Allan Port's Paperweights at Brimfield Report - 2013


Brimfield is a large antiques / flea market that takes place in Brimfield, Massachusetts in May, July and September.  There are approximately 5,000 dealers there.   Some of the dealers set up shop in one field on Tuesday, move to another on Wednesday and then a third field on Thursday or Friday.  Others set up in one location for the entire week.  It pays to hit the fields the first day they open, but I've found great weights on every day of the week.

After missing several years, I went back to Brimfield in 2013 to see if things had changed.  I went in May and found the four paperweights below.  I also bought a large Maurice Heaton platter for a bargain price.  May was hot this year and seemed a lot like July in past years.  Some of the fields were smaller than in the past and had fewer dealers.
 
 
1
New England Glass Company (NEGC) Scramble or End of Day Paperweight.  Circa 1860.  This scramble paperweight has an interesting variety of complex canes and twist canes.  Two of the canes have a running rabbit in the center, although one is tiny and partially obscured.  The paperweight is large and in great shape. 

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.

New England Glass Company (NEGC) operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1818 to 1888. 

Size:  2 3/4" diameter by just under 1 7/8" tall.  Circa 1860.  The bottom has remnants of the pontil mark.
Signature:  Paperweights from NEGC are unsigned, but sometimes a scramble will have millefiori canes unique to NEGC, such as the running rabbit or an 1852 date cane.  This paperweight has a two running rabbit canes plus complex canes generally accepted as unique to NEGC.
Condition:  Excellent condition with no significant scratches on the dome.

For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links:

Large picture of the paperweight
Close-up View
View of rabbit and complex cane
Profile View
Bottom View
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2
New England Glass Company (NEGC) Spoke Pattern Paperweight with heart canes.  Circa 1860.  This is an unusual NEGC spoke pattern paperweight with millefiori canes arranged in eight spokes around a center cane.  It can also be described as a three ring concentric with eight complex canes in each ring.  There is an inner ring of red, white, and blue complex canes with heart centers.  The middle ring consists of larger red, white, blue and green complex canes, some with cross canes.  The outer ring has red and white complex canes.  The center cane matches the canes in the second row.  All of this is over a double latticinio swirl ground. 

New England Glass Company (NEGC) operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1818 to 1888. 

Size:  Just under 3" diameter by 2 1/3" tall.  Circa 1860.  The bottom is ground concave. 
Signature:  Paperweights from NEGC are unsigned.  This paperweight has a eight heart canes typical of NEGC plus complex canes generally accepted as unique to NEGC.
Condition:  Good condition with some scratches on the dome and two small circular impact marks.  There is plenty of excess glass and the paperweight could be restored in desired. 
Execution:  As is often the case with NEGC, there are some large bubbles in the latticinio ground and the design is off center. 

For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links:

Large picture of the paperweight
Close-up View
Profile View
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3
Boyer Glass Icepick Flower Paperweight.  Circa 1995.  This colorful paperweight was made by Harry Boyer of Harbor Springs, Michigan.  It consists of six icepick flowers arranged over a six petal green leaf ground.  The flowers were formed from millefiori slices.  The six leaf ground is formed separately with a stem reaching to the base of the paperweight.

This style is called an icepick flower because of the sharp tool used to push each flower down to the base. 

Harry Boyer attended Bowling Green State University in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He took an Introduction to Glassblowing course with Dominick Labino and decided to focus his studies on sculpture and glass.  He opened his own studio with his wife Kathleen in 1974 in Toledo, Ohio.  In 1984 they moved the studio to Harbor Springs, Michigan. 

Size: 2 1/4" diameter by just under 2" tall.  Circa 1995.  The bottom is ground flat. 
Signature:  Signed Boyer 1995 on the side.
Condition:  Excellent condition with no scratches, chips, or other damage.
Execution:  Very good execution.

For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links:

Large picture of the paperweight
Profile View
Signature
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4
Chinese Pedestal Footed Blue Crimp Rose.  Circa 1930.  This is a 1930s Chinese copy of a Millville Pedestal Crimp Rose.  It has 12 blue colored petals and four green leaves.  At the base is a double foot or pedestal.

The blue rose is one of the rarer Chinese pedestal roses. 

The South Jersey Crimp Rose is one of the most famous American paperweights.  The best makers were Emil Larson of Vineland, New Jersey and Ralph Barber of Millville, New Jersey.  There were also other makers.  Newell's Old Glass Paperweights of Southern New Jersey shows examples of both the South Jersey weight and the 1930s Chinese copy.

Size:  3 1/8" diameter by 3 1/2" tall.  Circa 1930.  The bottom is ground concave in the center. 
Signature:  Unsigned.  Sometimes Chinese paperweights are scratch signed or have paper labels, but the earliest examples are not signed.
Condition:  Very good condition with no serious flaws.
Execution:  As is typical of the 1930s Chinese paperweights, there is debris in the glass giving the paperweight a dirty appearance.

For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links:

Large picture of the paperweight
Top View
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Back to Allan's Paperweights

Revised 6/30/2013