According to Sibylle Jargstorf ("Paperweights"), Baccarat started making this type of weight in 1880. She advances the theory that Baccarat issued these weights in response to the reptile weights shown by Pantin at the 1878 Paris Exhibition. Some Baccarat rock weights contain reptiles or flowers, but almost all contain just rock motifs.  Often these weights have incompatibility cracks throughout the weight, causing a glittery appearance which is part of the appeal. 

Provenance:  This paperweight was part of the Florence Evans Bushee Collection sold by by the Historical Society of Old Newbury (Massachusetts).

Size: Just over 2 1/2" diameter by 1 3/4" high. Circa 1880.  The bottom has been ground concave.  Unsigned. 
Very Good Condition: This paperweight has some surface wear and some tiny pin pricks.  There are also small some chips at the base as shown in the picture of the bottom.  As with most rock weights, this paperweight has a minor internal fracture that extends to near the bottom, but cannot be felt. 
Unsigned, but I guarantee this to be an authentic Baccarat antique paperweight.    SOLD

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Von Brackel discusses this style in his book describes it as consisting of flower motifs shaped, without a lamp, from glass slices, thin glass rod pieces or bits.  He shows examples from Silesia (Bohemia), Thuringia (Germany), and the Bavarian Forest. 

Size: 2 3/4" diameter by 2 1/8" high.  Excellent condition.  No chips or cracks or moon shaped impact marks. 
Circa 1890-1925.
The bottom is ground flat.

You can read about paperweights from Germany and Bohemia in the book by von Brackel Paperweights: Historicism - Art Nouveau - Art Deco - 1842 to today and in the book by Marek Kordasiewicz Glass Paperweights: The Heritage of the 19th Century Riesengebirge and Isergebirge Glassworks. 

$135 postage paid in the US.

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Size:  2 3/4" diameter by 1 7/8" high.   c.1869.  The bottom has been ground concave with only a tiny remnant of the the pontil mark remaining.  Unsigned. 
Condition:  This weight has been professionally restored and is in outstanding condition.  The restorer also left traces of age and wear on the base.  Otherwise the surface is perfect.  As is often the case with NEGC weights, the flower got messed up a bit, but this is still a great paperweight.    Several petals of the flower are missing their tips.  Because of the transparency of the flower, the details are hard to see but the picture is accurate.  There are tiny bubbles in the design.

New England Glass Company (NEGC) operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1818 to 1888.  You can read about paperweights from the New England Glass Company in the book by Hawley, The Art of the Paperweight  - The Boston & Sandwich and New England Glass Companies.   SOLD

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This paperweight dates from the Dupont period of Baccarat production.  Popular lore attributes this paperweight to a Mr. Dupont, who supposedly was the last worker at Baccarat to know the secrets of paperweight making.  These paperweights were sold at a Baccarat retail shop in Paris.  Very little is known about the exact period or maker, but there is enough similarity in the millefiori canes to suggest that Mr. Dupont had access to the original molds or some of the original millefiori canes from the classic period.  No collector or scholar ever met Mr. Dupont although at least one visited the Baccarat factory and asked to meet with him.  The weights stopped appearing in the shop in 1934. 

You can read more about the Baccarat paperweights and the Dupont connection in the book The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights by Paul Hollister.  or the book World Paperweights by Robert Hall.  Hall puts a value of $400/$500 on a similar, although larger paperweight.

Size: 2 7/16" diameter by 1 1/2" high.  Bottom is ground flat. Made by Baccarat in France in about 1910.
Condition: Very good condition with a few tiny pinpricks and scratches.  The bottom shows appropriate wear.

$285 postage paid in the US.

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This type of construction has been associated with factories such as Whitall Tatum that operated in the early 1900s in the Millville area of Southern New Jersey.  Frit refers to the powdered glass used to make the design.  The design is set up in a metal die and then picked up with a gather of a ground color.  This weight has the white ground typical of Millville weights as well as the typical Millville two piece construction.  You can see the two step construction in the side view (click on picture to see this). 

Note, some collectors have come to believe that this style with the open circle on the bottom was made at Corning rather than Millville.  Either way, it dates from around the end of the 19th century.

According to Newell's Old Glass Paperweights of Southern New Jersey, frit weights were made as early as 1863.  Newell identifies this style as a true folk art.

Magnum Size:  Just under 3 1/2" diameter by 2 1/3" high.  Unsigned.  c1870-1910. 
Excellent condition with some very minor surface wear.  No chips or cracks.   One top facet. 

$195 postage paid in the US.

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Size: Just over 2 7/8" diameter by 2 1/8" high.  Bottom is ground concave. Unsigned but I guarantee that this was made by Baccarat in France.  I believe it was made late in the classic period but it is also possible that it is later. 
Condition: Excellent condition with a few faint scratches.  There is plenty of glass and the profile is probably original.  The bottom shows appropriate wear.

$495 postage paid in the US.

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When I bought this paperweight, I thought it was American, possibly New England Glass Company from the 1860s, but I still don't know who made it.  The millefiori canes remind me of early Whitefriars type canes from the 1920s era (Walsh-Walsh, Arculus, Richardson, or other makers).  The canes are placed close to the bottom as is the case with Whitefriars paperweights.   There is also a possibility that this weight dates from as late as the beginning of the Whitefriars revival in 1951 as the canes also resemble those found in the 1951 Triplex weight.  It has the low profile of an English weight.

Although many people collect scramble paperweights for their own merit, scrambles are also valuable tools for learning to identify the different colors and canes used by each factory. 

Size: 3" diameter by 1 5/8" high.
Good Condition:  The paperweight has quite a bit of scratching on the dome and a few small nicks around the side.  No moons or impact marks or cracks.  The bottom is ground concave.  Unsigned. 

$175 postage paid in the US.

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Size: 2 3/16" diameter by 1 7/16" high. c.1860-1900.
Condition:  Excellent condition with scratches only on the base. No chips and no
cracks. The bottom is ground flat. Unsigned.

You can read about paperweights from Bohemia in the book by von Brackel, Paperweights: Historicism - Art Nouveau - Art Deco - 1842 to Today or in the book by Hall, World Paperweights. In both of these books paperweights of this type are priced at approximately $300-400, but my price is much lower.   SOLD

Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Although many people collect scramble paperweights for their own merit, scrambles are also valuable tools for learning to identify the different colors and canes used by each factory. 

Size: 2 7/16" diameter by 1 7/8" high.  Circa 1850-60.  The bottom is ground concave.
Very Good Condition:  It has one 1/4" long surface chip visible in the picture at the 10 o'clock position plus a couple of other tiny surface scratches.  No other cracks or no chips.  The profile is high and there is plenty of glass if you wish to have this refinished.
Unsigned, but I guarantee this to be an authentic NEGC antique paperweight. 

New England Glass Company (NEGC) operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1818 to 1888.  You can read about paperweights from the New England Glass Company in the book by Hawley, The Art of the Paperweight  - The Boston & Sandwich and New England Glass Companies.   SOLD

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