Paperweight c. 1845 - 1860

Curator: What catches my eye is this petite floral sculpture, a Baccarat Glassworks paperweight, dating roughly from 1845 to 1860, here at the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: It has such an ethereal quality. It makes me think of captured dreams or secrets preserved under ice. There’s this fragile beauty to it, almost like a memento from a fairy tale. Curator: I see it also! The material composition is quite interesting; crafted predominantly from glass, it transcends its function. Glass paperweights became luxury items, emblems of leisure for a rising middle class eager to mimic aristocratic tastes. We tend to overlook that glassmaking at this time was really demanding labor. Editor: So true, those are the details often unseen when you view objects like these! The floral design, so delicate and precise, gives it such romantic vibes! I wonder about the hands that coaxed molten glass into those shapes? There is such intentionality, a quiet joy captured in frozen motion...a tiny world sealed inside glass. Curator: Consider the cultural context. Romanticism valued the natural world as a source of spiritual and emotional experiences. This paperweight embodies that sentiment: a manufactured simulacrum of nature designed to inspire awe, and purchased to proudly display refined sensitivity. Editor: But aren’t we still seduced by such curated nature today, really? The skill here is undeniable, but is it as simple as manufacturing an "emotional experience," or does something genuine remain within this glass? It whispers of spring, remembrance, and holding something dear! Curator: Perhaps there is room for both! Examining its making allows one to appreciate craft skills and industrial processes of the 19th century while still giving room to the quiet moments this evokes. Editor: I like that balance! I find this piece invites you to observe the confluence of technique and sensitivity that gives this paperweight that evocative power. It’s really quite wonderful.