Topic: Sometimes you despair...

[tropdevin]

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A forthcoming sale at Christies New York includes a lot of 'Five French paperweights', including one with a P1986 cane  . Does anyone in the big auction houses know even a modest amount about paperweights, or have the relevant staff now retired? Bonhams London had a large Murano closepack listed as a 'rare Bacchus paperweight' not too long ago...

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/five-french-internally-decorated-glass-three-with-5818685-details.aspx?intobjectid=5818685

Alan

[Nick77]

Perhaps they thought the P was for Paris

Nick

[user9318]

Perhaps they thought the P was for Paris

Nick

LOL, thanks for the laugh!

[KevinH]

Or could the "p" be for "pom weight"

The Lot description includes:

... comprising a pom weight with six layers of millefiori, ...  ... the St. Louis a pom weight ...

Is "pom" something new in the paperweight world of descriptions, or were they owned by an English person who lived in Australia? Or is it just me being a bit dim?

[Sach]

If you are into growing dahlias you will know that a pom is one of the forms a dahlia blossom can take.  They are smaller and more ball shaped than the "dinnerplate"blossoms we are all familiar with in a typical dahlia pw from St Louis or Tarsitano.

http://www.dahlias.com/pompon.aspx

[KevinH]

Thanks for the info Sach.

I had only ever used the term "pompom" or "pompon" in connection with the dahlia blossom, which was so well replicated in Baccarat (and other) weights. But to see "pom" as a description for two distinctly different millefiori designs, neither giving me the impression of a dahlia bloom, took me by surprise.

[Sach]

Oh indeed.  To describe a millifiori design as a dahlia is more than a stretch and certainly shows a lack of familiarity with paperweights.