Clichy Paperweight
Clichy Paperweight
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- Description (Brief)
- In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter. By the mid-1800s, decorative paperweights produced by glassmakers in Europe and the United States became highly desired collectibles.
- Decorative glass paperweights reflected the 19th-century taste for intricate, over-the-top designs. Until the spread of textiles colorized with synthetic dyes, ceramics and glass were among the few objects that added brilliant color to a 19th-century Victorian interior. The popularity of these paperweights in the 1800s testifies to the sustained cultural interest in hand craftsmanship during an age of rapid industrialization.
- The French firm, Verrerie de Clichy, began operation after merging with another local glassworks in 1837. The height of paperweight production at the firm was 1846 to 1857.
- A large white and green Rose is surrounded by interlacing swags of canes on a bright red ground on this large Clichy paperweight.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- paperweight
- date made
- 1845-1850
- maker
- Clichy
- Physical Description
- glass (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 1 3/4 in x 2 21/32 in; 4.445 cm x 6.731 cm
- ID Number
- CE.65.472
- catalog number
- 65.472
- accession number
- 264964
- collector/donor number
- 110
- Credit Line
- Mrs. Florence E. Bushee
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
- Paperweights
- Art
- Domestic Furnishings
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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