Paperweight collecting

. Plaque or placque may also refer to:. He has more recently moved away from the classical domed paperweight to rectangular forms which are among the finest glass objects produced in the twentieth century. The word plaque or placque may mean:. The work of Paul Stankard was particularly noted for its incredibly realistic portrayal of flowers, including their roots. Pleural plaque is a term for pleural fibrosis, often caused by exposure to asbestos. Today their work rivals anything produced by the great factories of the middle 1800's. Plaque, a (usually) small, disk-shaped growth, common in some forms of skin cancer.

Over the years their work improved in precision and complexity and sometimes strived for increased reality in depicting natural objects. Viral plaque, a visible structure formed by virus propagation within a cell culture. Then in the late 1960's and 1970's other artists such as Paul Stankard, Delmo and daughter Debbie Tarsitano, Victor Trabucco and sons, Gordon Smith, Rick Ayotte and his daughter Melissa, and the father and son team of Bob and Ray Banford, began breaking new ground. Commemorative plaque, a flat ornamental plate or tablet fixed to a wall, used to mark a significant event, person, etc. In Scotland, the pioneering work of Paul Ysart in the 1950's was very important in showing the way to a new generation of artists such as William Manson and John Deacons. Mucoid plaque, a supposed thick coating of plaque in the colon. Charles Kazuin started in 1940 to produce buttons, paperweights, inkwells and other bottles using lamp-work of elegant simplicity. Atheromatous plaque, a buildup of fatty deposits within the wall of a blood vessel.

In the U.S. Dental plaque, a yellowish film that builds up on the teeth. There are today only about a couple of dozen studio artists who are producing (or have produced) fine paperweights. Notable examples include the Lundberg studio, Orient and Flume, Correia, Lotton, and Parabelle. These may have several to some dozens of workers with various levels of skill cooperating to produce their own distinctive "line" of paperweights.

A number of small studios have appeared in the past decades, particularly in the US. and Great Britain and elsewhere, but they were generally of a lesser quality. Weights were also produced in the U.S. The first two are also producing them in limited quantities (100 to 300) again today.

Louis, and Clichy. The antiques were produced mostly in three factories in France: Baccarat, St. There are two eras in which paperweights were produced: the "classical" period, 1845 to 1860, and the modern period, from about 1950 to the present day. In a modern piece, an identifying mark and date are imperative.

Everything in it was intentionally put there by the artist. Generally, there are no "happy accidents" in a good paperweight. Unintenional asymmetries and unevenly spaced or broken elements must be absent. Glass with a yellow or greenish cast is not found in good collections.

Visible flaws, such as bubbles, striations and scratches usually affects the value quite a lot. As in any fine work of art, the factors influencing the value of a paperweight are workmanship, design, rarity and condition. The ground on which the inner parts rest may be clear, colored or have a granular ground made of unfused sand, or resemble lace (latticinio). It may be coated with one or more thin layers of glass and then have windows cut through it to reveal the interior motif.

The dome or the base may be faceted or etched. Various other embelishments may be done to enhance the beauty of the paperweight. There are several different types of paperweights, and collectors often specialize in just one of them. There are something like 20,000 paperweight collectors worldwide.

There are a number of paperweight collectors associations, which hold national and regional conventions and other activities such as tours, lectures, and auctions. Collecting modern weights for investment purposes, though possible, is for optimists. Antique weights, of which perhaps 10,000 or so survive (mostly in museums), generally appreciate steadily in value. An advantage of paperweight collecting, as opposed to many other collectables such as oil paintings and toys, is that they require no special conditions of temperature and humidity for their preservation.

The dividing line between these classes, of course, is up to the individual collector. Both may produce inexpensive "gift" weights as well as the more expensive "collector" weights. Paperweights are made in factories where many artists and technicians collaborate, as well as in studios occupied by sole artisans. They rarely hold down any paper--they are rather magnificent examples of fine workmanship of the glass artisan at his best, and are appreciated for their esthetic as opposed to their utilitarian aspect.

"Paperweight" is something of a misnomer. . Thus paperweight collecting is a hobby accessible to those with limited means, as well as those having a passion for rarity in addition to beauty. They range in value anywhere from a few dollars to a record of $258,500 once paid for an antique French weight.

something like a lens to magnify and make the parts within move in an interesting and attractive way as it is handled. Paperweights made for the collector are of solid glass, generally having a flat base and a domed top, which acts. Jargstorf, Sibylle (1997) Paperweights ISBN 0887403751. (1992) All About Paperweights ISBN 0933756178.

Selman, Lawrence H. Reilly, Pat, (1994) Paperweights: The Collector's Guide to Identifying, Selecting, and Enjoying New and Vintage Paperweights ISBN 156138433X. The Paperweight Mall. International Paperweight Society.

The Paperweight Collectors Association, Inc. Bill Price-collector/author (victorian advertising and portrait paperweights). Victor Trabucco. Bob and Ray Banford.

Rick Ayotte. Debbie Tarsitano. Paul Stankard. Abrams.

N. Graeser, and J. Later makers included Albert A. For examples, refer to PCA's Annual Bulletins published for 2000, 2001 and 2002.

This same process was also used to produce paperweights with the owner's name encased or an advertisment of a business or product. The portrait paperweights contained pictures of ordinary people reproduced on a milkglass disk and encased within clear glass. Maxwell. Victorian portrait and advertising paperweights were dome glass paperweights first made in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania using a process patented in 1882 by William H.

They may also be sprayed while hot with various metallic salts to achieve an irridescent look. California style paperweights are made by "painting" the surface of the dome with colored molten glass, and manipulated with picks or other tools. swirl paperweights have opaque rods of two or three colors radiating like a pinwheel fom a central millefiori floret. They often are produced to commemorate some person or event.

sulfide paperweights have an encased three dimensional medalion or portrait plaque made from a ceramic. This is a form particularly favored by studio artists. lampwork paperweights have objects such as flowers, fruit, butterflies or animals constructed by shaping and working bits of colored glass with a gas burner or torch and assembling them into attractive compositions, which are then incorporated into the dome. The exist in many variations such as scattered, patterned, close concentric or carpet ground.

These are usually made in a factory setting. millefiori paperweights contain thin cross-sections of cylindrical composite canes made from colored rods and resemble little flowers.