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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: rocco on April 26, 2015, 04:10:22 PM

Title: Another Bohemian(?) paperweight, 3 flowers on spatter ground
Post by: rocco on April 26, 2015, 04:10:22 PM

Quite a big paperweight at 8 cm height, and 8 cm diameter.
3 flowers growing from a multicolour spatter ground (which has some splotches of sparkling green Chromaventurine).
Polished base showing tremendous wear...

I would think older, and Bohemian/Silesian/Austrian; but could this be narrowed down to a specific region and time period?

Thanks,
Michael

Title: Re: Another Bohemian(?) paperweight, 3 flowers on spatter ground
Post by: w8happiness on April 29, 2015, 05:04:15 PM

Hi Michael,

the three flower trumpet weight (working title) is very difficult to determine- almost every glass making region had workers who made this type of weight, from Bohemia, Bavarian Forest, Austria (Bärnbach, Vordersdorf,...) to Hungary, and moreover Transsylvania (Siebenbürgen) and other places. Most of them are friggers or pause work, used as present for friends, birthdays, marriages and anniversaries. -

Peter von Brackel Shows the broad variety of types, and introduces a weight from Transsylvania on page 131, No. 254, the petals of your flowers are closer to a weight on page 129, No. 247. ( P.v. Brackel, Paperweights, Morsak, 1997).-

Some hints can come from where you bought it,  and sometimes there is a family story backing up the provenience: in 95% of the cases, it is lost, in 3% it is false for various reasons, and the rest is hope...

Kind regards Erhard     

Title: Re: Another Bohemian(?) paperweight, 3 flowers on spatter ground
Post by: w8happiness on April 30, 2015, 11:02:21 AM

Hi Michael,
attached a picture of a 3 trumpet flower weight, possibly made in Styria, 1900-1930,
eventually in Vordersdorf near Eibiswald-
 
I am in doubt because v. Brackels weight from Siebenbürgen (Romania) is very similar,

Kind regards, Erhard 

Title: Re: Another Bohemian(?) paperweight, 3 flowers on spatter ground
Post by: rocco on April 30, 2015, 01:13:36 PM

Hi Erhard,
thanks again -- great info!

I was afraid that paperweights of this design would be quite difficult to attribute, but after the surprising ID you gave for my little-blue-flowers-weight I thought I would ask anyway ;)
The most distinctive feature in this weight is probably the dark spatter ground with green aventurine, which made me think "Bohemian" in the first place (there are quite a few Tchechoslovakian spatter glass pieces from the 1930s with Chromaventurine).

BTW, this was bought locally (= in Vienna), but that's all I can tell about its provenance...

As to age: am I right in thinking that it was probably made first half of 20th century?

Michael

Title: Re: Another Bohemian(?) paperweight, 3 flowers on spatter ground
Post by: w8happiness on April 30, 2015, 02:31:19 PM

Hi Michael,

yes 1st half of 20th century is plausible; I do not think before 1910/14;
chromium aventurine use is interesting, and not common; more common was
a powder of mica (Glimmer/Katzensilber in German), which was used by the
Riedel Glassworks in Polaun, at the end of 19th century,

Kind regards Erhard

Title: Re: Another Bohemian(?) paperweight, 3 flowers on spatter ground
Post by: rocco on April 30, 2015, 04:55:20 PM

Thank you very much!
I am quite sure it is Aventurine and not Mica. Looks exactly like the green blotches in >> this Welz vase (https://picasaweb.google.com/107330317087089352634/PreWW2CzechoslovakiaEtAl?noredirect=1#5988819245937932082).

Michael