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拍品 195 THE PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN GENTLEMAN
The seemingly endless variations in glass paperweight design makes the art of collecting these small microcosms of beauty completely compulsive. Although the concept of weighting down paper can seem antiquated in our modern computer age, collectors are drawn to the intricate 'lampwork' and 'millefiori' and the human touch evident in each weight.
Millefiori canes are made of coloured glass which are squeezed into layers in iron moulds, stretched at either end with pontils. When cooled, the canes are broken into smaller pieces which display motifs such as stars, silhouettes and animals as well as the usual flower heads. The most desirable canes are the most complex, made of many individual motifs which take hours to create. Lampworking involves the use of a gas fuelled torch to melt tubes of clear and coloured glass which are blown and shaped by tools and hand movements. Each petal, stem, or element is designed piece by piece and placed together to be encased in crystal.
This small and select group comprises examples from two of the most sought after French glasshouses, St Louis and Baccarat, including a very rare design of which only two other examples are known. In addition, there are two weights by the Scotland-based Paul (ne Pablo) Ysart (1904-1991), widely regarded a pioneer of modern paperweight making as a result of his mastery of traditional techniques and motifs.
The seemingly endless variations in glass paperweight design makes the art of collecting these small microcosms of beauty completely compulsive. Although the concept of weighting down paper can seem antiquated in our modern computer age, collectors are drawn to the intricate 'lampwork' and 'millefiori' and the human touch evident in each weight.
Millefiori canes are made of coloured glass which are squeezed into layers in iron moulds, stretched at either end with pontils. When cooled, the canes are broken into smaller pieces which display motifs such as stars, silhouettes and animals as well as the usual flower heads. The most desirable canes are the most complex, made of many individual motifs which take hours to create. Lampworking involves the use of a gas fuelled torch to melt tubes of clear and coloured glass which are blown and shaped by tools and hand movements. Each petal, stem, or element is designed piece by piece and placed together to be encased in crystal.
This small and select group comprises examples from two of the most sought after French glasshouses, St Louis and Baccarat, including a very rare design of which only two other examples are known. In addition, there are two weights by the Scotland-based Paul (ne Pablo) Ysart (1904-1991), widely regarded a pioneer of modern paperweight making as a result of his mastery of traditional techniques and motifs.
A BACCARAT FACETED BUTTERFLY AND BLOSSOM WEIGHT
MID-19TH CENTURY
已結束2012年9月25日
成交價
GBP 16,250
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專家說明
The present example, depicting a mid-19th century Baccarat butterfly in profile with folded wings, is one of three known. An example perched on a purple budding stem can be reviewed in Paul Jokelson's, One Hundred of the most important Paperweights, London, 1955, p. 46-47, plate 17. At the time of publication this example was considered unique. Formerly part of the Rubloff Collection, this weight is now conserved at The Art Institute of Chicago (inv. 1997.845), and illustrated by Geraldine J. Casper, Glass Paperweights, (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1991), p. 47 and 110, cat. no. 17. The only other example extant was documented in 1998 and illustrated as the catalogue front cover, when Sotheby's offered 'Important paperweights from a Private Collection', New York, 29 April 1998, lot 136. This weight is a close comparison, the most self-evident variations being the placement of the leaves and smaller size.