Topic: Ysart Weight - a question of age

[jamalpa36]

Hi all

Any thoughts on age of this Ysart

Roy

[jamalpa36]

Side view

[jamalpa36]

Bottom view

[SophieB]

Hi Roy,

I recognise this one. I nearly bid on it  ... Well done  :hiclp: Nice weight...

You know a lot more about Ysarts' than me; but I will try my burgeoning skills...

For what it is worth I thought at first that it was pre-war Moncrieff (because of the general look of the weight and the large canes on the outside) but on second thoughts, it could be later: the cane in the closepack centre reminded me of post-war Moncrieff weights. So definitely Moncrieff period and on balance post-war.

I wonder what KevH will say...

Sophie

[KevinH]

I say ... I don't know. The general look of it strongly indicates Moncrieff years, but is it pre- or post-war? Could be either.

I have one that I guess is from the same time as Roy's. It is shown at Row 2, Column 4 in one of my catalogue pages. It's only a smallish image and there are no other views of it as yet. It has what looks like the same green-white jasper ground as Roy's, and it does not have "dark glass" to the dome. That's one of my reasons for stating on the web page that it's 1940s/50s. However ...

... It has a snapped off pontil scar, with "crunchy bits", and that would lead many folk to think it must be 1930s. And perhaps it is, but just happens to be a "brighter" example. There is something unique (to me) about the weight, though. As well as an indented, snapped off pontil mark, it has overall smooth, but unpolished grinding to the base! Make of that what you will.

One other thing about my weight ... it was one of the first I ever bought and it was covered in scratches and marks such that the dome was extremely dull. It was only later, when I found out that it was by Paul Ysart, that I thought about getting it cleaned up, which I did (by Bob Hall) many years afterwards. When it was cleaned, I was amazed at the crispness of the colours when compared to most of my other PY "1930s" weights. And I only paid £20 for it in an auction in Birmingham, and I only bought it because nobody else wanted it!

[tropdevin]

***

I had a Paul Ysart with a fairly similar green ground, and had assumed it was 1940s / 1950s - but for no very strong reason other than the base finish, and that the glass, though tinged, was not as dark or 'purply' as some 1930s weights. Images below.

Alan

[alpha]

My thoughts on Roy's piece are that the canes in the outside ring are much earlier than the canes in the central medallion.

[SophieB]

Yeeees! Exactly what I thought!!

It is nice to know that I am starting to get the hang of this ID/age of paperweight lark/stuff... (sorry for this burst of enthusiasm)

May be, Paul Ysart made the weight in the late Moncrieff period but used the 'left-over/earlier' outside canes to complete the set-up.

Sophie

[tropdevin]

***

I think it is always worth remembering what Kevin wrote some time ago on one of his web pages:

From study of various Paul Ysart and Vasart/Salvador Ysart weights, it is clear that canes of a similar structure and colouring have sometimes been used by both Paul and the other members of the family. Whether some of these canes are truly exact matches, indicating a definite sharing (or borrowing?) of canes, is not certain. However, it does seem plausible that canes made during the 1930s period could have been used by both Salvador and Paul - even though there was a known difficulty between them. If this idea is correct, then it may also be true that such canes continued to be used by both, at least for a short time, after the family split and "Ysart Brothers Glass" (Vasart) was formed.

What Kevin was suggesting was that Ysart canes from the 1930s might well have continued to be used until the 1950s or later. I think the more weights we see, the more that appears to be true.

Alan

[KevinH]

[Mod: This post has been edited to remove comments and references relating to presentations and articles that have been produced, or may be published in the future. The remainder of the text has been tidied up to keep it brief and to the point. Subsequent posts referring to future possible publication of articles have also been removed, together with some later posts that do not add to the actual subject under discussion.]

As soon as I became seriously interest in Ysart weights and began analysing the canes and general features, I have emphasised that we need to use lots of "ifs", "buts" and "maybes".

I can confirm that some canes can be seen in Paul Ysart's work across all of his main periods of operation. It is not very surprising that many of his weights contan a mix of "old" and "new" canes.