New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.

Concentric Millefiori `Mushroom' Paperweight

Manufacturer Compagnie des Cristalleries des Saint-Louis

CultureFrench

Dateca. 1845-1855

MediumGlass

DimensionsOverall: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number95.7.2

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-4, Case 30

DescriptionThis concentric millefiori mushroon paperweight is made of a colorless glass dome encasing a bouquet (called a mushroom by collectors because of its profile) the top of the bouquet having five concentric rows of millefiori canes in cobalt blue, coral, periwinkle, mustard, and white around a blue and white center cane, the conical underside of the bouquet is a basket of coral, green and white canes, the bouquet is surrounded by a torsade consisting of a white corkscrew cable within coral spiral threads and a mercury band running around the periphery. It has a cut star bottom.

Label TextConcentric Millifiori Paperweight Compagnie des Cristalleries des Saint-Louis, France, ca. 1845-1855 Colorless glass encasing millefiori and twisted canes; cut bottom Museum Purchase 95.7.2 The first glass paperweights were made in 1845 by Pietro Bigaglia of Venice. Creating forms inspired by 16th-century Venetian glass vessels and decorative globes, he incorporated scrambled millefiori canes within them. Millefiori, which means "a thousand flowers" in Italian, is the technique whereby glass rods with designs running end-to-end are drawn out while hot into thin rods, then cooled and cut into small cross sections showing the design. The French began making paperweights almost immediately and soon raised the millefiori technique to near perfection. Saint-Louis is noted for its subtle, but unusual color combinations. The millefiori canes forming the elegant flowers at the center of this weight are an excellent example. When seen in profile, this paperweight gives the appearance of a basket of flowers. The filigree band surrounding the "basket" was known in France both as a cordon filigrane and cordon Venice. Paperweights like this one are among the glories of mid-19th-century French glass design. Edited By: GLYExhibition History"Treasures for the Community: The Chrysler Collects, 1989-1996," October 25, 1996 - March 2, 1997