Strathearn Paperweight

This is one of two of these that I bought in a group of paperweights.

It has been identified positively as Strathearn an most likely as a P15. According to information given to me by members of Glassmessages there are three sizes small medium and large with the designated names P14, P15 and P16.

It is about 2.5 inches wide and 2 inches high (about 6cm x 5 cm). In the region 80 canes have been used in the weight which makes it a great resource for a collector as one can compare the canes with canes in other weights that have not been identified. However it must be kept in mind that sometimes people leave a factory and take canes with them or canes are given to somebody else who then manufacture their own weights using these canes!

The base of this weight has a pointel that has been lightly fire polished.

Strathearn is a factory that has a long history and it has influenced, in one way or another, most of the well known Scottish factories and paperweight makers. You can read more regarding the history of Strathearn (and loads of other interesting information) on Frank Andrew's site at : http://www.ysartglass.com/Strathearn/Strathearn.htm

Two close-up shots of the canes:

I'll try to post some more weights soon.

1st Paperweight

This paperweight is from Bohemia (have a look on wikipedia if you do not know where that is).

Almost 100 years old (according to the inscription) this was one of the first weights I ever bought. I got this at the Naschmarkt in Vienna, where a flea market is held every Saturday, loads of glass and related items, but beware of all the fakes and high prices!

Back to the weight:

As can be seen, on the left, it has four flowers surrounding a central one. Each flower has a bubble in the centre making a stamen.

It is about 8cm high and the same in width and weighs about 1,1kg which is heavy for its size. The top has a flat facet and the base is polished and flat. Towards the top of the weight it is engraved with a date "1908" and on the flat facet it is engraved with "IM" or maybe "JW" (dependant on which side you view it from).

A word of warning:

Faceting and engraving can be added long after the weight has been made so it is easy to make a weight seem older or more than it is!

In this case the date could easily have been added to ensure that the weight seems to be a 100 years old when in fact it could have recently been produced. I took this weight to a professional engraver in Vienna to have a look at the engraving and he concurs that the engraving is from the period it says, and obviously the faceting was done at the same time as the engraving. A second point to confirm the age is that typically these type of "flower weights" are multi-faceted and this one is not; if somebody wanted to copy the Bohemian weights they would most likely have faceted it!

OK that's the first weight. Most of the others would be millifiori type weights and mostly Scottish but with the odd other weight thrown in.

Please let me know what you think!