Glass paperweights collecting guide

Glass paperweights first gained popularity in the mid-19th century after being displayed at various expositions, most notably the Great Exhibition of 1851 at London’s Crystal Palace. Marvels of artistic skill and also affordable, they soon became the ultimate desk accessory, bringing flowers and other natural subjects that perished in the winter into the home. Collectors during this period included Colette, Oscar Wilde and Empress Eugenie of France.

By the turn of the century, interest had waned, but in the 1950s artists such as Paul Ysart and Charles Kaziun sought to rediscover the secrets to making glass weights. They also paved the way for hyper-realistic paperweight artists like Paul Stankard.

Incredibly, everything inside the weight is also glass: the flowers, the salamanders, the insects — everything. Most of the weights in the Neustadter Collection, which was offered at Christie’s in 2016, were made either using millefiori canes or lampwork.

Millefiori or ‘thousand flowers’ canes are produced by layering molten glass into a pattern in a fat cylindrical shape, then pulling the cylinder to create an elongated pencil-thin rod. When the rod is sliced, the pattern can be seen in the cross section. Millefiori weights consist of many patterned canes, either packed closely together or in various other arrangements.

Lampwork weights are made by melting small coloured glass rods over a torch or flame and using tools to manipulate the softened glass. Examples of lampwork include butterfly, flower and snake weights.

Nineteenth-century paperweights were made in Venice, England, Bohemia and the United States — but the real epicentre was in France. The most famous and sought-after examples came from Baccarat, Saint Louis, Clichy and Pantin.

Some weights have tiny canes included that help identify the maker and date. Clichy has an easily identifiable rose cane that it uses in many of its millefiori compositions. Meanwhile, the Saint Louis factory is the usual suspect if you see a ‘dancing devil’ silhouette cane in its compositions.

For a new collector, learning to identify the further subtle distinctions between makers by examining a variety of pieces in books and in person is recommended.

When buying a weight, the condition and the size of the glass dome are a big factor for most collectors. Obviously perfect condition is preferable, but often a few scratches or marks can be forgiven if there is enough glass in the dome to polish them out.

Large, unintentional air-bubbles or distracting bits of kiln debris often put collectors off. Lastly, to many collectors, a well-centred design is essential.

Most weights range in size from around 2½ to 3¼ inches (6.3 to 8.2 cm), but then you have the exciting world of miniature and magnum weights.

Miniature weights are defined as those measuring 2 inches (5 cm) or less. Magnum weights, such as the above salamander weight by the Italian-born American glassmaker Delmo Tarsitano, measure at least 3½ inches (8.9 cm) wide. The larger the glass dome is, the greater the magnification of the design within.

Other popular types of weight include: carpet-ground weights, which are composed of closely-set canes that are identical in type and colour; macedoine weights, consisting of a scrambled, twisted mixture of canes or cane fragments and latticinio; colour-ground weights, made by using a transparent or opaque coloured glass as the background for a weight; and crown weights, which are hollow weights that usually alternate swirling white and coloured filigree canes radiating from a central millefiori cane.

The best way to learn more about paperweights is to look at them carefully, preferably in person. There are some fabulous collections to visit in the United States, including the Corning Museum of Glass in New York; and the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum in Neenah, Wisconsin. Exhibitions can be found on the Glass Paperweight Foundation’s website.

Paul Dunlop’s The Dictionary of Glass Paperweights, An Illustrated Primer is also helpful for aspiring paperweight enthusiasts.