Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: Daizamaker on October 30, 2013, 05:09:52 PM
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I bought a collection of weights last week at an estate sale, 15 in total.
I will be posting good individual photos as soon as I have them to see what anyone can tell me about them.
I sent some not-so-good- photos to Glass Eye Studio to ask them about the ones that had their name on them and they told me some were prototypes.
Are these worth more?
10 were Glass Eye Studio, 3 were Selkirk Glass, 1 was Eickholt(?), and another was Abelmann(?).
The Selkirk Glass ones are long, teardrop shapes.
All mint condition, Got them all for $145
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:)
Hi and welcome to the gmb.
We're happy to talk glass - but we don't tend to discuss values here. They are far too subjective.
Something is only worth what somebody else is prepared to pay for it, at that time and in that place.
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Sorry! I'm new.
I fell in love with these things when I saw them and just want to know more about them.Again, sorry.
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No need to apologise!
You'll find yourself among friends if you want to talk about glass - and I'm sure some folk might comment on scarcities and desirabilties of certain items, it's just hard cash values we don't feel too comforable with - after all, every auction is different, even when similar or identical items are up.
We'd LOVE to see pics of all your new weights and I hope you have found a new and exciting hobby - one you can share with all of us here. ;D
I can't tell you much about weights - that's not my area, but there are plenty of others who can.
I just wanted to say hello and welcome, :) (but explain that you might not get a valuation :-[ ).
I think Selkirk has closed recently - the recession has hit glassmaking hard. This might affect the market, but it's too soon to say, really.
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Hi and welcome to the board.
As chopin-liszt said we are a friendly bunch and whilst we don't like talking values you will be able to get a fair idea from taking a look at the prices that are reached on the Ebay auction site.
One thing I can say for sure is that 15 weights for $145 is outstanding value!
Selkirk was founded in 1977 and closed in 2006. At their peak they employed 40 staff and were turning out 25,000 paperweights a year.
The rest of the weights are American and yes Eichkholt is the correct name. Both his weights and those of Stuart Abelman are popular with collectors - google the name and look for a result saying images - here you will find loads of pictures that you can compare your weights against.
GES are a very well known art glass company and they use ash from the Mount St. Helens eruption for the alkali in their recipe. Again their weights are highly collectable. They produce up to 120 new designs each year so as you can imagine there will be a VERY large number of prototypes made before the final designs are accepted for production.
I imagine that these prototypes are sold in the factory shop so that nothing goes to waste. They will generally be less valuable than a fully signed production item. As well as prototype you may also find Artist proofs and master sample. In general these are more valuable than production items as they are the weights against which all production weights are compared to ensure they faithfully match the agreed design.
Hope this helps and lets see some pictures !
Best regards
Derek
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You did very well with the price you paid. $145 for 15 paperweights is exceptional, especially since you didn't get stuck with any generic unsigned paperweights. I wouldn't trust eBay as the complete and final arbiter of value. Since you don't have any classic antique paperweights in the lot, or paperweights by some of the great contemporary artists, aftermarket value of your paperweights is very easy to discern in the United States. Value outside of the U.S. would be more difficult.
The American Robert Eickholt, of Ohio, was making paperweights as recently as this past May. He announced his retirement, and he has been winding down. His weights, especially his early weights, are everywhere and can sell for between $50 and $225 at antique shows, in antique malls, and at flea markets. It all depends on the style of the paperweight. Selkirk, from Scotland, is not an overly popular "brand" in the U.S. It has always been a second cousin to Perthshire and Caithness. Selkirk pieces go for between $50 and $125, again depending on the design.
Stuart Abelman, of Van Nuys, California, has been making glass for almost four decades, and he is still active. He has a large following, especially for his Christmas ornaments and clown sculptures (quite true regarding the latter). He doesn't make that many paperweights and his pricing has always been fair. His paperweights sold (and sell) new for between $95 and $145.
Glass Eye Studio (GES) of Seattle has issued thousands of paperweights, as noted above. Its new weights are in the $90 to $150 range depending on the store at which you buy one. Some of the early GES weights might go for a tiny bit more, but because there are so many of each design, aftermarket value rarely tops the retail price and is often much less. Prototypes are not in overwhelming demand.
GES and Stuart Abelman have their own websites.
If you attempt to sell any of the paperweights on eBay, value will be very flat for all of your paperweights, except perhaps the Abelman, and that depends on the design. There are just too many GES, Eickholts, and Selkirks in the U.S. for these paperweights to rock the marketplace. However, since you only paid an average of about $10 per paperweight, if you sell them on eBay, you will make a profit of at least 50% and certainly a little bit more. Condition is also important.
The good news is that you have a sweet instant collection of paperweights. Just spritz them with a glass cleaner, wipe them with a cotton cloth, and arrange them nicely. These paperweights will not make you rich, but they willl make you happy.
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Would like to see the Selkirk ones as that's what I collect. Can you put a pic up on here?
Ian
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I want to take better photos as the beauty is not shown in these photos but here are the Selkirk weights.
The first one is inscribed "Meteor 110/350 1997 (blue/white)
The second is inscribed "Millenium Fountain 73/500 2000 (Gold color)
I thought I had three but now see one is a Caithness.
The Caithness is the last photo and has the bottom is inscribed "Unity" 196/250.
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Here is a photo, although not a good shot, of the Eickholt piece.
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;D
Thank goodnees you're back - I was scared I'd frightened you away - not my intention at all.
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Hi there
The Caithness unity weight was designed by Helen McDonald and issued in 1999 with an ISSUE price of $425.
the 196/250 mens that it was the 196th weight of this desing made out of MAXIMUM possible of 250.
The secondary market is WAY below issue price especially for Caithness but this will still a good return on your investment !
Both the Selkirks are limited editions and generally speaking the smaller the size of the edition the more it will be worth.
The Eickholt will benefit from being displayed on a simple light box which you can find on e-bay.
Best regards
Derek
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I'm not going anywhere! LOL
I am mesmerized by these weights!
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You might enjoy this site.
It is part of "our Frank"'s Scotland's Glass website.
main page;
http://scotlandsglass.co.uk/
It is still under construction, some images are still needed, but it is growing and growing - thanks to the efforts of "our Wuff" here.
Caithness here;
http://www.scotlandsglass.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=159&Itemid=6
Loads and loads of pics and info about Caithness weights!
I'm impressed you have such a weight as Unity.
Helen MacDonald is a wonderful designer. I have a weight of hers, "Edinburgh Rock". Just a second. I couldn't afford a proper one. (I don't collect pwts. )
I've even met her, quite an exciting experience. ;D
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A better link to the Caithness weights..
http://www.scotlandsglass.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=6&Itemid=6
Chris
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Better photos at:
https://www.facebook.com/jerry.braswell1/media_set?set=a.565278423545375.1073741841.100001896679998&type=3&uploaded=10
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Unfortunately that doesn't really go anywhere apart from your facebook page and there don't seems to be any paperweight photos.
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Go into photos then albums and you will see the Paper Weights album.
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Perhaps the Facebook link may work for people who have signed up to Facebook (I wouldn't know as I have never looked into the site), but for me and, I guess, others the link only goes to a Facebook sign in page. There are no Photos / Albums to be gone into.
This sort of thing is one reason why we prefer images to be embedded in the GMB posts or set up in the GlassGallery site, specially created for use with the GMB.
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I can see lots of other albums but no paperweights but as Kev says...
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Try again. I had it locked , sorry. It is now public and the album is called Glass Weights
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https://www.facebook.com/jerry.braswell1/media_set?set=a.565278423545375.1073741841.100001896679998&type=3
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If any one is interested in the Caithness Unity weight, contact me at daizamaker AT volcano DOT net
[Mod: email address anti-spammed. Change the obvious bits to what they should be. But always best to just use the email icon below Username details on the left.]
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That link seems still only available if you log in to Facebook, which many don't. Forum preferences are that photos are added to the board otherwise over time they get deleted elsewhere and the thread is useless. Also should be one item per thread.
And sales must be in the market place section of the forum only.
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Several items are OK for show and tell. It's IDs that need posting separately
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I bought a collection of weights last week at an estate sale, 15 in total.
I will be posting good individual photos as soon as I have them to see what anyone can tell me about them.
That's how this thread started though
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And we really would like to see the weights posted directly on the board - this means they are here permanently - as a record along with all the comments, for future reference.
pretty please?
:)
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I will be posting the photos here.
I have to resize all of them and it is a lot of work (for me at least). :-\
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Well, we prefer that folk don't post more than three items on any one day anyway. :)
It clogs up the first page and makes other folks' posts disappear.
And each of your weights deserves a thread to itself.
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Great!
This is proving to be too much!
After taking photos, loading them on to my computer and then taking each one at a time down to 500KB, I realize they have to be 125KB and now I will have to take photos all over again because they are all over 125KB at their smallest! :'(
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If you resize the high-res photos so that the longest dimension is 700 pixels you should be OK. If you retake them at lower res, all we'll see is big fuzzy blurs. There are plenty of free resizing programmes available, irfanview being one.
There is help here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,34093.0.html
and here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,6522.0.html
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Oh dear - I thought you had it sorted - your first images are all grand - size wise.
It would be easier to see the weights in all their glory against a white background.
It is much easier to deal with one bit of glass at a time, than as many as 15!