Chapter II: Varieties and Methods

2.79 Sulphide bottles

Throughout the nineteenth century, hundreds of sulphide subjects were created to ornament glass objects. Decanters, tumblers, perfumes, seals, doorknobs, candlesticks, plates, salts, buttons, jewelry, and paperweights were decorated with them. These early glass incrustations often commemorated important individuals and historic events. Napoleon placed three sulphides bearing his image in the cornerstone of the famous “Coeur de Comptes.” In another instance, a lead box with “several crystal portraits” of Louis XIV was placed in the foundation stone of a monument to the monarch.
Towards the turn of the century, the popularity of sulphides declined, and for eighty years very’ little work was done in the field. It was not until the 1950s that glass artists attempted to rediscover the almost forgotten technique of sulphide product and then heated, placed on a circular steel plate, and gently covered with a gather of molten crystal. Another mass of clear or colored glass is added to form the ground of the weight.In the early nineteenth centurv the cameos were made of very white clay and supersilicate of potash. The clay was kneaded and then molded into the cavity of a raised model made from clay and sand. I he day-packed mold was left to dry, and in the process the cameo shrank, thus loosening it from the mold. The loosened cameo was then fired before being incorporated into a paperweight, plaque, tumbler, or other glass object.

Test after test was conducted and finally, with no other alternative available, an antique sulphide was shattered in order to analyze the composition of the cameo and reconstruct the formula.

The creation of a sulphide is a technically complex and delicate process. First, the artist prepares drawings and detailed plans for the piece [2.83]. From these, a model five times larger than the cameo is made from plastic modeling clay. Special attention must be paid to the details of the sculpture to allow for the eventual five-to-one reduction of the design. The model is cast in plaster, the surface refined, and minute changes are made. From this piece the artist casts a bronze portrait [2.85] that is polished and mounted on a reduction lathe where a faithful reproduction, one-fifth the size of the bronze image, is cut into steel.

A carefully prepared mixture of clay, sand, and soapstone is poured into a plaster cast made from the steel mold. The cameo is hydraulically pressed,

The Art of the Paperweight Lawrence H. Selman - remaining pages-24

2.84 Pouring sulphide mixture into plaster east

and then heated, placed on a circular steel plate, and gently covered with a gather of molten crystal. Another mass of clear or colored glass is added to form the ground of the weight.
In the early nineteenth centurv the cameos were made of very white clay and supersilicate of potash. The clay was kneaded and then molded into the cavity of a raised model made from clay and sand. I he day-packed mold was left to dry, and in the process the cameo shrank, thus loosening it from the mold. The loosened cameo was then fired before being incorporated into a paperweight, plaque, tumbler, or other glass object.
Other Types of Weights
Crimp Weights. Ch imp rose weights w ere developed In a group of glassworkers at the WTiitall Tatum and Company glass factory at Millville, New Jersey (usually referred to as .Millville). Producing crimp rose weights |2.86] demanded considerable skill and all steps had to be performed rapidly.
In his 1938 article, “Paperweight Making as Done at Millville,” Kdward Minns described the process of making a rose weight. I le first explained how a mold or crimp shaped like a rose was constructed of hand-forged iron In’ the companv s toolmakers. After the molten glass had been worked

Plaster east, cameo, and bronze portrait

2.85 Plaster east, cameo, and bronze portrait

Other Types of Weights

Crimp Weights. Ch imp rose weights w ere developed In a group of glassworkers at the WTiitall Tatum and Company glass factory at Millville, New Jersey (usually referred to as .Millville). Producing crimp rose weights |2.86] demanded considerable skill and all steps had to be performed rapidly.

In his 1938 article, “Paperweight Making as Done at Millville,” Kdward Minns described the process of making a rose weight. I le first explained how a mold or crimp shaped like a rose was constructed of hand-forged iron In’ the companv s toolmakers. After the molten glass had been worked

2.86 Crimp rose pedestal re eight

into shape tor a weight, it was “reheated and the correct amount of ruby glass for the rose placed against it. Another heating of the entire mass followed. At this point a rose crimp . . . was quickly pressed against the ruby glass to force it upward into the clear glass, and as quickly withdrawn. Then by rolling and using tools, the base of the weight was reshaped to give the outside petals of the flowers the characteristic curve of a full blown rose.”
Millville also produced water lilies and tulips using this technique.

2.88 Pinchbeck’ weight—The Duke of Wellington

trinkets and costume jewelry during the Victorian era. Because ofthis development, the word “Pinchbeck” came to mean counterfeit or imitation. Even so, modern collectors have come to appreciate Pinchbecks, which had their heyday in the 1840s and 1850s, as respectable antiques [2.88, 2.80],
In Pinchbeck weights, unlike sulphides, the subject was not embedded in glass. The Pinchbeck bas-relief plate was held by a base of copper, tin, alabaster, or some other substance, to which a glass lens was attached. The lenses were fabricated in much the same way as the domes of glass paperweights. The reliefs were probably manufactured through a casting technique, whereby the design

2.89 Pinchbeck weight with hunting scene

was impressed into a sheet of the metal. The motifs were usually portraits or scenes based on religious, rural, or 1 lellenie themes of popular sculpture.
Bottle Weights. Bottle weights were primarily produced by English bottle factories before bottle making became a mechanized process. The pieces, nicknamed “dumps,” were handmade by the workers with leftover glass. These objects, sometimes referred to as doorstops, are not considered quality paperweights. I lowever, they have become popular with many collectors who appreciate them as examples of folk art (2.90].
Bottle weights range in color from very pale to deep green. They have high domes and appear in a variety of sizes. Probably the most common are the floral or “potted plant” bottle weights. In these
weights a silver)- pot holds a stem and one or more multi-petaled flowers.
Many bottle weights contain sulphides depicting historical figures, animals, and mottos on plaques. These were often coarsely fashioned and somewhat haphazardly encased. Another type of bottle weight contains metallic foil which is either featured as an abstract design or an enhancement for some other motif.
Bubble bottle weights consist of a series of evenly spaced teardrop-shaped bubbles that fill up the entire weight. A sharp, many-pronged implement is inserted into the molten glass and then quickly withdrawn. As each hole is covered with the next gather, small air bubbles are formed by the expansion of minute quantities of air trapped in the molten glass.

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