Topic: Any information on this 'French millefiori' paperweight, please?

[johnfandmaryp]

Hi all,

I saw this paperweight (about 5.5cm in diameter) at an auction recently, where it was catalogued as 'French millefiori'. I didn't buy it but I would be very interested, as part of my learning process, for any information about it that you could let me have.

Many thanks in anticipation, John.

Top view ~ http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-8521
Detail ~ http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-8520
Base ~ http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-8519

[Leni]

Hello John.  I'm sorry to see no-one has commented on this weight, as I too would have been interested to learn about it.  I am puzzled by the 'French' ID, as at first glance I would have thought it looked Scottish! 

Perhaps I should get out my books on canes, which I haven't looked at for a while, and see if I can spot them. 

[tropdevin]

Hi Leni

I think it was identified elsewhere as Murano, maybe 25-30 years old. Like you, I thought the canes looked a bit Scottish, but they don't quite match anything.

It is presently being advertised on ebay by orville4 (item 150164923787) along with various other weights he got from the Charterhouse auction.

Regards

Alan.

[johnfandmaryp]

... I think it was identified elsewhere as Murano, maybe 25-30 years old. Like you, I thought the canes looked a bit Scottish, but they don't quite match anything...

Hi Alan,

Could you let me know where it was ID's as Murano please? The only thoughts I've seen on it elsewhere are possibly "Italian house of Goebel circa 1980".

Thanks, John.

[tropdevin]

Hi John

I made an assumption (maybe incorrectly) that Italian 'House of Goebel' meant someone in Murano.

I suppose I should come clean, and say I was the seller! I bought cheaply, it suspecting it might be French, then decided I had no idea who made it.  It was too light to be a classic French factory product from the 1850s - but that leaves a lot of possibilities.  If someone gave me convincing evidence that it was French, Scottish, or Italian I would believe them. A strange little weight!

I am happy to accept Andy Dohan's ID.

Alan

[KevinH]

All I can say is that if those canes are Scottish I might want to buy it as an example of something a bit unusual.

[johnfandmaryp]

Hi again Alan,

Maybe it is a Murano house ~ working more with ceramics than glass paperwights, I 'automatically' associated House of Goebel with Hummel/Goebel of Germany and forgot the Italian bit! Bet you were pleased with the auction result!!

I found this paperweight on eBay, which has a label and, to my untrained eye, looks pretty similar.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190156043596

Cheers, John.

[paperweights]

I agree with Kevin that the canes look Scottish.  However the arrangement of the canes is not typical for a Scottish weight.  Very different from the Murano example. 

[alexander]

The "House of Goebel Italy" is/was a division of german company "The House of Goebel GmbH".
I've found some pottery figurines on eBay and one of them had the original sticker plus a tag with information.

The tag includes the description "gift sales" and indicates that this company buys from different manufacturers
to sell in other countries. The item below was apparently intended for the US market.

eBay item 230170156136

There are also other eBay items which are artist signed and have other labels, item 160161627670 is a good example.

This company should not be confused with the "Hummel Goebel" - Goebel Porzellanmanufaktur GmbH, altho I wouldn't be
surprised if that was a contributing motivation in naming a company that sold porcelain figurines to the US.

I haven't been able to find out more about the non Hummel Goebel, the tag mentioned for the first item lists the company address
as West Germany, so I assume it was made before the unification. The US address listed is a PO box.
A search for the german company name on google.de doesnt yield any relevant hits.

To sum up I suspect the "House of Goebel Italy" is/was a store brand for german export company "House of Goebel GmbH".

[alexander]

Just found and bought a similar one for myself, some differences but appears to be same maker.

Item 260164260824

Looking forward to getting my hands on it, interesting canes