Brimfield is a large antiques / flea market that takes place in Brimfield, Massachusetts in May, July and September. There are approximately 5,000 dealers there. Some of the dealers set up shop in one field on Tuesday, move to another on Wednesday and then a third field on Thursday or Friday. Others set up in one location for the entire week. It pays to hit the fields the first day they open, but I've found great weights on every day of the week.
After missing several years,
I went back to Brimfield in 2013 to see if things had changed. I
went in May and found the four paperweights below. I also bought
a large Maurice Heaton platter for a bargain price. May was hot this
year and seemed a lot like July in past years. Some of the fields
were smaller than in the past and had fewer dealers.
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New England Glass Company (NEGC) Scramble or End of
Day Paperweight. Circa 1860. This scramble paperweight
has an interesting variety of complex canes and twist canes. Two
of the canes have a running rabbit in the center, although one is tiny
and partially obscured. The paperweight is large and in great shape.
Although many people collect scramble paperweights for their own merit, scrambles are also valuable tools for learning to identify the different colors and canes used by each factory. New England Glass Company (NEGC) operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1818 to 1888. Size: 2 3/4" diameter by just under 1 7/8" tall.
Circa 1860. The bottom has remnants of the pontil mark.
For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweightClick on the picture to see a larger image. |
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New England Glass Company (NEGC) Spoke Pattern Paperweight with
heart canes. Circa 1860. This is an unusual NEGC spoke
pattern paperweight with millefiori canes arranged in eight spokes around
a center cane. It can also be described as a three ring concentric
with eight complex canes in each ring. There is an inner ring of
red, white, and blue complex canes with heart centers. The middle
ring consists of larger red, white, blue and green complex canes, some
with cross canes. The outer ring has red and white complex canes.
The center cane matches the canes in the second row. All of this
is over a double latticinio swirl ground.
New England Glass Company (NEGC) operated in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1818 to 1888. Size: Just under 3" diameter by 2 1/3" tall. Circa
1860. The bottom is ground concave.
For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweightClick on the picture to see a larger image. |
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Boyer Glass Icepick Flower Paperweight. Circa 1995.
This colorful paperweight was made by Harry Boyer of Harbor Springs, Michigan.
It consists of six icepick flowers arranged over a six petal green leaf
ground. The flowers were formed from millefiori slices. The
six leaf ground is formed separately with a stem reaching to the base of
the paperweight.
This style is called an icepick flower because of the sharp tool used to push each flower down to the base. Harry Boyer attended Bowling Green State University in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He took an Introduction to Glassblowing course with Dominick Labino and decided to focus his studies on sculpture and glass. He opened his own studio with his wife Kathleen in 1974 in Toledo, Ohio. In 1984 they moved the studio to Harbor Springs, Michigan. Size: 2 1/4" diameter by just under 2" tall. Circa 1995.
The bottom is ground flat.
For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweightClick on the picture to see a larger image. |
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Chinese Pedestal Footed Blue Crimp Rose. Circa 1930.
This is a 1930s Chinese copy of a Millville Pedestal Crimp Rose.
It has 12 blue colored petals and four green leaves. At the base
is a double foot or pedestal.
The blue rose is one of the rarer Chinese pedestal roses. The South Jersey Crimp Rose is one of the most famous American paperweights. The best makers were Emil Larson of Vineland, New Jersey and Ralph Barber of Millville, New Jersey. There were also other makers. Newell's Old Glass Paperweights of Southern New Jersey shows examples of both the South Jersey weight and the 1930s Chinese copy. Size: 3 1/8" diameter by 3 1/2" tall. Circa 1930.
The bottom is ground concave in the center.
For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweightClick on the picture to see a larger image. |
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Revised 6/30/2013