St. Louis Paperweight
St. Louis 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.
- Glass production at Saint Louis was authorized by Louis XV in 1767. By 1782 the firm was creating high quality glass crystal, progressing into pressed glass in the 1800s. St. Louis produced paperweights from 1845 to about 1867.
- A small bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers is encircled by red and white torsade (twisted ribbons) in this St. Louis paperweight.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- paperweight
- date made
- 1845-1850
- maker
- St. Louis
- place made
- France: Lorraine
- Physical Description
- glass (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 2 in x 2 3/4 in; 5.08 cm x 6.985 cm
- ID Number
- CE.66.17
- catalog number
- 66.17
- collector/donor number
- 118
- accession number
- 268356
- 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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