L.H. Selman Ltd.

1. Important Baccarat triple weight, the design composed of three consecutively larger paperweights fused together. The bottom section contains a scattered arrangement of millefiori canes on lace, including the Gridel silhouettes of a dog, a pelican, a goat, a deer, lovebirds and a red devil. The middle section is macédoine, composed of strips of lace and colored twists in salmon, cobalt blue, pistachio, yellow and ruby. The top section contains a rare bicolored red and white clematis with a central stardust/bull’s-eye cane. The flower is nestled in a three-dimensional sheath of green leaves. Blue and ruby buds peek from beneath the flower. Baccarat artisans created this piece more than one hundred years before American glass pioneers began to articulate the prominent themes of today’s studio glass movement. Despite its age, it speaks with a voice more characteristic of modern studio glass. The Triple embodies many of the fundamental ideas underpinning studio glasswork today, including the use of glass to create solids and voids, the use of layers and profiles, the use of glass to bend imagery and create illusions of space, and the dramatic utilization of glass as a sculptural vehicle. By combining three paperweights together, Baccarat artisans were able to achieve a design that transcends the impact of the individual parts. The sections interact with each other to form a design of fluid grace. The curvature of the glass bends the imagery from different sections into each other. A piece of blue filigree in the middle section surrounds the flower with a blue halo when viewed from the top. This example represents one of seven documented triple paperweights. It is the only piece with a macédoine section. Two of the other six pieces are part of a private collection. A fourth triple weight, created entirely of millefiori, is listed in Christie’s London November 18, 1975 sale, lot 17. The three remaining pieces reside in The Corning Museum of Glass, The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum and The Art Institute of Chicago. This piece was exhibit number 39 in The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition traveling museum exhibit. "This piece exemplifies the spirit of competition between the French factories."—The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition. "Figure 7 gives us two weights that encompass everything you want in a paperweight. These Baccarat triple tier weights are the rarest of shapes and made by what Manny Lacher, noted collector and our third PCA President, calls ‘A’ workers. Each has three differing designs in each level. When held in the hand, these weights don’t seem like three different weights stuck together. Instead they flow with a grace that is all their own."—"A Japanese Collection," Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors’ Association, Inc. "This elaborate, three-in-one paperweight is an example of Baccarat one-upmanship. The vertical juxtaposition of three weights, made separately, reheated and fused together, represents a technical achievement worth boasting about."—Glass Paperweights in the Art Institute of Chicago. (See Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors’ Association, Inc. (1992), p. 22; The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition, p. 29; Baccarat: Paperweights and Related Glass 1820–1860, COVER; The Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights, pp. 78–79; Glass Paperweights in the Art Institute of Chicago, p. 85; Glass Paperweights of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, plate 66, ill. 380; Paperweights: "Flowers which clothe the meadows", p. 30; Parke-Bernet Galleries, November 29 and 30, and December 1 and 2, 1950 "The Notable American Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Norvin H. Green", lot 307) Height 3 1/4", diameter of base 2 1/2". $40,000–60,000

3. Extremely rare Clichy moss carpet ground weight. Bright complex canes, including a central pink and green rose, and a pink rose, decorate a green moss ground interspersed with red and white prairie canes. The design includes edelweiss canes, pastry mold canes, stardust canes, cog canes, and six-pointed star canes, in ruby, lilac, thalo blue, cobalt blue, Naples yellow, pink and white. Two bruises to the side of the piece below the carpet, and small chips on the base. "Clichy utilized its moss ground in this weight to create the illusion of vibrant wildflowers on a green lawn. It is an extraordinary example of the factory’s color vocabulary…"— The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition. "The most sought after, and undoubtedly the most striking, spaced millefiori are the moss green carpet grounds. The prize possessions of a few advanced collectors, these weights feature a ground of many small green canes contrasting jubilantly with the colorful spaced florets."—Paperweights for Collectors. (See Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors’ Association, Inc. (1968), pp. 28, 46; The Art of the Paperweight—Challenging Tradition, p. 32; Paperweights for Collectors, pp. 57–59) See detail on p. 5. Diameter 2 1/16". $10,000–15,000

4. Extremely rare Clichy mignonette bouquet weight containing three fanciful blossoms, in amethyst, yellow and ruby, on gathered stems with millefiori and lampwork buds. The arrangement is tied with a pink and white striped ribbon. To form this imaginative bouquet, Clichy artisans created blossoms of amazing complexity and sophistication. The petals of the yellow and ruby blossoms are created from latticinio filigree rods decorated with their respective colors. A complex moss/bull’s-eye cane rests at the center of the yellow blossom. The purple blossom contains a complex six-pointed star cane surrounded by a circlet of yellow-tipped green stamens and a circlet of amethyst stamens. According to Victorian flower language, a suitor presented mignonette blossoms to a paramour to send the message "your qualities surpass your charms." These exotic flowers became the rage in France after Napoleon sent them to Josephine during his Egyptian campaign. This piece was catalogue number 68 in the 1987 Corning Museum of Glass exhibition Presse-Papiers Francais. (See Sotheby’s November 30, 1988 sale "Important Paperweights from A New York Private Collection", COVER, lot 169; Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors’ Association (1981), p. 21) See detail on p. 72. Diameter 2 13/16". $25,000–30,000

5. Very rare Clichy magnum spaced millefiori newel post with two pink and green roses, and a green and white rose. This impressive arrangement is composed of 57 canes, including pastry mold canes, cog canes, six-pointed star canes, edelweiss canes, prairie canes, moss canes, stardust canes and bull’s-eye canes, in pink, cobalt blue, cherry, lilac, thalo blue, cadmium green, ruby, black, brown, lime, Naples yellow, powder blue, lavender, watermelon and white. The arrangement is set on a fancy crystal stem. (See Glass Paperweights of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, plate 69, ill. 1311) See back cover. Diameter 3 5/8". $5000–6000