Glass at the Museum

John, Limited (North British Glassworks) Paul Ysart

With the refurbishment really taking shape at the moment, we are all excited to be able to show our glass in the Rotunda exhibition hall. We have had a look through some of our collection, there is so much beauty to be shared.

Paul Ysart's work remained relatively anonymous until 1955 when he came into contact with Paul Jokelson, President of the Paperweight Collectors' Association. Jokelson marketed Paul Ysart's weights in the USA. All those weights produced for the American market had a 'PY' cane to identify them. Paul Jokelson promoted the virtues of fine antique and modern weights alike. Paul Ysart's works were promoted both for their immediate delight and as 'antiques of the future'. One collector wrote that "the perfection of Ysart's work is evident and a joy to possess".

Caithness Glass Paperweight - Paul Ysart

Lampwork derives its name from an oil-fuelled lamp used in the 19th century by glassworkers, who used metal tweezers to manipulate coloured glass over a lamp. Nowadays coloured rods of glass are shaped into a representational subject over the heat of a gas burner or torch. The intricate craft of lampworking requires simple equipment and no working assistance, and therefore offered Paul Ysart autonomy. The task of creating his own intricate millefiori and filigree canes must have also proved rewarding. Both provided a break from the conformity of the factory floor where industrial glass was blown.

Strathearn Glass Paperweight

The design of weaving, coloured fronds was contained within a drop shaped weight. It was originally produced in four colours: yellow, red, blue and green. This type of weight is often called 'seaweed'. There is a Strathearn label on the base. In 1965 the Strathearn Glass factory opened in Crieff, Perthshire. Strathearn was the first glassworks in Europe to fire its furnaces with propane gas. It made vases, bowls, paperweights and lamps in the Vasart style, often with a raised pontil bearing an impressed seal of a leaping salmon.