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THE CATALOGUE
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 Lot
3
Antique Bacchus concentric millefiori paperweight, with
central bundle of pink-lined white canes, encircled by rings
of canes in red, blue, yellow and white, on "sodden-snow
ground." The effect of the predominantly white colored glass
gives the darker colored glass a punched-out, graphic detail,
which makes the design so appealing. The Bacchus paperweights
are intrinsically different from the mosaic effects of their
European counterparts, and scarce. "…(S)omeone aptly
called it 'sodden-snow'. Closer inspection shows it to be not
a ground at all, but an arrangement of thick rings like cotton
wadding set tangent to, and blending with, one another. One can
see down into the gaps among the clusters as if the canes were
intaglios…" -Paul Hollister, The Encyclopedia of
Glass Paperweights. "Compared to the output of the French
glassworks of Clichy, Baccarat and Saint Louis, the Bacchus production
was very limited, possibly four hundred or so in total."
-Robert Hall, Old English Paperweights. "The glassworks,
which initially specialized in domestic glassware and plate glass,
began experimenting with fancy Venetian-style glass and paperweights
in the 1840s. 'Letter weights' as they were called, were never
more than a minute part of the company's production."
-Lawrence Selman, The Art of the Paperweight.
Diameter 3 1/2". $8500-12,000 |
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 Lot
4
Antique Baccarat floral bouquet paperweight with a
pink "thousand-petal" rose, a black-spotted yellow
wheatflower, pansy, blue and white primrose, buds and green leaves
on clear ground. This well-centered, formal, floral design represents
the mature works of Baccarat's artisans during the Classic era,
ca. 1845-55. A version of this bouquet can be seen on a company
watercolor design sheet from that period, but this may be a unique
paperweight. The delicate markings on the lower three pansy petals,
the careful placement and shading in the dimensional rose, and
the slight crimps at the leaves' edges, which suggest veining,
are all trademarks of the top glass producer of the Victorian
period. In creating such fantasy arrangements under crystal,
the cristalleries celebrated the ineffable language of flowers
with their multi-petaled and many layered meanings. -See Glass
Paperweights: The Art Institute of Chicago, p. 19; also, Paperweights:
'Flowers which clothe the meadows', p. 75.
Diameter 3". $15,000-25,000
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