YasudaCollector Posted October 11 Report Share Posted October 11 I've been doing some internet sleuthing today about my growing Chinese paperweight collection (maybe I've fallen down a rabbit hole 😆), and thought i'd share this even thought its only kind of marble related. I think it might be of interest to anybody who has any really old, handmade marbles from China i.e transitionals and millefiori marbles. Apparently, there's this big huge glass museum in Boshan, China (now called Zibo). Among other things, the museum, called the "Boshan Colored Glaze Museum", has a boatload of very old glass artifacts from China (including a ton of paperweights that look exactly like the ones in American antique stores). On the museum website, it says that Boshan has been producing colored glass crafts since the Yuan dynasty (1300s). Apparently, "colored glaze flower balls" were produced since the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644). "Colored glaze flower balls" are what the website refers to as a paperweight. (Glass is called glaze for some reason). I think this information is pretty incredible since it corroborates what Robert Block found, that Chinese marbles could have been produced in Shandong. I feel like this would make sense (at least with the millefiori and painted sulphide marbles) since they are the exact same glass as the Boshan paperweights. Also, the website said that until very modern times, Boshan was really the only town in China producing colored glass (because of acess to a bunch of minerals for glassmaking). 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YasudaCollector Posted October 11 Author Report Share Posted October 11 Here are some photos from the museum's collection: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YasudaCollector Posted October 11 Author Report Share Posted October 11 Here are some other photos (of a nearby glass factory in operation): 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YasudaCollector Posted October 11 Author Report Share Posted October 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted October 11 Report Share Posted October 11 Interesting subject. Thanks for sharing. I have enjoyed my own brief forays into paperweight history in search of marble insights. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted October 11 Report Share Posted October 11 16 hours ago, YasudaCollector said: maybe I've fallen down a rabbit hole 😆 You may have fallen but this is what collecting is about--- I just love this stuff!! Marble--On!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted October 11 Report Share Posted October 11 I love a good paperweight...but they take up way to much marble space lol.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YasudaCollector Posted Sunday at 04:35 PM Author Report Share Posted Sunday at 04:35 PM On 10/11/2024 at 12:56 PM, akroorka said: You may have fallen but this is what collecting is about--- I just love this stuff!! Marble--On!! I couldn't agree more! 😆 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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