Vintage Glass Paperweight

Chinese Pedestal Scrambled Millefiori Paperweight, 1930s. This is a good example of a Chinese 1930s pedestal form scrambled millefiori paperweight. It has a great assortment of millefiori canes and twist canes. Louis or Clichy, the Chinese factory made it in a pedestal form more common with paperweights from Millville, New Jersey. Either way, it will not fool today’s collectors. Often these paperweights can be found scratch signed “CHINA” on the base or more rarely signed with a cane signature, but this example is unsigned. As with most Chinese paperweights, this paperweight has a light weight glass mixture that is high in soda and has a green-yellow tinge. The glass has a soft oily feel and t here are some light scratches and small nicks. Good color and condition. Please Note: The stand shown in the pictures is not included with the paperweight. It is shown for illustration only. Note on white glare : Please ignore the white areas, they are glare from the light. Note on condition: This paperweight is in very good condition for its age. It has an internal fracture on the base (see pictures) that is solid and is not spreading. It also has minor scratches but other cracks and no chips. Large size: Just under 2 3/4″ diameter by 3 1/4″ high. The base is ground concave. Signature: Unsigned, but I guarantee that this was made in the 1930s in China. Condition: This paperweight is in very good condition for its age. Chinese Paperweights were made in the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s as an attempt to duplicate 19th Century antique weights made in the United States and France. Because they are almost 100 years old, they are very collectible and every collector should own a few of these as study pieces. The history of the early Chinese paperweights is mostly anecdotal as no written records have been discovered. The story is that an American dealer sent examples of paperweights made by the New England Glass Company (NEGC), Boston & Sandwich Glass Company (B&S), Millville makers, and French factories to a Chinese factory and requested copies be made. The results are interesting and sometimes confused with the originals by inexperienced collectors. The earliest pictures of these paperweights appeared in the book American Glass Paperweights by Francis Edgar Smith published in 1939. Smith was aware that at least one of the paperweights shown in his book was Chinese. Since Smith was not an expert collector, this indicates that there was some general knowledge that these were Chinese prior to 1939. In the United States, the Tariff Act of 1930 required that every imported item must be conspicuously and indelibly marked in English with its country of origin. As a result, many of these Chinese paperweights are scratch signed on the bottom “CHINA”. Many are also not signed, suggesting that either they were imported prior to 1930 or the importer ignored the requirement. Most likely the earliest Chinese paperweights were made prior to 1930. The Chinese makers often combined design features found in paperweights from different makers. For example they copied the latticinio grounds used by New England Glass Company and used them with copies of Baccarat Pansy weights. The original Baccarat pansy paperweights never had a latticinio ground. They copied the pedestal rose from Millville and then used the pedestal bottom with other weights. It is fun to collect all the variations. In general, Chinese paperweights from the 1930s have a light weight glass mixture that is high in soda and has a greenish tinge. The glass also has a soft almost oily feel. Frequently they have bubbles or debris in the glass. And because of their age, many of these have minor scratches or other surface defects. Chinese paperweights made in the 1970s and later usually have better quality glass and are free of debris. Allan’s Paperweights is owned by Allan Port. If in doubt, please check with me first. Please do not ask me to declare this a gift.