Bohemian Manufacturers

Bohemian Glass

Map of Czechoslovakia showing Bohemian region of glass-making.

The area of Czechoslovakia known as Bohemia was a center for glass making in the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century. There may have been more than 600 glass companies in Bohemia by 1834, some of which made paperweights. Glass paperweights were advertised at least from 1886 by some of these companies. These paperweights are called Post-Classic Period paperweights, meaning they were produced after the end of the Classical Period in France (1845-1860).

Bohemian paperweights were made using millefiori, lampwork, and sulphide techniques. The Bohemian palette of colors was brighter than that of the French. Star- centered complex canes, which may have been produced by a single source, were often used in millefiori weights. These canes were also used as flower centers and petals. <

Barker Collection Weights

In the Barker Paperweight Collection, a lampworked mushroom weight, a miniature spaced concentric millefiori weight with a flat ground base, a hand-painted clear glass weight, and a bead necklace with lampworked floral beads have been attributed to unknown factories in Bohemia or Czechoslovakia.