Antique Glass Paperweight
If you are looking for something special for the person who has it all, consider an antique glass paperweight. This is a great gift for the antiques collector or even for yourself. A paperweight is an item used to hold down paper, although most of the time it is not actually used for this purpose unless the room is very drafty. Paperweights make beautiful adornments for your desk and some of them are quite rare and valuable.
Glass paperweights are round pieces of glass which often have colored designs encased in them. You might find floral designs, for example. The inner designs are encased with molten hot glass then cooled to create the beautiful effect. Some old paperweights are not only beautiful, but worth a lot of money. For example, in 1878 a paperweight featuring silkworms was made to celebrate Louis Pasteur who cured a disease that threatened to kill off silkworms. This glass paperweight was sold in 1983 for $143,000. It's reported that the most expensive paperweight of all time was sold at Sotheby's for $250,000. Of course, these are rare cases and most paperweights are prized for their beauty, not their worth.
If you are serious about collecting antique paperweights or want to learn more about them, there is an organization called the Paperweight Collectors Association. This association can teach you more about glass paperweights and even has a listing on their site for dealers of paperweights. You will learn from their site that paperweight collectors divide the antiques into three periods. The Classic Period dates from 1840 through 1880 and focuses on French paperweights. The Folk Art and Advertising Period runs from 1880 through World War II. The Contemporary Period dates from World War II to today.
When searching for an antique glass paperweight, you can go through the Paperweight Collectors Association, shop at local antique stores, or even shop online. Ebay is a great source of antiques including old paperweights. There are also antique stores online that sell old paperweights. You may find store that sells paperweights only, in addition to antique stores that sell all kinds of old items. Shopping online gives you a world of selection at your fingertips and makes it easy to locate rare items that may not be available at your local stores.
| Can marks 200 years of preserving WASHINGTON -- The march of Western Civilization and the prosperity of the United States have partly hinged on the quiet little object behind those boxes of pricey whole-grain rotini pasta on the third shelf of your cupboard... |
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