The Art of the Paperweight: The New England Glass Company
by: John D, Hawley
2011, Paperweight Press, Chicago, IL
172 pages, $45. soft cover
Foreword: “Paperweight making in America, an emigré from Europe, followed its own path once it was adopted by the New World’s nineteenth century glasshouses.
Upon the publication of the pioneering work in 1997 of John Hawley’s, The Art of the Paperweight: The Boston and Sandwich and New England Glass Companies, the field of 19th century American paperweights was virtually an undiscovered treasure. Bedazzled by the paperweights created by French glass houses, most early paperweight collectors gave these American weights a disinterested glance. Early catalogues and personal collections give testimony to the short-shrift given to the early American production.
In this new volume, The Art of the Paperweight: The New England Glass Company, the author plumbs the various areas of the company and its output. Hawley introduces arcane documents which explore the lives of those first visionary businessmen who guided the glass industry in America and built the important factory that produced the vast number of paperweights collectors currently lust after. He then presents his carefully researched material about the glassworkers, the company’s paperweight characteristics, the variety of the millefiori canes they created, and the weights’ design - millefiori, floral, colorful fruit, pressed and silver examples, and paperweight related objects.
Like the French glassworkers who were usually restricted to repeat company patterns when fashioning their weights, American glassworkers were initially encouraged to reproduce paperweights resembling the popular French designs. But, as they improved their technique, they were sometimes permitted to let their imaginations run rampant. This resulted in amazing creations such as the wonderful magnum flower and fruit clusters on spiral latticinio, a Civil War commemorative, special orders including one with a central plaque of an anchor, and the rare exotic designs such as the unique butterfly and pears on latticinio.
The imaginative faceting of New England Glass Company weights not only match those of St. Louis, Clichy and Bacarrat, but in some examples it surpassed the French in originality. This is not surprising, for this American glass factory was world renown for its cutting and engraving. As far as colors are concerned, you’ll find no limited palette here. New England Glass Company’s glass runs the gamut from St. Louis’s subdued hues to Clichy’s rich, warm colors.
John Hawley’s research, writings, and lectures have contributed to the research of interest in American-made weights. Through his efforts, we have come to realize that many New England Glass Company examples deservedly take their place with those of the nineteenth century European Golden Age of paperweight making. American weights have finally shed the “poor relation” reputation they once had with collectors and have come to be recognized as worthy and significant examples of the art. As more becomes known about nineteenth century paperweights, their popularity with collectors will continue to increase.
This work, the definitive book on The New England Glass Company, deserves to be in the library of every serious paperweight connoisseur. Filled with a plethora of drawings, charts, documents, and photographs, it answers questions in depth about provenance, history and production. The minutia of detail in the hundreds of superb photographs throughout this volume and their insightful interpretation by the author promise the reader many enjoyable hours of perusal and pleasure.
George N. Kulles
Author, collector, and conservator
