Paperweight c. 1848 - 1855

Curator: Immediately striking is the intricacy. This radial composition—like an abstracted flower—is quite mesmerizing. Editor: We’re looking at a glass paperweight, crafted around 1848 to 1855. It’s part of the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and attributed to George Bacchus & Sons. Curator: It's more than utilitarian; the clustered floral patterns, concentric and controlled, seem to dance within the sphere, achieving a pleasing synthesis between symmetry and variation. Note the use of millefiori—glasswork resembling a thousand flowers. Editor: Indeed. The manufacture would have been a labor-intensive process, requiring incredible skill. The millefiori themselves were likely prefabricated rods, carefully arranged and encased. There's also that element of preciousness; glass itself a product of transformation, earth into ornament. The making involves skilled hands. It reveals its constructedness and emphasizes the means of production behind the finished item. Curator: Exactly. I appreciate your perspective, as I am interested in the final structure of its arrangement and their interplay. Observe the central light blue region shifting into red hues, encircled then with green colors. All in balanced concentric arrangements. Editor: Thinking about its context...paperweights of this kind signal evolving ideas of the home and domestic life, as new patterns of work generated paperwork and new domestic spaces were decorated with novel forms of mass produced ornament. Curator: It has a pleasing monumentality. A microcosm containing multitudes; this is about structure, color and pure formal beauty. Editor: For me, it underscores the confluence of industry and artistry—an accessible object shaped by craft and designed for a specific purpose. Curator: A confluence beautifully captured in this intriguing, small sphere of glass!