Paperweight 1923

This paperweight by Gabriel Argy-Rousseau is an object in glass, and it has the colour of deep sea water. Look at how he’s caught a moth in mid-flight, its wings raised as if it is about to take off. I wonder what Argy-Rousseau was thinking when he made this? I imagine him carefully layering each color, building up the glass like a painter with oils. He’s got the slightly translucent effect of the insect’s wings, that you can almost see through them. Think about the weight of the object in your hands. It’s so solid, yet the insect form makes it appear delicate. It is as if Argy-Rousseau is suggesting that beauty can be found in even the smallest of creatures.