Topic: Just starting out, what to collect?

[KevinH]

Please note that I have split out a discussion that arose from this thread. Please see:
Is it possible to find cheap Ysart weights?

[paperweightrow]

To our newbies, including HeavyWeight, I agree with Alan that a visit to your friendly paperweight collecting club allows you to immediately see a vast number of dealers paperweights across a wide price range, and that is more reliable that trying to bargain hunt at fairs, car boots, or on ebay. In the UK, if you live roughly North of a line through Birmingham, the Northern Paperweight Society will probably be nearest to you, and to the South its likely to be the Paperweight Collectors Circle. Details of both and their upcoming meetings will be online.
As for what to collect, you will see that many collectors do have preferences or develop them over time. But there are a few poor souls like myself who like all variations! Maybe do not specialise too early, and yes, you need to see value in a paperweight, but that should not always be of the financial kind.
Collect what you like!

Good luck
Steve

[HeavyWeight]

Thanks for all the responses guys, they're all much appreciated.

I rarely buy online, particularly these days; paperweights do not often go unseen there and too be honest there is little fun in collecting something when it's presented "on a plate" unless your field is very restricted and you "need" one in that colour or whatever.

Love your collection, it's quite inspiring. Is there a section on here that people post their collections? If not, their should be.

Where do you find most of your acquisitions then? Are we talking car boots, general bric-a-brac shops, that type of thing? How often do you come across something that you recognise is undervalued?

I imagine this approach only works with fairly open criteria? I mean if you only collected Vasart or antique french weights for instance i imagine you'd be looking for a very long time?

[HeavyWeight]

***

Hi HeavyWeight.   When I get asked by someone 'What should I collect?'  I usually answer 'Whatever you find attractive'.  I suppose one should add '..and can afford.'   The fact that other collectors may rave about certain makers does not mean that you ought to like them...but it might make them worth investigating further.   You may well find that your tastes change as you become more familiar with different makers and types of paperweight.

Regarding Whitefriars, there are plenty of unfacetted examples, but relatively few closepacks.  Most are concentric designs. 

Regarding 'domed' set-ups, this tends to be more common in older paperweights, for example in Old English designs.  However, closepacks are very rare.

Hope this helps.

Alan

Hi Alan, thanks for your reply. I actually think I emailed you a couple of weeks ago about a Baccarat macedoine you have listed on your site. I'm still debating if I can part with the money on that one. Are there any special discounts avliable for new forum members? 

[HeavyWeight]

Hi and a good question. I show that I have 107 paperweights.now. Just call it an addiction! Only about five are not glass such as a Fuller Brush Co. adv with a  brush on it. There is fake Baccarat's out their. I lean more to the American weights like Lotton and Orient & Flume. Some came from shows and antique malls. Search E bay, for signed art glass paperweights and look at the one from the 1970's through 1990 esp. with pulled feather designs.  On-line is a good source to learn but the shipping cost can take all the fun out of it.  Check your library as they may have a program to have books sent in by a area system like we have here in Michigan. 
Bob

Thanks for the tips on the modern American weights they do seem too have a very distinct style. Lot's of iridescence.

[HeavyWeight]

As for what to collect, I bought various types of weight by various makers but my main enjoyment quickly settled on Scottish, primarily Paul & Salvador Ysart.

Ysart weights are a bit of a "fad" and can command quite high prices. And anyway they are not that attractive, so I would recommend that everyone stays away from them. 

Some of the Paul Ysart weights on ebay do seem very expensive. Nice, but expensive. There's one on at the moment:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOXED-Paul-Ysart-millefiori-paperweight-close-packed-central-cluster-/251850113885?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3aa36fc35d

Is that a reasonable asking price? I'm not going to buy it by the way, just curious, although it is very nice.

From my limited beginners knowledge, Paul Ysart weights do seem like they have a buzz about them at the moment. Has that always been the case or are they currently in vogue?

[HeavyWeight]

There is no substitute for seeing and handling lots of paperweights, so there is a lot to be said for joining one of the paperweight collecting clubs.

And to find out what you like, get out and about and go to glass events and fairs and speak to dealers and collectors and handle as much as you possibly can.

By the way, you may want to consider a way of buying weights that has not been discussed yet: auctions.

OK I'm in the south so i think i'll join up with the PCC. I'm going to head up to the National Glass fair in May. Are their any other fairs in the south / south east that would be particularly good to attend? Any online auctions that specialise in glass? Or is it more just random auctions.

Sorry for all the questions. I have more but I think i'll create a more targeted thread.

Thanks.

[KevinH]

Regarding the Paul Ysart weight on eBay (linked to above) ... I could not possibly say if it is a reasonable price. It depends on the watchers and whether any think it would suit their collection or sales stock at the price asked.

But I can say I have seen similar patterned weights sell for both less and more - perhaps because of the amount of "Ysart buzz" at the time or perhaps because of a person's need for an example of the type.

As for the "Ysart buzz" in general, I was drawn to Paul ysart weights when there was a reasonable supply of them available through two particular dealers. That was in the early 1990s and shortly after the recognition of the batches of weights with a false "py" cane. I learned a lot from dealers and also the collectors many of whom I got to know well. The "buzz" at that time was high-ish but stable.

The next "buzz" came in the beginning of 1998 with the 2nd part of the Christie's "Parkington sale" of Monart and Ysart items. There were some 50 weights and a few inkwells available and it was my first attempt at buying in a major London auction. I bought a few items - and probably overpaid by 50% on one item! I learned a lot more at that time.

Then things went a little more quiet when the availability of Ysart weights went back to a more regular level. But recently, there has been renewed interest by people prepared to pay higher prices than I can afford.

But the real trouble for me is that I am not good with "market values" - I still think of my weights as having much the same monetary value as when I bought them! So I think everybody else is going crazy again ... when in reality I ought to increase the worth of my own collection to the latest "buzz" level.

[tropdevin]

***
Hi.

Regarding 'online auctions' that specialise in glass, it depends quite what you mean.  There are some regular specialist glass (even paperweight) auctions that are illustrated online, and allow online bidding.  And as you might imagine, they are seen by the world and his wife - so there are few if any bargains to be found.  I think that the hunt for bargains at shops and fairs is increasingly difficult, as sellers can find out what they have much more easily than even 10 years ago.

You are more likely to find bargains at small auction houses - few auction houses (even large ones) know more than a trivial amount about paperweights, so items are regularly catalogued incorrectly (in both directions: modern Strathearn pieces described as 'antique French', or a Bacchus described just as a 'millefiori paperweight', to give two examples from the last few weeks).  But to spot the bargain requires you to have a good knowledge of the particular type of paperweight in question, and to win it requires either luck or deep pockets!

Alan

[bat20]

If you vote for me in the forthcoming general election ,my first policy would be a ban on anyone owning more than one Paul Ysart,of course then the Americans would buy them all so obviously we would have to declare war,simples,..so put your X next to bat20the buzz off party..