Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: rocco on March 15, 2015, 02:47:37 PM
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I am not usually drawn to paperweights, but this one intrigued me :)
Faceted weight, with nicely done dark red rose growing from a green "pot". The flower is surrounded by 3 green leaves.
Base ground and polished with quite a bit of wear.
Height 9 cm, diameter appr. 8 cm.
My best guess would be Bohemian, and older -- but I may be completely off, so any help with maker / date highly appreciated!
>> Here (http://www.ebay.de/itm/Antiker-Briefbeschwerer-Paperweight-Facettiert-Rose-Boehmen-Jugendstil-/291170289033) is a similar one on German ebay...
Thanks,
Michael
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Hi Michael,
Ooooh, nice one!!!
I would have said bohemian too but it is not my area of expertise at all. Let's see what our more informed members say.
SophieB
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I vote for "more modern". Czech Republic maybe.
The style and cutting is in keeping with Bohemian / Czechoslovakian from the 1920-39 period (as suggested by Peter Von Brackel in his book on these types). However, I think the colour of the petals is not in keeping with the earlier periods. In the book, there are none shown with the same colour petals as in this example and the eBay one.
The eBay example (although differently faceted) seems to be exactly the same colours, with similar "uncontrolled bubbles" around the pot and leaves. This makes me think of a more recent production run rather than the varied colouring normally seen among the many examples of earlier "Bohemian" weights of this type.
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Thank you very much, Sophie, Kevin!
So at least I got the region right ;D
Not easy to find much info about Czech Republic production paperweights online...
Are there many companies still making paperweights in this old style?
I am a bit confused as to why two modern -- likely mass produced -- weights should show different styles of cutting and varying quality.
Michael
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Hi. If you search the past messages on GMB you will find links to modern Czech makers - Beranek being an important one, with around 50 different designs of paperweight in the last 10 years or so. Google Beranek glass or Beranek paperweights and you will get links to relevant products.
Regarding cutting, it is done by people rather than machines, so it can vary. And the cutting pattern is sometimes determined by flaws in the glass that the maker wants to remove, rather than a design concept, so the precise shape changes.
Alan
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Thank you very much Alan!
I am a dedicated collector of Beranek/Skrdlovice glass, but never came across anything remotely similar by them. IMHO not very likely...
(On the other hand it would fit into my collection very well if it was Beranek ;) )
I found that Egermann s.r.o. had a few similarly faceted weights in their 2009 catalogue >> Link (https://picasaweb.google.com/104509467784289017506/EgermannSRO2009PaperweightsAndOlilLamps?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXq9uSW8L2F4wE&noredirect=1).
So if it is just the colour and the bubbles, I guess I will have a hard time learning to distinguish between older and newer production ;D
Michael
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Hi rococo,can I just ask how much wear you have on the base,I have a faceted 'bohemian 'with orange flowers and very little wear so I've got it down as recent after reading a passage in world paperweights about these types still being made when the book,or just before ,was written.
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Hi bat20, thanks for your thoughts!
I attach a pic of the base (which doesn't show the wear very well -- there are lots of very fine scratches which cannot be seen in the pic).
BTW, I came across this interesting website about paperweights from the Lausitz area, showing several with similar roses (and faceting) >> http://briefbeschwerer.kulturpixel.de/index.html (http://briefbeschwerer.kulturpixel.de/index.html)
Some direct links to pics:
>> rose 1 (http://briefbeschwerer.kulturpixel.de/Bilder/z043-briefbeschwerer-muskau-gotzmann.jpg)
>> rose 2 (http://briefbeschwerer.kulturpixel.de/Bilder/wortha-berlin14-rote-rose-schliff-7x8.jpg)
>> rose 3 (http://briefbeschwerer.kulturpixel.de/Bilder/cb-40-briefbeschwerer-rose-rosa-70x70.jpg)
Michael
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Thanks rococo,got to say I do like this type of weight and the bubbles being squeezed out of the fat petals works amazingly to my eye,if they were meant to be there or not.
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Hi everyone.
I have a similar one. the base has a lot of fine scratches, could it be Bohemian first third 20th century?
Best regards.
Marc.
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Totally agree -- I think it is a very nice weight, whenever it was made.
Having now read all threads in the paperweight section containing the words "Czech Republic", I am not much wiser.
There is only one weight on the board with a label "Made in Czech Republic", and that is an oil lamp.
In the other threads the items are merely attributed to be made in Czech Republic.
And I noticed that this term is used rather loosely here, sometimes for a timeframe from after WW2 up until now, sometimes from WW1, whereas IMHO it really should be used only for the period after 1993.
I am sure these attributions are fine and based on vast knowledge, but as my main focus in collecting is Czech(oslovakian) glass I am curious to find out more ;D
@marc: very nice, certainly some similarities. Let's see what the experts say. ;)
Michael
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'Rococo!'just noticed,sorry Michael.
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For the record, my "more modern" comment was, indeed, a suggestion towards 1993 onwards. No proof, of course, just a gut feeling.
But I will concede that this type of weight - and with those dark, "velvety-looking" leaves may well have been made in earlier years ("Czechoslovakian" or even previous "Bohemian"). However, Michael's example has six (or seven?) layers of closely set petals - which is something I don't recall seeing elsewhere. Maybe that is diagnostic of a period - maybe not.
Although there are several "similar-looking" weights in literature and web sites, without seeing them all with top, full side and base views, it is hard to say whether they are actually "the same" or just "similar". That's the trouble with these European "flower in pot" weights ... they have had a "similar look" for so many years.
And the faceting is equally hard to categorise. In Peter Von Brakel's book, there are drawings of 17 groups of "style of cutting" and each group has 2 - 6 variations, with many (or all?) of those relating to the pre-WWII years and no doubt still used in modern times.
Let's all keep our eyes open for examples with good provenance or at least with a label.
:)
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Thank you very much, Kevin -- great info! :)
I had somehow hoped that the rose design was less "generic" than the usual trumpet flowers, and thus easier to attribute -- well, obviously not. ;D
Considering that Czechoslovakian glass production from 1945 up into the 1990s is very well documented (especially thanks to Jindrich's great website), I have found relatively little info on paperweights made during that period.
I have looked through hundreds of issues of Czech. Glass Revue during the past years, and not noticed many paperweights, apart from those with a -- usually -- more modern approach to design, from companies like Beranek/Skrdlovice, Karlovarske Sklo, ZBS. (But maybe the "old style" weights weren't considered arty enough by the communist government to be featured in CGR).
But I am sure much more "retro" glass has been made after 1993, particularly for the growing souvenir market...
Just for the record: I counted the petal layers of my rose -- there are 6.
Michael