Posted 11 years ago
TrustyHuck…
(20 items)
I received this paperweight as a corporate gift during a business trip to China in 2001 or 2002. Unfortunately, I no longer remember where it came from, but it was either Shanghai, Dalian or Hong Kong (the only places I visited back then). I remember it came in a paperboard presentation box with a silk lining with a custom foam impression which the paperweight fit into.
It's about 5" across and only a couple of inches tall. The bottom is etched with "NEWWORKSHOP" with some Chinese characters and then "2001 983/1560" and there is a stamped Chinese character set pressed into the side (sorry, I did my best to get closeups, but they didn't come out very clearly with my auto-focus camera).
I'm not sure exactly how it was made. The bottom has been ground/polished down, so there is no indication of a pontil mark. It's possible it was cast because the tail of the dragon seems almost formed as part of the body of the paperweight - but the arms of the dragon and head are raised/separated from the main piece - you can see the space in the picture - and I see no seams anywhere on the piece which I would have expected had it be cast or blown into a mold. The horns of the dragon also are still relatively sharp, something I don't think a cast piece would have been able to produce.
I've always liked the piece, and indirectly it began what would become my collection of art glass.
My Mother has the same Chinese Stamping on one of her vases...and we got it from Hong Kong while we lived there for 10 years...and its one of her favourite vases....nice!!!
Note - I got an email from Collector's Weekly that they felt this listing belonged in the "Chinese Antiques" category. I guess there's not much I can do about that, but for anyone who finds this post under that category, I will re-emphasize the detail from my original post - it is dated 2001, from about the time I received it. If that makes this an antique, I'd hate to think what that makes me. :)
liuligonfang