Paperweights: Beauty as Well as Brawn

Question: I have begun to acquire a number of paperweights, some, I believe, from the turn of the century. In terms of dating some of them, how far back can I date paperweight production?--S.T.

Answer: Collectors say they have traced the earliest glass paperweights to France where they were created in the mid-18th Century. American production didn’t begin until about a century later.

Production of ornate paperweights declined in Europe by the 1860s, but American artists and glass factories produced them in increasing quantities through the turn of the next century. Then, following half of a century of decline in collecting paperweights in this country, they once again became popular in the 1950s.

So beautiful and valuable are paperweights that some have exchanged hands for thousands of dollars each, and museums such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City have displayed paperweight collections.

Whether American hallmarks are important in determining the value of domestically produced silverware is--we found out--a matter of debate among experts in the field.

In a recent column, we said some dealer/collectors believe that because there is no systematic way of researching American hallmarks (the signature of the designer/producer), the hallmark isn’t as important as in, say, Great Britain where there is an organization about 300 years old that keeps a history of silverware artists.

Not so, writes Wendell White, owner of Vroman’s Silver Shop in Glendora at 1748 S. Grand Ave., (818) 963-0512, (800) 824-5174.

“Just because our American hallmarks have never been systematized like the English does not mean that these marks are not important,” he says. “An American silversmith’s hallmark is of primary importance in collecting any kind of American silver. . . . It is the name and reputation of the silversmith that tells the non-expert the quality of workmanship.

“This is true in the case of individual artists or a large manufacturer. The silversmith with a reputation for quality work is the one whose pieces will command higher prices and be a better investment for the collector; his or her hallmark will give us that information. If there is no hallmark, beware; we had better know our silver.”

The London-based organization that acts as a kind of union and national historian for British silversmiths is the Worshipful Order of Goldsmiths and Silversmiths, which keeps careful track of that country’s producers.

Normally in Britain, if an individual or firm is going to produce and sell silver and gold items, it must register and market through the order.

American producers have not been nearly as orderly, and, as a result, not all silverware is marked.

Upon receiving his letter, we called White, who told us that in his view, hallmarks are about “the only guide to value” in this country. “A small hallmark is extremely important,” he said. Without it, said White, who specializes in a matching service for discontinued patterns, “you have to be an expert” to judge quality.

Writes White:

“Hallmarks are important for both holloware (including bowls, trays and tea sets) and flatware (knives, forks and spoons). Early American flatware was handmade and the patterns were simple and had very little design variation.

“Coin silver spoons are collected by their hallmarks, which reveal who made them and where the silversmith was living. Early American holloware was also handmade but showed more variety in design and decoration than the flatware. Here, the maker’s mark is also important, and the quantity of collectible hallmarks is smaller than in flatware.

“Those of us who are not expert judges of workmanship must rely on these hallmarks and the reputations they represent. An intelligent collector must do research on this.”