Jim Peake
Head of Department
Lot 89
A rare cased Silesian close-packed millefiori demi-parure from the workshop of Dr W E Fuss, circa 1841-42
29 September 2020, 10:30 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,422.50 inc. premium
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A rare cased Silesian close-packed millefiori demi-parure from the workshop of Dr W E Fuss, circa 1841-42
Comprising a brooch and pair of pendent earrings, set with oval and drop-shaped plaques containing a profusion of colourful composite canes, within deep blue glass borders with gold mounts, brooch 4.4cm wide, earrings 6.5cm long (3)
Footnotes
Provenance
Sotheby's sale, 19 November 1962, lot 85a
Sotheby's sale, 2 July 1979, lot 182
Illustrated and discussed by Peter von Brackel, Classic Paperweights from Silesia/Bohemia (2010), p.41, fig.51. Dr Wilhelm Eduard Fuss was a chemist who joined the Matterne Brothers in their glassworks in Hoffnungsthal in 1830. Here he was assisted by Franz Pohl in conducting experiments to rediscover the millefiori technique. These experiments were successful in 1833, when he succeeded in producing the first millefiori canes. He left the Matterne Brothers in 1840 and set up his own workshop in his chemical factory in Magdeburg-Schoenebeck in 1841, where he mainly produced jewellery amongst other millefiori decorated pieces including small plaques and handles. His workshop closed in 1842 as it was not economically viable and he gave up glassmaking. However, his early experiments enabled Karl Pohl to develop millefiori glass at his glassworks in Karlsthal, and ultimately provided the foundations for the production of millefiori paperweights in the mid-19th century.
