Antique Millville White Lily Art Glass Umbrella Desk Paperweight Orb 3.5"

Description

Antique early 20th century Millville art glass white lily / umbrella paperweight with personalized name plaque inside reading “Henry Nuscbaum,” multicolored pieces scattered throguh the base and a white lily or “umbrella” shape at the top.

“The umbrella paperweight was originally made to imitate the wild tiger lily of South Jersey. As various glass workers tried their hand at making the lily paperweight, they would make their own variations by adding color chips and making more or less pull downs which led to the paperweight looking more like an umbrella. Hence the term umbrella paperweight.

The technique originated with what is commonly referred to as the Millville Rose.” The flower was to look like a rose with a few green leaves underneath. It was formed by pushing the color petals into the clear glass with a custom made crimp. Workers seldom shared their rose crimp. If your crimp made a good looking rose, then you kept it to yourself! The early roses are usually of ruby red, while a few are pink, opal white or opalescent yellow. There are only a very few blue rose paperweights. Many glass artists have tried their hand at making a rose paperweight, and there was even an influx of rose paperweights from China in the 1930’s. The China weights can be distinguished because the rose appears to take up the entire sphere of glass unlike the domestic examples.

Some of the earliest American paperweights can be traced to South Jersey and mainly to Millville at the Whitall Tatum Glass Factory. The glassworkers there were mostly immigrants from Europe. The earliest migration of these European glass workers, familiar with paperweight-making, was to New England about 1840. These workers made paperweights, on their own time, in the image of the European paperweights. The methods were either millefiori or the lampwork technique. By 1860 there were immigrant workers in South Jersey making paperweights exclusively from hot glass taken directly from the tank instead of using the lampwork method. These examples reflected a completely new approach to making and designing a paperweight. The design may have been a rose or a lily-like flower. There was a style now termed “umbrella” paperweights, paperweights with a “devil’s fire” motif, still others referred to as “frit” paperweights and also controlled bubble paperweights, all of which had their beginnings in South Jersey. They were made in the Millville area until the 1920’s and were not made as any production effort. Gradually, glass artists in other parts of the country began making some of these folk art type paperweights. Only a few of these later artists have been able to equal the craftsmanship of the earlier immigrants.”

Condition

Good Overall - Some scratches/small chips

Dimensions

3.5” x 3.125” (Diameter x Height)