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October 13, 2000

Portrait Canes, or murrine
"Franchini's first silhouettes were crude, especially when compared to their French counterparts. He created his canes by a lampwork process, employing a simple lamp that was fueled by animal fat. In this freehand method, the glassworker heated small glass components, such as rods, in a flame and formed them into the desired shape with simple tools. That Giacomo Franchini was later able to produce beautifully detailed subject and portrait canes by this method is almost unbelievable."-The Glass Menagerie: A Study of Silhouette Canes in Antique Paperweights.

Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view Click here for another view Click here for another view Lot 55 Important rare Pietro Bigaglia/Giacomo Franchini Venetian dated scrambled millefiori paperweight containing a superb 1847 date cane. Pietro Bigaglia purchased millefiori canes from the Franchini family to create paperweights. An important top central cane, which was put in backwards, bears the image of a double-headed eagle herald and the initials FI (Ferdinand I) (See detail below). Also included are eight canes, ca. 1841, representing figures in the Commedia dell'Arte, a popular Italian theatrical form. (detail below) The weight also contains numerous animal silhouettes and complex geometric millefiori canes, as well as gold aventurine and colored twists in blue, red, pink, tur-quoise, yellow, and white. An unusual and very important feature is the red and blue twists, which are arranged to create a checkerboard pattern, so this may be one of the first "chequer weights" and could have been the inspiration for the wonderful Clichy and Baccarat specimens to follow. Diameter 2 3/4" Estimate: $7500 - 10,000

Click on the image to enlarge Lot 56 Rare Bigaglia/Franchini Venetian dated scrambled millefiori paperweight with one PB 1846 date cane (See Sarpellon, p. 66) and two partial date canes, as well as two canes bearing the "FI" eagle emblem. In smaller canes one can spot the popular Commedia characters. Diameter 2 3/4". Estimate: $4000 - 5000

Click on the image to enlarge Lot 57 Venetian scrambled paperweight with sections of twists, latticinio and copper aventurine; round knopf on the top. Composed of complex geometric millefiori canes, as well as tri-colored twists. Diameter 2 9/16". Estimate: $500 - 800

Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view Lot 58 Venetian lampworked six-sided scent bottle with four portraits of Pius IX, Ferdinand I, Francis Joseph I, and three gondola canes, surrounded by gold and copper aventurine and swirls of blue, green, teal, and rose glass; topped with a silver stopper and cork, and silver chatelaine chain. Unknown Venetian manufacturer, late nineteenth century. Height 2 5/8". Estimate: $2000 - 2500

Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view Lot 59 Venetian scent bottle with portrait canes of two women; a brunette with a necklace and a white flower in her hair, and the profile of a pouting blond woman in green, amidst swirls of gold aventurine and swirls of colored glass. Unknown manufacturer, late nineteenth century. The identities of these women are hitherto unidentified (See Miniature Masterpieces, p. 89). Height 2 15/16". Estimate: $900 - 1200

Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view Lot 60 Venetian lampworked ovoid scent bottle with six portrait canes; including Pius IX, Ferdinand I, Francis Joseph I, Garibaldi, and one cane showing a bridge (See details below). Swirls of aventurine, and other rich colors, with collar and remains of a chatelaine chain. Unknown manufacturer, late nineteenth century. From the A. Christian Revi collection. Exhibited at the Corning Museum of Glass, 1960s. Height 2 13/16". Estimate: $1500 - 2000

Click on the image to enlarge Click here for another view Lot 61 Italian "Bigaglia" small round scent bottle. Six portrait canes, likely Francis Joseph I, and an unidentified stylishly accessorized lady-scattered on swirling blue, green, and gold aventurine; cork stopper. Length 2 7/16". Estimate: $1500 - 2000

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Click on each image to enlarge "Arlecchino" (Lot 55) "Pantalone" (Lot 55)	Detail photos 1 and 2 (Lot 55): Giacomo Franchini canes, ca. 1841, representing figures in the Commedia dell'Arte, a popular Italian theatrical form. The canes are portraits of the characters, "Arlecchino" (Harlequin) the clownish valet, and "Pantalone" a penny-pinching merchant. "(O)riginating in northern Italy in the 1550s and flourishing for 200 years... The (stock types) of the Commedia were instantly recognizable to enthusiastic spectators and upheld the unique, slapstick humor of the theater form... (The) actors also developed individual comic routines, called Iazzi, which they could execute on demand, especially when it was felt that a sudden laugh was needed."(Source: Encarta Online Encyclopedia, Mel Gordon, Professor of Dramatic Arts, UC Berkeley, 2000). Back to Lot 55
Click on each image to enlarge "FI Eagle" (Lot 55)	Detail photo 3 (Lot 55): This was the insignia of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I (1835-1848). It shows the emblematic double-headed eagle, (one for Austria, one for Hungary) and the initials FI for Ferdinand Imperator-the cane, however, was placed in the paperweight backwards.-"Miniature Portraits in Glass Rods," by Albert Christian Revi, Bulletin of the Paperweight Collector's Association, Inc. June 1958. Back to Lot 55
Click on the image to enlarge "Pope Pius IX" (Lot 60)	Detail photo 4 (Lot 60): Detail photo 4 (Lot 60): Portrait of Pope Pius IX: "Pope Pius IX, 1846 to 1878, perhaps the most memorable pope of this name, alike because of his long pontificate and early liberalism in politics (until checked by Mazzini's attempt to establish a republic in Rome, in 1849.) " Recently moved to beatified status by the Vatican, this decision has been furiously contested by Italian Jews who cite his historic anti-Semitism as a definitive barrier to sainthood (Source: "Italian Jews Denounce Vatican's Decision to Beatify Pius IX," New York Times, June 28, 2000). Back to Lot 60
Click on the image to enlarge "Ferdinand I" (Lot 60)	Detail photo 5 (Lot 60): Ferdinand I Emperor of Austria from 1835 to 1848: "Because of his age and weakness the various provinces of Italy began to fall away from his grasp to join the nationalistic movement towards a united Italy under Victor Emanuel II." Back to Lot 60
Click on the image to enlarge "Francis Joseph" (Lot 60)	Detail photo 6 (Lot 60): Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria of 1848 to 1916: "Ferdinand I was forced to abdicate in favor of his nephew Francis Joseph, whose youth and popularity it was believed would make it easier to harmonize the conflicting interest of the monarchy, especially in Italy."-"Miniature Portraits in Glass Rods," by Albert Christian Revi, Bulletin of the Paperweight Collector's Association, Inc. June 1958. Back to Lot 60
Click on the image to enlarge "Garibaldi" (Lot 60)	Detail photo 7 (Lot 60): "Men, I'm getting out of Rome. Anyone who wants to carry on the war against the outsiders, come with me. I can't offer you either honors or wages; I offer you hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles, and death." Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), Italian general and nationalist leader. (Source: Illya James D'Addezio, D'Addezio.com, 2000). "(Garibaldi) whose conquest of Sicily and Naples contributed to Italian unity under the royal House of Savoy."-The Glass Menagerie, John D. Hawley. In other canes of the period, Garibaldi is portrayed as an older gentleman, but is recognizable in his "guerrilla" redshirt. (Source: John D. Hawley) (See Sarpellon, p. 130; Miniature Portraits in Glass Rods; Miniature Masterpieces, p. 89.) Back to Lot 60