The prestigious Morton D. Barker Paperweight Collection of 252 glass objects, including more than 200 outstanding examples of antique French paperweights of the Classic Period (1845 - 1860) manufactured by the glass companies Baccarat, Saint Louis, Clichy, and Pantin. In addition to antique French paperweights, Mr. Barker also collected nineteenth and twentieth century paperweights from other countries including England and the United States.Mr. Barker purchased the paperweights in Mexico, London, and elsewhere on his travels in the United States and abroad. Some of the paperweights had previously resided in the collections of Applewaite Abbott, Oscar Wilde, and King Farouk.
Signed paperweights
The majority of the paperweights in the collection are of French origin. Ninety-one are attributed to the Baccarat glass factory. Of these, fourteen are dated, and of the fourteen ten are also signed: 1846 (1), 1847 (3) 1848 (6) and 1849 (4). The collection contains some Clichy company's and Saint Louis company's paperweights containing glass canes dated from 1845 to 1848.
Paperweight techniques
The Barker Collection exhibits a variety of paperweightmaking techniques:
lampwork (86), millefiori designs (84), sulphides (30), overlay (11), swirls (8), crowns (4), Pinchbecks (4), upright crimped roses (4), miscellaneous weights and paperweight-related items (20), and one marbrie topped with a gilded, cast-molded salamander.