Chinese Paperweight Collection
What follows is an excerpt from another Paperweight Press publication entitled, Paperweights For Collectors, written by the founder of L.H.Selman Ltd., Larry Selman.
The book, written and published in 1975, is filled with still useful information of all kinds. Today’s reprint of the essay on pages 125–129, sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of our collecting field which is nonetheless of great interest, especially given the contemporary focus on China and its emerging importance on the world scene.
Remember all available Paperweight Press publications are listed (under the “More” tab) on our website. http://www.theglassgallery.com/. However this publication is no longer among them, so the information that follows might otherwise be a little more difficult to come by…
Chinese Paperweights
Sometime in the early 1930’s, a selection of antique French and American antique paperweights was taken to China by an unidentified importer for the purpose of having them copied. The concept of a glass dome-shaped paperweight was new at that time to the Chinese, who used rectangular carved pieces of jade instead. Glassblowing and lampworking, however, had a long history in China, and arranging a production scheme for the copying of paperweights was deemed feasible.
Glass factories located in Shantung Province had made glass novelties and parts for glass flowers, but apparently had never been exposed to millefiori manufacturing techniques. Perhaps this is why the canes used in these early weights are rather simplistic in design. Chinese color schemes predominate. Red, bright yellow, orange and green elements make these weights easily distinguishable. Another clue to origin is the yellowish cast which taints the glass in almost all early examples. Special care seems to have been taken to develop a number of designs, but these were subsequently mass-produced with little quality control; consequently they vary greatly in quality.
The best early weights were perhaps those copied directly from Western examples. They were finished with concave bases. Copies of American designs often had the quatrefoil faceting typical of the New England Glass Company.
Other less impressive designs were also manufactured. Concentric and scrambled millefiori were made in great quantity. A few designs reflect originality on the part of the Chinese workmen, such as the motif of two orange blossoms on a stylized branch, for instance, or a painted weight featuring a maid in a pastoral setting. Inkwells or perfume bottles similar to English examples with scrambled or concentric millefiori in stopper and base, were also made as well as upright flowers reminiscent of modern mid-western American designs. They also manufactured millefiori chopstick holders, glass cubes, pyramids, and other geometric shapes housing glass or sulphide birds, monkeys or other representational elements.
Some of the early Chinese scrambled millefiori weights contain a small rectangular plaque reading “MADE IN CHINA.” Others were designated with paper labels or had “China” etched in script on the base.
Chinese paperweight manufacturers have been active in the past decade and many new designs have been added to their lines of export glass. Notable examples of original work include large doorstop weights containing realistic green lilies with one or two green frogs poised for a leap and a variety of other floral scenes replete with butterflies, dragonflies, etc.
An interesting Chinese application of the millefiori technique is the use of a number of feather-like canes arranged in a close-packed design representing the tail of a peacock: the head is pressed into the top of the weight and the bottom side is ground flat, allowing the piece to stand vertically as a strutting bird. Feather canes are also found in other millefiori designs.
One modern Chinese paperweight exhibiting a unique blend of Eastern and Western elements features a red Christmas poinsettia with “Peace On Earth” written in Chinese ideograms borne on four canes.
Cubic, rectangular, and animal-shaped paperweights are also being produced. The cubes, which contain upright figures of birds or animals, show the mastery of the art of enclosing glass figures within clear glass. The glass used in these weights is quite light in heft, but it is much clearer than that used in the earlier Chinese paperweights.
Author’s Note on Collecting Chinese Paperweights: For those who have little money to spare for paperweight collecting, Chinese paperweights offer a somewhat unusual, colorful, and definitely inexpensive alternative. When Chinese paperweights first appeared in the United States, for example, they sold for between 25 cents and $2 dollars; prices F.O.B. Hong Kong haven’t risen much since then, although some older or peculiar pieces now command higher prices. It’s interesting to note that at least two paperweight dealers, these authors included, find Chinese paperweights interesting to collect.
(From: Paperweights For Collectors Paperweight Press 1975)
by Larry Selman and Linda Pope-Selman
Santa Cruz, California
Chinese weights are still a value in the market place, and if you’d like to see some examples, just contact us at http://www.theglassgallery.com/
