For Immediate Release
L. H. Selman Ltd. Auction 41 Press Release

 

Contact: Lawrence Selman
Address: 123 Locust Street Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Telephone: 800.538.0766
International calls: 831.427.1177
E-mail: larry@paperweight.com
Web: www.TheGlassGallery.com

Record prices realized in Part I of the Sam and Winifred Alschuler
Paperweight Collection at L. H. Selman Ltd. Spring Auction

An extremely rare, possibly unique, antique Clichy signed scattered millefiori white stardust carpet ground paperweight weight sold for $36,815, a figure well above the highest estimated value.  The design elements, which include a rare red, white, and light blue "C" signature cane, rest within a basket of alternating cobalt blue and white staves.  George Kulles, author of four classic books on paperweights and the appraiser of the Alschuler
collection, states, "I am absolutely sure it is one of a kind.  It is an outstanding weight." This well-known paperweight was exhibited in 1978 by The Corning Museum of Glass as "one of the greatest paperweights in the world." Of all the weights in their collection, this was the Alschulers' favorite.

Another important paperweight fetching a record price was the antique Clichy convolvulus, which sold for $31,065. This weight is one of only twenty-three documented examples of its type.

Other antique weights which fetched record prices were an extremely rare Baccarat trefoil millefiori garlands on stardust carpet ground, which sold for $27,615, a rare Pantin pink rose and bud paperweight for $17,250 and a Clichy concentric millefiori and roses paperweight for $23,000.  An antique Bohemian painted bouquet weight went far the above estimated value, selling for $4,600.  Many other weights sold at or above the highest estimates.

"We were pleased and honored to offer this important collection to paperweight collectors and museums worldwide. The second part of this collection promises to be as exciting as the first," said Lawrence Selman, owner of L.H. Selman Ltd.

About L. H. Selman Ltd.
L. H. Selman Ltd., The Glass Gallery, based in Santa Cruz, California, offers the most extensive stock of antique and contemporary paperweights in the world, as well as representing new and established glass artists who are working in other contemporary glass art formats. The founder and owner, Lawrence Selman, with over thirtyfive years experience, is considered a leading expert in the field of fine glass paperweights. The company holds two major paperweight auctions yearly, which have consistently drawn bidders from all over the world.

Selman says, "Our goal is to promote the most challenging of all glass art forms, by exhibiting the finest examples made in centuries past, and by nurturing new talent emerging from contemporary independent studios. Our sterling reputation has been forged from years of long-term associations with customers who have built discriminating and sophisticated collections. But we also pride ourselves in assisting new or casual collectors, at any level of knowledge or interest."

L. H. Selman Ltd. maintains an expansive gallery in Santa Cruz, California, with the largest inventory of antique and contemporary paperweights anywhere. At their online gallery at http://www.TheGlassGallery.com collectors may browse their inventory, read glass artists' profiles, order works of art, or bid on fine art glass through their online auctions.

Bi-annual traditional auctions, with full-color printed catalogues as well as on-line bidding opportunity, offer collectors the chance to acquire some of the very best in antique, contemporary, and secondary-market pieces. Regular color catalogues present the new work of accomplished masters as well as emerging artists. Their publishing company, Paperweight Press, offers a full spectrum of literature for the new or seasoned collector.

"Our professional staff has spent years acquiring expertise in the art form," says Selman. "They are dedicated to a level of quality service and attention to detail that is rarely experienced these days. Our motto is only the best from L. H. Selman Ltd."

"Since that humble beginning with a kitchen table operation, Selman has expanded considerably and now maintains a Santa Cruz gallery while continuing a sizeable mail order business. Selman also conducts on-line auctions and biannual traditional "off-line" auctions, advises museums and individuals on their collections, travels extensively to collect both antique and contemporary paperweights, promotes paperweight artists, encourages and helps new artists get started, and assembles traveling paperweight exhibits." —Kathy Moyer from Annual Bulletin of the Paperweight Collectors Association, Inc. 2001 Millennium Edition.

A Brief History of the Paperweight
What some consider to be a simple desk accessory has been locked in royal treasure vaults and collected by some of the world’s most famous personalities. Glass paperweights have been valued and collected since they were first created in the 1840s. From 1845 to 1860 the great glasshouses of France—Baccarat, Clichy, and Saint Louis—created exquisite pieces containing glass flowers, birds, salamanders, butterflies, and geometric designs comprised of millefiori canes. The term millefiori, which means “a thousand flowers” in Italian, refers to crosssectional slices of a glass rod which has been formed in a mold, much like the making of hard candy. The French factories established a tradition of excellence, and today the most advanced glass masters display their complex work in the form of paperweights.

Glass paperweights can be found in museums around the world, including the Smithsonian Institution, the
Corning Museum of Glass, and the Art Institute of Chicago. These pieces of complex glass have sold for as
much as hundreds of thousands of dollars. Always a luxury item, and never really intended to hold down paper, glass paperweights have been collected since Victorian times, when they enjoyed a wide popularity by the aristocracy in Europe. However, in time, they fell out of vogue, and by the 1950s, paperweight production had declined until it was virtually nonexistent. The advanced skills used to make the pieces had been forgotten, rendering the paperweight, literally, a “lost art.” At the prodding of Paul Jokelson, a French collector and art dealer, the French factories of Baccarat and Saint Louis attempted to rediscover the old weight-making skills, lost for almost a hundred years.

Though glass workers are still unable to create some of the illusions found in antique paperweights, their
experimentation sparked a modern renaissance in glass art. Today, a new generation of artists continues to carry on the classic tradition while utilizing modern technology to give their work a contemporary vitality. In many areas, these new artists have surpassed their forbears. Paperweights have appreciated in value exponentially over the past fifty years, and they continue to rise in value. Paul Jokelson’s Bird in the Nest, a paperweight he bought for $12 in 1925, sold for a world-record price of $182,600 at an L. H. Selman Ltd. auction in 1990. The Silkworms, another of Jokelson’s antique paperweights from the French Pantin factory, had sold for $143,000 a few years earlier.

##########