A VENETIAN SIGNED AND DATED SCATTERED MILLEFIORI PAPERWEIGHT

Pietro Bigaglia (1786-1876) and Jacopo (aka Giacomo) Franchini (d.1897) were two of the most accomplished glassmakers working in Venice in the 19th century. They are known to have collaborated on several paperweights, and details of this union are given in an article by Albert Christian Revi, Miniature Portraits in Glass Rods, Bulletin of the Paperweight Collector's Association, Inc., June 1958.
The date 1847 could refer to the IX Congresso Degli Scienziati in Venezia, which was the last in a series of science meetings held in Venice. Other weights by Bigaglia dating to 1847 also include a cane inscribed as above.