Topic: Perthshire Paperweights

[WRubin]

Greetings.
New to the game.
I know that the Perthshire Paperweights were hand made.
My question is were cane combinations unique or were there batches with the same cane color combinations?
Its very hard to tell at this point from the individual weights that are for sale online.
Thanks - Bill

[Lustrousstone]

I would imagine they were made in batches, as most were not limited editions

[KevinH]

Hello Bill, welcome to the GMB.

Could you please comfirm whether you are asking about:
a) the making of individual lengths of canes, yet to be cut into slices, or
b) the setting of cane slices as part of the design for a weight.

Either way it is an interesting query. And one that I have never got around to asking about myself!

[WRubin]

Thanks for the quick response.

My question was the second, but I can see that the first might also be interesting and might be part of the answer.

I would imagine that even using the same "formula" individual canes of the same color might take on different hues so that two finished batches of the same design might look different or there might be variations within a batch of weights if multiple long red canes were used, for instance.

But my actual question had more to do with did they make a number of pieces with a r-o-y-g-b design or did they mix it up so that some may have been y-b-r-g-o etc.

And as long as I'm asking, I've seen a few pieces for sale that are obviously missing a cane in a circle or where one of the circles was smooshed or canes were tipped. Were these sold as 2nds at the time? Sorry if this rambles on but I'd really like to know.

[WRubin]

And yes. I promise to read the previous posts which may answer other questions that I have.

[KevinH]

Thanks for the explanation, Bill.

I will leave it to others to comment on your main question because I really do not know the answer.

But in respect of:

I've seen a few pieces for sale that are obviously missing a cane in a circle or where one of the circles was smooshed or canes were tipped. Were these sold as 2nds at the time?

In the main, the quality control at Perthshire Paperweights was simple ... "is it riight, sell it"; "is it wrong in ANY way, bin it". Whether that applied to the first couple of years, or so, is something I do not know.

One thing I do know (that may or may not have applied to PP) is that, perhaps surprisingly, the exact same cane - with the same "defects" - such as for a famous "buterfly cane" can be found in "Ysart work" across many decades. So - what was the length of the cane before it was sliced up? 

[paperweights]

Maybe my answer will add some clarity - maybe not.
a)  Some designs, especially limited edition designs, were made with the entire run in the exact same cane design and color combinations for the entire run.  An example was the PP14 which had a specific letter cane (A through Z) in the center for each of the 26 years of production and the same color format for the entire annual run.  Of course, because everything was hand made - the size of the canes might vary slightly and execution allowed for some variation
b) Some designs which were unlimited were set up in all kinds of color combinations with no attempt to stay uniform for the entire production run.  The best example was the PP1 which was made in an unlimited run each year and colors and canes can vary - although the PP1 used only simple canes and the design did become more refined and precise as the years passed.
c)  Other designs mixed things up more with a part of the design staying static and other parts varying.  It was not unusual for a design to be offered in more than one color scheme.
Finally, I believe everything was set up in batches, with the exception of the one of a kind weights.  The batch did not have to be the entire run, but it would seem very tedious to only set up one PP1 for example.