Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: adam20 on September 24, 2011, 02:38:20 PM
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Nice weight with blue ground and aventurine - central bubble and swirles of tiny bubbles.
Acid etched AIRCO 1981 to base - so that gives a date but I am presuming the AIRCO is a company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airco - any ideas on maker of this weight (3" diam).
Thanks Adam
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looks like a caithness piece to me
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Will have a look at Caithness PW book early 80s when I get back home tomorrow.
Meanwhile here is a photo of aventurine.
Adam
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Well - according to wikipedia the AIRCO you suggest closed in 1920 - could be a club of Airco enthusiasts, of course, looking after old aircraft.
A logo search, however, revealed http://www.logosdatabase.com/logo/airco_73259513: the leading A looks fairly typical, doesn't it? Now - if I interpret this info correctly, we are dealing with an US company: would they commission a weight from Caithness?
Now for the weight: whilst it could be a standard weight with just the base inscription commissioned, it could also be a commissioned design. In the latter case, and assuming Caithness, your chances are dim to find it in the Charlton catalogue: whilst there are quite a few commissioned weights in there, it is only a fraction of the commissioned weights actually made.
I obviously haven't found your weight amongst my Caithness data - otherwise I would have just mentioned the name - but then: I usually spot 1 or 2 "unknown" Caithness weights on ebay each month. Aventurine is not typical for Caithness, however: you mention Aventurine in your second posting - but are likely using it for the material only, not meant to be the weight's name. I have only one Caithness "Aventurine" in my database - which looks completely different (http://www.scotlandsglass.co.uk/cms/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=348&category_id=63&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6).
Conclusion: interesting weight - could well be Caithness - but other possibilities should be considered.