Paperweight c. 19th century

Curator: What a find, this "Paperweight" created by Baccarat Glass Works around the 19th century, currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. You can practically smell the faint scent of a bygone desk, can't you? Editor: It has an almost scientific, contained beauty. Like a preserved specimen, but also… luxurious. There’s something compellingly precious about its glass and floral core. What kind of glass artistry would you say went into something like this? Curator: Well, creating these exquisite paperweights often involved complex techniques such as lampworking for the delicate flowers and millefiori for those colourful cane slices forming the border, then everything is carefully encased in molten crystal. Each component is a miniature act of labour, meticulously crafted and assembled, right? I wonder how the artisans viewed this kind of work - was it art or craft or commodity? Editor: I imagine a great deal of skill went into both its making, which elevates this far beyond commodity. There’s a fascinating tension here, I think, the intended use and the artistry. It's this combination of function and adornment. Think about all the Victorian writers, officials, ladies whose letters this might have weighed down! What untold narratives rested beneath it? The social history alone gives this object such depth. Curator: Absolutely. The encased blooms remind me that everything beautiful, in time, is stopped… suspended in amber for the gods! Is that melancholy too intense? It whispers of fleeting moments of beauty, immortalized through art and human endeavor. Editor: Not at all! I’m picturing that slow, meticulous process too – I would assume there must be entire lineages that revolved around paperweights. But it must also be a reminder of the weight of bureaucracy or a love letter carefully weighed to maintain privacy. These domestic scenes are so crucial to material understandings. Curator: This glass tomb, sealing up these precious blooms serves both purposes. Perhaps these "useless" moments are anything but. They tell our histories too! And each delicate little detail of flower and glass carries meaning… doesn’t it? Editor: Indeed, objects such as this reveal intricate stories about artistry, industry, and everyday life within a certain social era. Thanks for shedding light on the history beneath its glittering, flawless surface. Curator: Likewise! It is fascinating what one can divine when something is simply looked at closely.