Paperweights

I have always admired paperweights and art glass.  Luckily when working at an antiques auction house we came upon quite a few collections of art glass, but not so many paperweights.  Therefore I started my own collection of paperweights.  In my opinion the best quality paperweight with the most intricate designs were made at the Perthshire Paperweight company in Perthshire, Scotland (to be specific they are made in Crieff, Scotland, a town inside Perthshire County).   My former employer at the antiques store vacationed down the street from the manufacturer.  He said he never knew until he returned to the US and the company went out of business. He still kicks himself to this day.  Today Perthshire paperweights are amongst the most valuable paperweights to this day. How about a few pictures so you know what I mean.

Photo from Paperweights.com

This is a good example of how Perthshire put a "P" as a signature in many of their paperweights.  Genuine Perthshire paperweights have a sticker with the company name and logo.

Photo from Paperweights.com

As you can see these paperweights are not cheaply made.  The glassmakers were very precise when designing these weights.  Most of these have the millefiori caning patterns or they may have a overall shape or theme.  On that note I will switch up to discussing art glass.

Art glass is an umbrella term that describes elaborate glass usually used for decoration.  This aesthetic glass usually has no intended functionality (e.g. s & p, sugar, creamer). Here is a good example of what art glass is:

Notice the bubbles in the glass, they are obviously there intentionally for looks.  The curvature of the lip of the bowl is also a characteristic of art glass. Often times pieces like this are placed on a coffee table or side table and used as a snack/candy bowl.  If you are interested in purchasing any piece I would check out Ebay or Amazon. Make sure you buy from a reputable dealer!