Paperweights are also made in gold, silver, silver plate, hard stone, amber, ceramic, ivory, timber and other materials. The great majority of paper weights are unmarked, and glass rarely shows its age. The early period of paperweights is reckoned to have ended in 1870 but some 20th century manufacturers such as Lalique, Kosta Boda, Whitefriars, Mdina, Langham Glass, Caithness Glass and many others have produced some fine examples. The classic paperweights are round and domed, but lesser weights were also made in the form of pyramids and rectangles. The cheaper paperweights use air bubbles as decoration. The most popular motif is millefiori ('thousand flowers'), though fruit, single flowers, insects, and other small objects are often used as well as portraits and views. Beautiful white fine bone china embossed with patterns reminiscent of. And the moment you pick up an Intaglio cup, you’ll understand why for its sumptuous tactile quality must be felt to be believed. Examples from these manufacturers are mostly unmarked and widely faked and imitated and thus a minefield for the uninitiated. Sometimes, it’s not just seeing that’s believing you have to actually handle an object to appreciate its true beauty. Paperweights, used to hold down papers, and most commonly made in glass, evolved in Venice in the early nineteenth century, and spread to France via Bohemia about 1845, where the finest examples were produced by three factories: Baccarat, Clichy and St Louis. Bears original label to the lower front "Wedgwood Crystal Hand Made England", and is etch signed to the base "wedgwood Crystal" Featuring a heron amongst reeds and measuring approximately 12cm tall by 9.5cm wide by 2cm thick. Manufactured from clear glass and in very good pre-loved condition, with no chips, nicks or nibbles. Could even be a good entry level piece for a new collector. This lovely glass paperweight, from Wedgwood Crystal, would enhance any setting and would make a fabulous addition to an existing paperweight, or other glass collectables display. There are several catalogues of Wedgwood-ware that were published in the 18th century which include a listing of the intaglios.
While there is not much in the way of specific literature about the intaglios produced by Wedgwood, a search of his name returns numerous books and articles many of which include short sections on the intaglios. I speak from experience - that’s why I have strayed so far from my stated topic of intaglios. WARNING!!! A casual interest in Josiah Wedgwood, the man, can soon lead to a more time consuming study of him, and ultimately, of the times in which he lived. An excellent, more in depth biography is “Wedgwood: The First Tycoon” by Brian Dolan (take a quick look inside the book at Amazon). A concise biography of Wedgwood as a business man accompanied by multiple sources and references can be found at SPARTACUS-EDUCATIONAL. He was not only a potter, but so much more a chemist, an artist, an astute businessman, a master marketer, an innovator, and, in fact, a very important figure in the birth of the industrial revolution. My investigation into the background of the Wedgwood intaglios led me to find out a whole lot about the man and his work. They are covered in more depth with a number of example images on the sub-menu page entitled, “ Basalt Intaglios“. These intaglios are referred to as “black basalts”. After a little research, I discovered that they were produced by, of course, Wedgwood during the second half of the 18th Century. A couple of them were stamped “Wedgwood & Bentley” on the back. Then one day I bought several small intaglio carved black stones with profile busts engraved on their surface. Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795), is at first blush an unlikely personage to be included in a collection of information about intaglios - he was a potter, right? We’ve all seen those white porcelain designs on blue background medallions, plates, fancy boxes, vases, and the like - that’s Wedgwood at least that’s what I thought.
0 kommentar(er)
