Author: Geraldine J. Casper

Publisher/Date: The Art Institute of Chicago (1991, 1st printing)

Format/Condition: Oversized softcover, 119 pages, including glossary, bibliography, profusely illustrated in color. Measures 9×12”

Description: Phenomenally popular in mid-19th century Europe and later in the U.S.—the so-called “classic period”—decorative glass paperweights are increasingly sought after and collected.

This book depicts highlights from Arthur Rubloff’s bequest to the Art Institute of Chicago—1,472 paperweights of widely varied motifs from such factories as Baccarat, Clichy, and Saint-Louis, and also from contemporary makers, such as Paul Stankard, Rick Ayotte, Francis Dyer Whittemore. Here are smooth domes filled with colorful millefiori shapes, lampwork flowers with geometric spiral backgrounds, dimensional portraits and reproductions of classic art, and exquisite nature scenes and abstracts in windowed facet domes.