Albert Graeser Paperweight
date: label: date made
content: 1890-1900
name: label: maker
content: Graeser, Albert A.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter. By the mid-1800s, decorative paperweights produced by glassmakers in Europe and the United States became highly desired collectibles.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Decorative glass paperweights reflected the 19th-century taste for intricate, over-the-top designs. Until the spread of textiles colorized with synthetic dyes, ceramics and glass were among the few objects that added brilliant color to a 19th-century Victorian interior. The popularity of these paperweights in the 1800s testifies to the sustained cultural interest in hand craftsmanship during an age of rapid industrialization.
label: Description (Brief)
content: This paperweight was made by Albert A. Graeser and features an enameled decoration of three joined rings along with two sprays of roses. The back is marked “Made by Albert Graeser, Pittsburgh, Pa.”
label: Description (Brief)
content: In 1892, Graeser patented a process for making advertising paperweights in which he sealed a image to the underside of a rectangular glass blank using an enamel-like glaze.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
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content: Paperweights
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Aaron and Lillie Straus
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CE.60.133
label: catalog number
content: 60.133
label: accession number
content: 211475
objectType: label: Object Name
content: paperweight
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass, transparent (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: enamel painted (joint piece production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/4 in x 3 5/8 in; 5.715 cm x 9.2075 cm