Glass Paperweights
An Extraordinary Art Form
by Art Elder, Past President
by Art Elder, Past President
The paperweight “Stars of Texas” exhibit is being displayed for the public’s viewing pleasure from June 9 - November 28, 2003 at the MSC Forsyth Center Galleries at Texas A&M University, College Station TX. This exhibit has received the acclaim of the international Paperweight Collectors Association, Inc. at their 50th Anniversary convention in San Antonio where it was displayed in May 2003. It was described there as a “powerhouse exhibit and a show of strength” by Stanley Kruger, president of the Delaware Valley Paperweight Collectors Association.
The exhibit was organized jointly by Art Elder, president of the Paperweight Collectors Association of Texas, Inc (a non-profit educational organization) and Timothy Novak, director of the MSC Forsyth Center Galleries at Texas A&M University. Included in the exhibit are 159 of the finest antique and contemporary paperweights loaned from Texas collections, and limited to only the well-executed examples of exceptional quality, rarity, and historical significance or provenance. The exhibit includes many rare weights that have not been seen by the public for many years. In addition to French weights from the “classic period” [1845 - 1855], some interesting American folk art and primitives are included, as well as an outstanding selection of contemporary weights.
Fine glass paperweights are considered one of the “best kept secrets”. Antique weights have been called the “Crown Jewels for Collectors” because of their beauty, precision, and extreme rarity. (It is estimated that only 25,000 weights made during the ten-year “classic period” are remaining in the world today, with many of those being in permanent museum collections.) Paperweights are considered the most collectable of 19th century glass items, and the most challenging of the glass arts to make.
A 68-page catalogue to document the exhibit has been published with full-scale color pictures of each paperweight with detailed descriptions, including articles written by world authorities on the visual attraction of paperweights, their history and significance.
Exhibit Information
Where: MSC Forsyth Center Galleries, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
When: Exhibit Dates: June 9 – November 29, 2003.
Summer Hours: M-F 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; Weekends 12:00 – 4:30 p.m. Free admission
Docent led tours are available for groups.
For more information, please contact Tim Novak at 979-845-925 or tim@msc.tamu.edu
Most paperweight images courtesy L. H. Selman
PCA TX Webmaster: Niki Maas
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