Murano paperweights on view at Toronto exhibition

[AllaVedova]

There are four high quality Murano paperweights on display in the Glass Worlds exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The exhibit runs through November 25, 2007.

www.rom.on.ca

The entire exhibit has about 350 paperweights and paperweight-related items from the 19th-century through today, from antique French to superb work by masters of contemporary paperweights.

I was thrilled to see these four Murano paperweights on view. They are all special and unique and I was really excited by the glass pear. It was the first time I had ever seen a Murano glass pear paperweight and it's quite spectacular. Also shown are a nifty contemporary Murano swirl, a crimp-style pedestal rose paperweight, and a pied-douche style millefiori.

[fossilfly]

Thanks for the photo and the posting about the exhibit. This is what makes the forum work, members who have information and like to share.

The paperweights are great, the mushroom one in the back looks to me like a Fratelli Toso. Funny enough with all their glass experience, Murano never became a huge player in the paperweight industry, it seems that the French and English basically owned the niche for years. How did you like the exhibit? I will add it to the calendar today as well.

[AllaVedova]

I thought the exhibit was exceptional, especially if a person collects paperweights, which I do. The exhibit is heavy on French (Clichy, Baccarat, Saint Louis) and contemporary American paperweights (Trabucco, Tarsitano, Ayotte, Stankard, Brown, etc.). But it is very eclectic, with a wide range of styles of paperweights from a lot of sources, including, as expected, Canada.

In addition to being devoted to paperweights, probably due to my Italian heritage, I am also fascinated by the entire history of Murano glass. I have a few non-paperweight Murano pieces and a number of Murano paperweights. I agree with you that Murano paperweights don't get the attention that paperweights from other countries receive. This is a shame because there are some exceptional Murano paperweights, especially available in the glass factory shops on Murano island itself.

I think any Murano collector, certainly a Murano paperweight collector, would be thrilled to own any of the four paperweights in the ROM show. The pear is something special, and I will heretofore happily spend a lot of time trying to find one like it for purchase.