I was in Greece years ago when I started my love affair with paperweights. I was perusing a jewelry store for something special to take back home with me when a beautiful paperweight caught my eye. It was a mesmerizing clear glass globe with an internal white coil design that just really seemed so different from anything I’d seen before — plus it was white and clean and crisp and peaceful. I just loved it. I purchased it and have displayed it on a tabletop or bookshelf ever since.
I have never been one to collect things. Not because I didn’t want to necessarily (I actually did because I like the general idea of having a favorite grouping of similar treasures), but really just because I hadn’t ever found the “thing” I liked so much to actually collect lots of them. Whether collecting is for sheer pleasure, to learn more about the objects, altruism, nostalgia or even to seek status or prestige, it can be fun to appreciate and build a collection of things you love.
This year, I got the itch to collect something, and scratched that itch with paperweights. I still love and cherish my first paperweight, but I have noticed that I’m drawn to colorful flowers now probably because of my love for gardening. I’m also craving more color now, probably because the last few years have been filled with too much Covid dread.
I’m floored by how pretty these paperweights look positioned atop a few books on a coffee table — especially next to a flickering candle. They tend to capture the light beautifully, and I just love the look of it.
The History of Paperweights
The earliest paperweights appeared in Europe in the mid-1840s. Venetian glassmaker Pietro Bigaglia created and exhibited the first signed and dated weights at the Vienna Industrial Exposition in 1845. He, like other paperweight makers of the time, revived many ancient glassworking techniques to create his weights. In June of 1990, Sotheby’s auctioned the remarkable Clichy “Basket of Flowers” for $258,000, the highest price ever realized for a paperweight.
“Glass paperweights have been described as one of the world’s best-kept secrets. The secret is not because of a conspiracy, but because of a simple lack of exposure. This is a real shame, because once people see them, understand how they are made, and their history, they are genuinely fascinated with them.” Read more about paperweights here: https://www.glasspaperweightfoundation.com/all_about_paperweights.
Now that I’ve been bitten by the paperweight bug, I’ll be searching out beautiful and unique paperweights to offer on this site — in addition to the ones I keep for my own personal collection — because I think every home should have at lease one pretty paperweight on display (if not more).
Shop our selection of Paperweights
