Paul Ysart (1904–1991) and the revival of glass artistry in paperweights (E)
By Erhard Maroschek, Tyrol
What does set paperweights, made by Paul Ysart, apart from others? Since 1922 – the year was calculated from his notion in a certificate from Harland times – he was manufacturing his first pieces at Moncrieff in Perth. Astonishing is the progress in complexity, rich in forms and broadness of combinations, from simple glass canes to varied patterns, often revealing their splendor when inspected under a magnifying glass. The colour palette of his millefiori canes follows very rich and harmonic combinations, in some cases putting together odd colours for trial, powerful green standing against a soft and shining white to set a counterpart to the clear translucent yellow and red. By pulling the cane to the length, the diameters can be so very minute, that the details are only visible under best light and magnification. The occasional inclusion of golden and red aventurine adds shining sparkles and light effects in a smaller dimension. He may be called the „inventor“ of the spoke design using latticinio rods between the design elements, a reminiscence and development to the tightly packed end-of-the-day design of Baccarat and others in France from 1846 on, and others later around the end of the 19th century.
What kinds of his paperweights are much in demand? Firstly, the pieces signed with his initial cane „PY“ in some variations. In the years around 1930 his first signature, a white serrated cane with green outside appeared, the P and Y of the same red. Later, during the contract with Jokelson, the PY signed pieces for the most part were exported to the USA. He also signed some rare pieces with his name engraved by himself. This fact is interesting, as from the 1970ies on his assistants, for instance Peter Holmes, William Manson and David Hurry, were making weights in the Harland works, under his supervision and guidance, as stated in a certificate from this time. Though, a present signature does not tell much about the quality of an item- there are almost as many unsigned, excellent ones around! Among the designs, the insects, reptiles and fish are much in demand. Because Ysart normally did not make series of a motif, every weight seems to be different and provides a good hunting ground for the collector. Weights signed with “H” from the Harland and Highland companies were a bit more in demand in the late 1980ies, when more or less well made forgeries with a two colour PY false signature from an unknown source appeared on the market, surely not made by him. A part of the millefiori canes used in such fakes however seem to be genuine. After turbulences the trust in “genuine” weights had been reestablished again. Some of the motifs, such as pansies or special flower arrangements, are only known in very few examples and scarce. The earlier sulphides of army badges and brooches commonly show a spatter ground, this was the basis for developing the „Harlequin“ design with millefiori patterns on top, which has it’s roots in the „end-of-the-day” and “scrambled” designs of the Classic period beginning after 1845.
For more pictures please see the German version of this article
Which of his weights display the best variety? This question seems self fulfilling, because specialists believe in the fact, that none of the designs was made twice intentionally- there are no identical series. From the first days, Paul Ysart composed scrambled weights filled with a universe of millefiori slices, spiral canes, aventurine and jasper spatter . A central bubble surrounded by four, six or eight peripheral bubbles created the design of “Harlequin”, which was continued by Caithness after 1972. Early harlequins show the one colour, three dimensional jasper cushion with the relief pattern above, later it was reduced to a thin layer with the pattern as plain surface above. The use of mica is rare and seems to be a seasonal (Christmas time) exception, and aventurine started early, changing to more colours later on. When pulling and breaking off a cane, a distorted and misshaped area remained on the tip of the rods, and those remains could be recycled economically as filler for harlequins.
The colour glass was acquired from Gilbert Martin company in Paris, as Alison Jane Clarke states in Ysartnews No. 4, March1988. Ysart‘s glass used for the domes had a density near 2,53 - lighter or heavier SG suggests a forged object. It is thought that he remixed some of the colours in his firm. He created very variable blue, yellow, violet and green glass types; some flesh pink was only used in a short time, pastel glass in green, violet and turquoise kept appearing at all times. The colour for the covering dome allows rough dating, as it was manganese violet (early and Moncrieff), clear (Caithness) or clear to yellow (post war Moncrieff, Harland).
Jokelson launched the motto, Paul Ysart paperweights were the antiques of tomorrow, so the number of collectors increased steadily. The contract between Moncrieff and Jokelson limited the number of a design to 288 per year, to provide exclusivity to the artist and his agent.
Lampworked flower arrangements, dragonflies, butterflies, reptiles and the combination of millefiori and spokes he executed with masterly exactness. Moncrieff era lasted from early 1920 to 1962 with a break during WW II, when only few were made after hours. As Moncrieff closed 1961, Ysart changed to Caithness until 1970 (from this era his „stones“ in silver jewellery must be mentioned). His own last companies, Harland and Highland, were financed by Bert Gunn and lasted until 1980. The contract with Jokelson in 1955 was a turning point, because the early items signed with PY were even thought to be antique French, before Jokelson detected Paul Ysart as the producer. By then the main part of signed weights (after 1955) was possibly shipped for American collectors.
How rare are Paul Ysart paperweights? Colin Mahoney calculated a number of some 80.000 weights in 2009- what a comfort for the collector! The “market” was not very impressed by this big number, a stronger influence on the value came from online auctions- buyers and sellers can take advantage from good knowledge and a broad range to select from.
Paul Ysart’s artistry evoked a good climate to establish paperweight firms: Ysart Brothers, later Vasart, Strathearn, Perthshire and Caithness as well as Selkirk were founded. But also single artists came from his tradition, to name a few, Colin Terris, William Manson, Peter Holmes, John Deacons, Peter McDougall, Michael Hunter and others.
In literature, there are two recommended books out of many: Robert G. Hall, Scottish Paperweights (1991) and Colin Mahoney, Masterworks: The Paperweights of Paul Ysart (2009), containing very useful pictures and texts for the most important works, people and collections.
(09.11.2011)
Kommentare zu diesem Artikel ansehen | Kommentar zu diesem Artikel verfassen