probably in the wrong game....
Graham
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To be fair the values in Terris's book were organised by the publishers, not Colin, based on auction prices and where not available... presumably by the tried and tested method of tossing coins onto an Ouija board. The global market of eBay has skewed things so that no-one can claim rarity when 500 others are selling the same thing! On the other hand 31 weights is not a lot and William Manson is probably one of the most important Scottish makers, so such a weight becomes a Manson rather than a CG and will be a good buy at any price that you have to reach to outbid the other chap! What cannot be valued is the pleasure that is derived by having the weight to enjoy in your hand.