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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: Bluerinse on May 31, 2015, 05:35:18 PM

Title: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: Bluerinse on May 31, 2015, 05:35:18 PM
Hi I found this today, it has a part label, any info on who made it and age will be great fully participated ,cheers
Title: Re: Found today in charity shop, help with identification please
Post by: Bluerinse on May 31, 2015, 05:36:27 PM
The base
Title: Re: Found today in charity shop, help with identification please
Post by: chopin-liszt on May 31, 2015, 06:18:15 PM
Your label reads Pirelli, Made in Scotland.
Qute an unusual label to find on a weight, I think.  :)
I'm sure others will be able to tell you much more about this company and where it fits into the history of Scottish Glass.
Title: Re: Found today in charity shop, help with identification please
Post by: Bluerinse on May 31, 2015, 06:59:21 PM
Thanks so much, have googled and found out quite a bit, but if anyone wants to add further I will be very happy
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: tropdevin on June 01, 2015, 07:09:31 AM
***

Hi.  It is a Vasart paperweight, dating to the mid - late 1950s, when some of their production was sold through another company under the Pirelli label.

Alan
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: Bluerinse on June 01, 2015, 11:26:11 AM
Well what can I say all my questions answered, I am truly Thankful and now after reading up on scotish paperweights a little more informed
great websight and thanks for pointing me in the right direction
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: chopin-liszt on June 01, 2015, 11:31:26 AM
Pirelli are mostly known for good quality lampwork figurines.
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: paperweights on June 01, 2015, 02:44:30 PM
Pirelli never made any paperweights.  They (Pirelli) were owned by George Dunlop and located in London.  They distributed Vasart and (possibly) Strathearn paperweights under a marketing arrangement.  In 1959 advertisements in trade journals, Pirelli claimed Vasart as a subsidiary although the claim was probably false. 

For more information, see the 2015 Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors Association article by Angela Bowey and Allan Port. 
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: chopin-liszt on June 01, 2015, 03:21:57 PM
 ;D With names such as Pirelli and Dunlop, I'd have thought they'd be more into rubber than glass, but I'm sure they were into advertising.
Does anybody know where Pirelli sourced their lampwork animals?
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: paperweights on June 01, 2015, 03:34:58 PM
To the best of my knowledge, Pirelli made all of the lampwork animals themselves.  They had the ability to do lampwork but not make paperweights.

This is in contrast to the “decorative glassware” they made using using glasses purchased from Pilkington and others.  A significant portion of their business was through contracts with the makers of Babycham and Martini and others.  They purchased the glassware and applied decorative transfers and gold bands. Some of this work was sub-contracted to Ysart Brothers Glass.
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: chopin-liszt on June 01, 2015, 04:06:02 PM
Thanks! I suppose that if the company were in charge of the making of lampwork figurines, they would have had some control over the quality and regulations about how they were to be executed?
There certainly appears to be some evidence of quality control, although I have observed several differences, particularly in the peacocks. Some have uranium glass in their tails, others don't, and the quality and style of the tails varies.
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: orangeglass on June 01, 2015, 04:43:35 PM
Here is a link to the very informative Ysart glass site:

http://www.ysartglass.com/Pirelli/Pirelli%20Glass.htm
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: chopin-liszt on June 01, 2015, 05:03:43 PM
Thank-you, Roberta! :-*
Difficult to follow loads of it - when folk get obsessed with shenannigans to do with filthy lucre and legal stuff, my brain turns off.

I found a Pirelli fox at the weekend. It has elongated black pupils in its eyes, not a feature I'd seen before. :)
Title: Re: Pirelli labelled paperweight - info sought
Post by: paperweights on June 02, 2015, 05:29:48 AM
Hi Roberta.  Thanks for the link to Frank Andrew's Article.  I had not seen that before.