Art Glass Paperweights: Furthering the Art Glass Movement

Art glass paperweights may seem to be a strange thing for people to be fascinated by or collect. Yet, these are exquisite works of art which are by no means easy to make. They may contain very complex creative themes, even if they are abstract designs. " But they're just paperweights," you say? The fact is that these are amazing works of art if they have been crafted my a master of the art of glass sculpting.

One type of art glass paperweight is the ice pick. Ice picks are all unique; no two are alike. Crystal covers over abstract and winding, whirling forms. But some other of the most beautiful art glass paperweights are faceted, so that a person can see the interior from many, many different angles, with each being a new perspective. And a person can see the light gleaming off of the different facets, causing the interior of the paperweight to practically have sparkle and fire like some diamond.

Blessed be the inventor of photography! I set him above even the inventor of chloroform! It has given more positive pleasure to poor suffering humanity than anything else that has “cast up” in my time or is like to—this art by which even the “poor” can possess themselves of tolerable likenesses of their absent dear ones. And mustn’t it be acting favourably on the morality of the country?
— Jane Welsh Carlyle (1801–1866)

Art glass paperweights can be perfect blends of beautiful art and practicality, just like a gorgeous lamp, or stained glass windows. And one of the greatest makers of these works was Robert L. Hamon, whose father O. B. Hamon in 1929 founded Hamon Glass in Scott Depot, West Virginia. If you were to see his studio or a gallery of his works, you would know that you were in the presence of the works of a master artist. Robert Hamon brought Hamon Glass to the forefront of what is today known as "the art glass movement" beginning in the early 1960s. He crafted innovative designs and was such an artist that he is, today, widely regarded as one of the greatest glass blowers of the 20th century, having begun to learn the art at the age of 10 and continuing in the practice until his death in 2003 at the age of 77. Charles Gibson of Gibson Glass, Joel Myers of Blenko, and Robert Moretti of Pilgrim helped " Bob" Hamon create this amazing modern art movement.

One of his very best styles was known as the Hamon cut rose. Art glass paperweights will use the crimp rose, but the hand cut rose of Hamon is even more beautiful, with each individual petal formed by taking a small blob of hot glass and cutting it in four different places. This is then encased in crystal. The Hamon roses are known for being eerily realistic-looking.

Thou art not fair, for all thy red and white,
For all those rosy ornaments in thee.
Thou art not sweet, though made of mere delight
— Thomas Campion (1567–1620)

So, the next time you see a glass paperweight, pick it up and take a long, hard look at it. Don't just take it for granted as merely another office tool. You may be missing something.

Further Reading: Art

Theatre ... Although it can be defined broadly to include opera and ballet, those art forms are outside the scope of this article...

Modern Architecture ... The concept of modernism would be a central theme in these efforts. Gaining popularity after the Second World War, architectural modernism was adopted by many influential architects and architectural educators, and continues as a dominant architectural style for institutional and corporate buildings into the 21st century...

Classical Ballet ... History of Ballet Development as an art form Technique Ballet, especially classical ballet, puts great emphasis on the method and execution of movement...

Conceptual Art ... Through its association with the Young British Artists and the Turner Prize during the 1990s, in popular usage, particularly in the UK, "conceptual art" came to denote all contemporary art that does not practice the traditional skills of painting and sculpture... As the artist Mel Bochner suggested as early as 1970, in explaining why he does not like the epithet "conceptual", it is not always entirely clear what "concept" refers to, and it runs the risk of being confused with "intention." Thus, in describing or defining a work of art as conceptual it is important not to confuse what is referred to as "conceptual" with an artist's "intention." History The French artist Marcel Duchamp paved the way for the conceptualists, providing them with examples of prototypically conceptual works — the readymades, for instance... In traditional terms, a commonplace object such as a urinal cannot be said to be art because it is not made by an artist or with any intention of being art, nor is it...

Modernism ... Modernism explicitly rejects the ideology of realism, and makes use of the works of the past, through the application of reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision and parody in new forms. Modernism also rejects the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking, as well as the idea of a compassionate, all-powerful Creator...

History Of Literature ... Moreover, it must be borne in mind that, given the significance of distance as a cultural isolator in earlier centuries, the historical development of literature did not occur at an even pace across the world. The problems of creating a uniform global history of literature are compounded by the fact that many texts have been lost over the millennia, either deliberately, by accident, or by the total disappearance of the originating culture...

Film Theory ... These individuals emphasized how film differed from reality and how it might be considered a valid art form...

1980s In Jazz ... I challenge the prevalent marginalization and malignment of smooth jazz in the standard jazz narrative. Furthermore, I question the assumption that smooth jazz is an unfortunate and unwelcomed evolutionary outcome of the jazz-fusion era...

Jazz ... It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. Its West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note...

Ancient Art ... Clear and simple lines combined with simple shapes and flat areas of color helped to create a sense of order and balance in the art of ancient Egypt... Symbolism, ranging from the Pharaoh's regalia (symbolizing his power to maintain order) to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, was omnipresent in Egyptian art...

Baroque Music ... Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon, being widely studied, performed, and listened to. Composers of the baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Henry Purcell...

Painting In The Americas Before Colonization ... The arts of the indigenous people of the Americas had an enormous impact and influence on European art and vice versa during and after the Age of Exploration... Pre-Columbian, Museum of the Nation, Lima, Peru Peruvian Calabas North America See also: History of the west coast of North America and Prehistoric Southwestern Cultural Divisions United States Main: Native American art See also: Alaska Natives In the area that is now the United States, many different and diverse Native American tribes of people created painting and ornamental painted objects of a large variety...

Sprachbund ... In contrast, a Sprachraum (from German, "language area"), also known as a dialect continuum, describes a group of genetically related dialects spoken across a geographical area, differing in their genetic relationship only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as distances increase. Examples The Balkans The idea of areal convergence is commonly attributed to Jernej Kopitar's description in 1830 of Albanian, Bulgarian and Romanian as giving the impression of "nur eine Sprachform ...

The Arts ... Art is a global activity which encompasses a host of disciplines, as evidenced by the range of words and phrases which have been invented to describe its various forms... For example, the history of art is described as "the history of the visual arts of painting, sculpture and architecture...

Architecture ... "Architecture" can mean: The art and science of design and erecting buildings and other physical structures...

Theatre Of India ... The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is A Treatise on Theatre (Nātyaśāstra), a compendium whose date of composition is uncertain (estimates range from 200 BCE to 200 CE) and whose authorship is attributed to Bharata Muni. The Treatise is the most complete work of dramaturgy in the ancient world...

Indian Painting ... Sadanga of Indian painting Around 1st century BC the Sadanga or Six Limbs of Indian Painting, were evolved, a series of canons laying down the main principles of the art... (Tagore.) The subsequent development of painting by the Buddhists indicates that these ' Six Limbs ' were put into practice by Indian artists, and are the basic principles on which their art was founded...

Work Of Art ... Definition A work of art in the visual arts is a physical two or three dimensional object that is professionally determined or other wise considered to fulfill a primarily independent aesthetic function... A singular art object is often seen in the context of a larger art movement or artistic era, such as: a genre, aesthetic convention, culture, or regional-national distinction... The term is commonly used by: museum and cultural heritage curators, the interested public, the art patron-private art collector community, and art galleries...

Music Of Mesopotamia ... Sumerian music The discovery of numerous musical instruments in royal burial sites and illustrations of musicians in Sumerian art show how music seemed to play an important part of religious and civic life in Sumer...

Literary Technique ... In particular, Viktor Shklovsky, in 1917, wrote the essay art as a technique, which marks a significant shift towards this perspective... In general, the term "artistic technique," means "everything that the artist uses with particular artistic intentions." The term "literary techniques" refers to specific aspects of literature, in the sense of its universal function as an art form that expresses ideas through language, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and analyze... Literary techniques collectively comprise the art form's components - the means authors use to create meaning through language, and that readers use to understand and appreciate their works...