L.H. Selman Ltd.

6. Saint Louis carpet ground weight with the central silhouette of Punchinello, a patterned arrangement, with five complex florets around a central floret, punctuates a sea of ruby and white cog/six-pointed star canes. The florets are composed of crimped and six-pointed star canes in ruby, pistachio, white, royal blue and turquoise.

"It later spread to England where it evolved into the Punch-and-Judy show, a puppet play featuring the Commedia dell’Arte character Punchinello. This famous hunchback puppet with the hooked nose and chin is said to be the subject of a St. Louis cane… Perhaps a more logical honoree would be Francois I, King of France during the period 1515–1547, and best known as a patron of the arts and letters. Cameos of this personage show a profile remarkably similar to that of this cane. Another suggested subject of this cane is Napoleon, but the profile shown here is not particularly close to that of this ruler. We needn’t stop our speculations as this cane offers a couple of other intriguing possibilities. To those who prefer animals, turn the picture of this silhouette 90 degrees clockwise, and you now have an anteater. For those who relish the unusual, turn the cane 90 degrees counterclockwise and sharpen your geography skills with a fairly decent rendering of the continental USA."—The Glass Menagerie.

"The antique spaced millefiori weights of greatest value are those set against a solid background of identical millefiori canes—the carpet."—Paperweights for Collectors. (See The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition, p. 31; The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights, p. 98; The Glass Menagerie, p. 50; Glass Paperweights in The Art Institute of Chicago, pp. 38–39; Paperweights for Collectors, pp. 57–59) Diameter 3". $5000–7000

7. Very rare Baccarat bouquet weight, a formal arrangement, with a pansy, a red double clematis, three white flax blossoms with ruby centers, and a yellow bud on a star-cut ground. The pansy and the double clematis contain complex stardust/bull’s-eye cane centers.

"Large multifloral bouquets were a specialty of Baccarat and displayed the highest degree of skill in lampwork and millefiori techniques."—Baccarat: Paperweights and Related Glass, 1820–1860.

"Nearly all examples of flat floral bouquets show paperweight making at its gayest and most exuberant, belying the Victorian reputation for the lugubrious."—The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights.

"People used the pansy as a subtle way to show support for Napoleon and the empire after he was deposed."—The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition. (See The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition, p. 23; The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights, p. 68; Glass Paperweights of the New-York Historical Society, p. 67; L. H. Selman Ltd. Fall 1994 Mail Auction, lot 2) Diameter 2 7/8". $8000–12,000

8. Extremely rare Baccarat dated magnum scattered millefiori weight with the Gridel silhouettes of a moth, two roosters, an elephant, a pheasant, a dog, a horse, a monkey and two goats, interspersed with complex cog, arrow, six-pointed star, trefoil, shamrock, whorl and star-shaped canes, in cobalt blue, ruby, pink, turquoise, yellow, amethyst, salmon, cadmium green and sea green, on a white lace ground decorated with brightly colored twists and pieces of filigree. B1847 signature/date cane.

"The separation of the large canes gives them a breathing space they do not have in the close millefiori and makes their colors look as bright as Clichy."—The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights.

"These weights show the Baccarat millefiori to best advantage and rank among the most attractive items from this factory."—Glass Paperweights.

"The ground of white filigree and yellow-and-pink ribbon twist segments creates a festive mood."—Glass Paperweights in The Art Institute of Chicago. (See The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition, p. 32; The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights, pp. 54–55; Glass Paperweights, p. 34; Glass Paperweights in The Art Institute of Chicago, p. 36; L. H. Selman Ltd. Fall 1996 Mail Auction & Price Guide, lot 2) Diameter 3 7/8". $8000–12,000

9. Very nice Pietro Bigaglia/Giovanni Franchini dated scrambled millefiori weight containing fourteen rose portrait canes, eleven horse silhouette canes, seven duck silhouette canes and two dog silhouette canes, mixed with complex geometric millefiori canes and colored twists, in ruby, white, turquoise, cobalt blue, gold aventurine and copper aventurine. 1845 date cane. Pietro Bigaglia purchased millefiori canes from the Franchini family to create paperweights.

"Encouraged by the successful results achieved with their millefiori canes, the Franchinis hit upon the idea of making canes containing motifs other than the geometric patterns they had produced hitherto… As far as the Franchinis were concerned, murrine made from animal-shaped dip molds (regarded as the height of finesse by Bohemian and French paperweight manufacturers) were only the starting point for far more elaborate creations… This procedure is illustrated in figs. 402–4. The first stage shows a rounded core of dusky pink in the center, framed by a slightly paler lozenge. The simple cane has already been set into a green motif representing the lower part of a rosebud."—Miniature Masterpieces: Mosaic Glass 1838–1924. (See Miniature Masterpieces: Mosaic Glass 1838–1924, pp. 33–44, 63–70) Diameter 2 7/8". $3000–4000

10. Very rare Baccarat paneled honeycomb carpet ground weight with a flower-shaped design, the petals created from cobalt blue and ruby arrow/six-pointed star canes, alternating with salmon and cobalt blue cog/six-pointed star canes. These are outlined with complex white and cobalt blue six-pointed star canes. The center of the flower shape is composed of alternating circlets of cobalt blue and salmon canes, outlined with white and ruby six-pointed star canes. The design is set into a sea of robin’s-egg blue and white honeycomb canes. Paul Hollister compared the fineness of these weights to needlepoint. (See The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights, p. 60; Glass Paperweights, p. 32) Diameter 2 11/16". $8000–12,000