Product Description

This practical, accessible guide is part of a series aimed primarily at the budding collector. The diversity and beauty of glass paperweights offers great scope and this invaluable guide provides a comprehensive and enjoyable introduction to the subject. The development of paperweights is traced from the mid-1900s to the present day, featuring the major factories of France, Scotland and the United States. Popular makers are illustrated, with their trademarks identified. Throughout the book Fact Files provide a wealth of hints and tips on collecting - such as identifying styles and what to look out for when starting a paperweights collection. - Features Fact Files highlighting key information on collecting - Includes full-colour photographs of over 150 collectable pieces, each accompanied by a price range - Packed with invaluable tips on how to pick out the best examples - An ideal introduction to the subject for the novice collector

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #246358 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

About the Author
Anne Metcalfe was a teacher for 20 years before she retired from the profession in 1980 to become a dealer of pictures, pottery and glass. She decided to concentrate solely on paperweights and, with her husband Peter, operates the UK's biggest paperweight dealership based in Helsby, Cheshire. Their stock of over 1,500 pieces ranges from antique French weights by Baccarat and St Louis to abstract Chinese designs. Anne is a member of the Cambridge Paperweight Circle and the PCA (Paperweight Collectors' Association). She also contributes regularly to leading antiques trade magazines.

Customer Reviews

A Good One for the Collector

Glass paperweights, particularly those of the millefiori style are fascinating and in real terms are a recent addition to the glass making art. In fact they really only started to be made in any numbers in the mid 19th century, making their product span only a little more than a 150 years. When one considers that the ancient Romans and Egyptians had solved the problem of making glass over 2,000 years ago, it puts the time scale of glass paperweights into perspective.

A book on the subject is a must for the novice, or any other collector for that matter, as many of the earlier paperweights have nothing to aid the collector in establishing which factory they come from. How does one tell an old paperweight from a relatively new one. Well, experience and looking at as many different weights as possible, either in the flesh, so to speak or good quality photographs is the only way to get a `feel' for the different factories.

Some paperweights do in fact have `signatures.' Later Perthshire paperweights usually have a cane, normally in the centre of the weight with a P on it. Some of John Deacons weights have a cane with a thistle emblem and so on. The canes are the small coloured pieces of glass that are set into the base of millefiori paperweights.

This particular book covers the main factories of France, Scotland and the US. Some of the makers marks or the labels they place on their products are shown and full colour photographs of more than 150 weights are shown. The book also tells the beginner what to look out for when purchasing paperweights. As with most collectibles conditions is everything. If you simply want the weight as a decorative piece of glass, small faults are acceptable and in some of the old papwerweights scratches are virtually unavoidable but if you are trying to get a worthwhile collection together perfection is the key to value.