Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: dfernbach on April 27, 2006, 11:10:16 AM
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Presented for your amusement and for my education:
http://i3.tinypic.com/wk1b92.jpg
http://i3.tinypic.com/wk1bh3.jpg
The paperweight is about 2 1/2 inches high and wide.
I was told by an American collector with some apparent knowledge of paperweights (20 years as a collector, I never asked how many weights he has but suspect it's substantial) that this paperweight is from India. :?
I have my doubts for 2 reasons:
1. In my years and years (okay :oops: , weeks and weeks) of intensive study of paperweights, this is the only time I have heard mention of paperweights made in India!
2. While I believe that this fellow to be knowledgeable, I must state that he's the same fellow who insisted almost til the end that the St. Mande (made by Chinese while visiting Baccarat under the supervision of the tadpole department of Kings College in Edinburgh and commissioned by Bugs Bunny) was Clichy! :!:
Just so you know (because it's so important!), my dad attended and graduated from Kings College medical school during WW II. In retrospect, given his love of Scotland and of paperweights, I'm surprised that I didn't end up living there!.
Anyway, back to the point.
* Did they / do they make paperweights in India?
* Is this paperweight likely a product of India?
* If not, then any guesses/suggestions/hints as to its pedigree?
* Would any paperweight collector be at all interested in owning this weight?
In total respect of Simone's belief that there is no such thing as a junk paperweight (yes, this will hold paper!), please don't hesitate to tell me that this is a piece of junk.
Of course, I will doubt your veracity if you then offer to buy it. :lol:[/url]
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Well, I've seen them described as 'Modern Bohemian', but it looks Indian to me. :shock: Firozabad, I believe :shock: :roll:
No, really! :D
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Yes, paperweights are made in India. They also make beads with cane decoration. My own knowledge of the types of Indian weight is extremely limited. Leni probably knows more about those than I do.
I know they make "Ice-pick" / "Bohemian" flower type weights and these are usually formed from coloured chips.
Whether the weight shown is Indian, I don't know. I haven't seen that design before, but it's better than the Indian 3-flower types I know of.
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Well Don, for an Indian paperweight it's quite nice - and if it had a hole in for a pen, I'd by it.
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I have a drill bit that is specifically made for glass and ceramics, but it's probably only wide enough that you could hold the refill for a pen, not the pen itself.
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Don, Have a look here at some of the Indian weights around:
http://verredart.atspace.com/I.html
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Does anybody know the derivation of the "ice pick" term?
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"Ice Pick" is an American term.
It's descripitive of any thin, pointed tool used to form a flower stem or an air bubble by insertion into the molten dome.
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Thanks Kev - that's kind of what I expected.
BUT - that would (I think) create thin long bubbles or shapes which doesn't seem to be what the term is related to in terms of the paperweights on the site Anne pointed me towards.
Those weights (and mine) seem to have relatively flat color chips embedded - not long narrow ones.
Maybe this is just one of those terms that you have to accept.
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My thought was they were like the chips created by an ice pick
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Some of the weights in the Verre D'Art site are more like "swirls" or "coatings of multiple chips".
The (nearly) clearly seen "ice-pick" flowers are, from top down: numbers 5 thru 9 and 12. Number 3 is also one of these but the photo does not show the relevant feature well.
The relevant features are:
a) flowers have a stem formed by pushing the tool into the coating of chips to form a column of stretched colour from that point
b) there is an air bubble at the point where the tool was used. The air bubble is an inevitable part of the design because the point where the tool was inserted always leaves an indentation and unless this is worked again (such as by marvering) the next coating of glass will trap the air at the indentation, thus forming the bubble.
Depending on how well and how quickly the item is worked, the air bubble could become separated from the flower or it could be elongated instead of virtually spherical.