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Allan's PaperweightsSt. Clair Paperweights for Sale
Most of the paperweights on this page are the work of the St. Clair family of Elwood, Indiana. In fact, it has been claimed that the St. Clairs made more paperweights than any other single factory. There are some styles that were made by not only the St. Clairs, but also others including John Degenhart, so it is sometimes difficult to be sure who made a particular item unless it was signed.
Elwood had all the right elements for the glass industry, including energy (natural gas) and abundant supplies of sand. Many glass workers moved to Elwood to work in one of the five glass factories there.
The St. Clair line (as far as paperweights are concerned) started with John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr. who worked at the George MacBeth Glass Works in Elwood from around 1903 to 1938. Local natural gas production faltered in 1938 and the St. Clairs began to develop their ideas for a new business of their own. Joe did the original experimentation and the business was formally started in 1941. John, Sr. and the brothers John, Jr., Joe, Ed and Bob all participated, while another brother, Paul, did not at first. By 1944 St. Clair paperweights were being sold through Georg Jensen on Fifth Avenue in New York.
- John St. Clair, Sr. died in 1958
- Joe retired (the first time) in 1971 and sold the factory to new owners in Elwood, Indiana
- About the same time, Bob St. Clair and his wife Maude opened a new factory in Elwood
- Paul retired from General Motors and joined Bob, along with Ed St. Clair and a nephew, Joe Rice
- Sometime later after Bob opened his factory, the new owners of the original factory sold the factory back to Joe. So, for a while, there were two St. Clair Glass factories.
- Here are the years of birth and death for Pop and the brothers.
- John B. St. Clair (1880 - 1958)
- Paul St. Clair (1905 - 2000)
- Joseph St. Clair (1909 - 1987)
- Bertrand Edward St. Clair (1912 - 1989)
- Robert St. Clair (1919 - 1986)
- Joe Rice makes a line of paperweights under his own label.
- Tom St. Clair, who is descended from one of John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr's brothers, has been making paperweights under his own label in Anderson, Indiana since 1985.
- St. Clair glass remains in production today.
| 4586 | Magnum St. Clair Style Multi-Colored Icepick Flower Paperweight with Pairpoint Glass Label. circa 1952-1975. This very large paperweight features five multi-colored ice-pick flowers over a white chipped glass ground. The ice-pick flowers are arranged around a large central bubble. As is typical of this style, there is a carefully placed bubble in the center of each flower. Often these paperweights are made by members of the St. Clair family in Elwood, Indiana and have a pontil mark identifying the maker. This paperweight does not have a pontil mark, but instead has a partial Pairpoint Glass paper label. Although I don't know for sure, I believe the paperweight was made at one of the St. Clair factories and was sold under the Pairpoint label. A very flashy paperweight. This style of flower is called an ice-pick flower because of the ice-pick like tool used to push each flower down to the ground to form a stem. Note about the Pairpoint Label: Sometime after the formation of Gunderson - Pairpoint in 1952, some glass not characteristic of Pairpoint was sold with Pairpoint labels. I have seen examples of Murano and St. Clair style with Pairpoint labels. While it is possible that Pairpoint made glass in these styles, a more likely explanation is that the company (or unscrupulous others) deliberately added the labels to improve the variety of products offered for sale. There were certainly left over labels when the factory closed and also new labels could have been printed. In the case of the paperweight offered here, we know that some St. Clair paperweights were being sold through major sales outlets, such as Georg Jensen in New York. Is it possible that the factory had a similar arrangement with Pairpoint? The St. Clair line (as far as paperweights are concerned) started with John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr. who worked at the George MacBeth Glass Works in Elwood from around 1903 to 1938. Local natural gas production faltered in 1938 and the St. Clairs began to develop their ideas for a new business of their own. Joe St. Clair (1909 - 1987) did the original experimentation and the business was formally started in 1941 in Elwood, Indiana. John, Sr. and the brothers John, Jr., Joe, Ed and Bob all participated, while another brother, Paul, did not at first. By 1944 St. Clair paperweights were being sold through Georg Jensen on Fifth Avenue in New York. Joe retired (the first time) in 1971 and sold the factory to new owners in Elwood, Indiana. Sometime later, the new owners of the original factory sold the factory back to Joe. For a while, there were two St. Clair factories, one owned by Joe and the other owned by Bob St. Clair. Pairpoint Glass has a long history extending back to its earliest origins with Mount Washington Glass in 1837. Owners and locations changed a number of times and the name Pairpoint was first used in the 1890s. The original Pairpoint companies were located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1938, it was reorganized as Gunderson Glass Works by owner Robert Gunderson and later renamed the Gunderson - Pairpoint Glass Works in 1952. The name was acquired by Robert Bryden and the company moved briefly to East Wareham, MA in 1957 where it operated as the Pairpoint Glass Company. They leased production facilities in Spain. The last New Bedford factory burned down in 1965. In its latest iteration, Robert Bryden moved Pairpoint to Sagamore, Massachusetts in 1970. It continues to operate at that location today (2018) although under new owners. Very Large Size: 31/2' diameter by just under 3 7/16' high. The bottom is finished flat with an indentation in the center where the hot stamp pontil mark would normally be. For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large pictureSOLD. Click on the picture to see a larger image. | Click on the picture to see a larger image |
| 3813 | Magnum St. Clair Crimp Paperweight. c.1970-2000. Multi-colored stylized flower in the unique St. Clair style. This style of crimp weight is very collectible. This one has eight pleats or crimps with carefully placed bubbles between each. There is also an extra large central bubble. A huge very showy paperweight with great color. Shown in both the Melvin book listed above (with a sulphide) and in the Bonnie Pruitt St. Clair Collectors Guide (without a sulphide). Magnum Size: Just under 4' diameter by 2 1/4' high. The bottom is fire finished and hot stamped with the signature. For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweight$65 postage paid in the US. Click on the picture to see a larger image. | |
| 4009 | Joe St. Clair Multicolored Ribbon Crimp Paperweight - Signed. circa 1941-2000. Multi-colored stylized crimp flower in the unique St. Clair style. I refer to this style as a rainbow ribbon crimp weight. It has has eight pleats or crimps with a carefully placed bubble between each. A showy paperweight with great color. Very collectible. Similar examples are shown American Glass Paperweights and Their Makers by Jean Melvin (1967 and 1970) and the St. Clair Collectors Guide by Bonnie Pruitt. The St. Clair line (as far as paperweights are concerned) started with John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr. who worked at the George MacBeth Glass Works in Elwood from around 1903 to 1938. Local natural gas production faltered in 1938 and the St. Clairs began to develop their ideas for a new business of their own. Joe St. Clair (1909 - 1987) did the original experimentation and the business was formally started in 1941 in Elwood, Indiana. John, Sr. and the brothers John, Jr., Joe, Ed and Bob all participated, while another brother, Paul, did not at first. By 1944 St. Clair paperweights were being sold through Georg Jensen on Fifth Avenue in New York. Joe retired (the first time) in 1971 and sold the factory to new owners in Elwood, Indiana. Sometime later, the new owners of the original factory sold the factory back to Joe. For a while, there were two St. Clair factories, one owned by Joe and the other owned by Bob St. Clair. Large Size: Just over 2 3/4' diameter by 2' high. The bottom is fire finished and hot stamped with the signature. For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture$69 postage paid in the US. Click on the picture to see a larger image. | Click on the picture to see a larger image |
| 2049 | Magnum Victory Paperweight with Red, White, and Blue Ribbon Crimp Paperweight. circa 1945. This paperweight features a frit design with large white V (for Victory) surrounded thirteen white five pointed stars. The frit design is placed over a red, white, and blue ribbon crimp ground. The ground has eight pleats or crimps with a carefully placed bubble between each. In this case, it is easy to imagine the ground representing an American flag waving in the wind. Although the crimp ground is similar to that used by the St. Clair family, other glass workers also used an eight pleat crimp, so I can't say definitively who the maker is. Very patriotic. Frit refers to the powdered glass used to make the upper part of the design. The design is set up in a metal die and then picked up with a gather of a ground of clear or colored glass. The St. Clair line (as far as paperweights are concerned) started with John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr. who worked at the George MacBeth Glass Works in Elwood from around 1903 to 1938. Local natural gas production faltered in 1938 and the St. Clairs began to develop their ideas for a new business of their own. Joe St. Clair (1909 - 1987) did the original experimentation and the business was formally started in 1941 in Elwood, Indiana. John, Sr. and the brothers John, Jr., Joe, Ed and Bob all participated, while another brother, Paul, did not at first. By 1944 St. Clair paperweights were being sold through Georg Jensen on Fifth Avenue in New York. Joe retired (the first time) in 1971 and sold the factory to new owners in Elwood, Indiana. Sometime later, the new owners of the original factory sold the factory back to Joe. For a while, there were two St. Clair factories, one owned by Joe and the other owned by Bob St. Clair. Very Large Size: Just under 3 1/4' diameter by 2 13/16' high. The bottom is ground flat with a matte finish. For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large pictureSOLD. Click on the picture to see a larger image. | Click on the picture to see a larger image |
| 3487 | Signed Joe St. Clair Blue and White Sparrow Paperweight. circa 1960 - 1980. A very attractive figural paperweight in the shape of a bird. The blue and white inner core / ground is pleated and then cased in clear glass. There is a carefully placed bubble in each pleat. The tail and head are clear glass. The blue and white colors give this bird a unique identity. More typically these birds are brown. It is hot stamped 'JOE ST CLAIR' on the base. A flashy paperweight. You can read about the St. Clairs from Elwood, Indiana in the book American Glass Paperweights and Their Makers by Jean Melvin (1967 & 1970). There is also a price guide by Pruitt that shows a $35-40 price range for a bird signed St. Clair, but the price guide does not show a price a bird signed Joe St. Clair. The St. Clair line (as far as paperweights are concerned) started with John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr. who worked at the George MacBeth Glass Works in Elwood from around 1903 to 1938. Local natural gas production faltered in 1938 and the St. Clairs began to develop their ideas for a new business of their own. Joe St. Clair (1909 - 1987) did the original experimentation and the business was formally started in 1941 in Elwood, Indiana. John, Sr. and the brothers John, Jr., Joe, Ed and Bob all participated, while another brother, Paul, did not at first. By 1944 St. Clair paperweights were being sold through Georg Jensen on Fifth Avenue in New York. Joe retired (the first time) in 1971 and sold the factory to new owners in Elwood, Indiana. Sometime later, the new owners of the original factory sold the factory back to Joe. For a while, there were two St. Clair factories, one owned by Joe and the other owned by Bob St. Clair. Large Size: 2 1/16' wide by 4 3/8' long by 2 5/8' high. The bottom is finished flat and hot stamped in the center with the signature. For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweightSOLD. Click on the picture to see a larger image. | Click on the picture to see a larger image |
| 3968 | Joe St. Clair Multi-Colored Icepick Flower Paperweight. circa 1960-1980. This medium to large sized paperweight features five colorful ice-pick flowers over a white chipped glass ground. The ice-pick flowers are yellow, white, green, pink, and blue. As is typical of this style, there is a carefully placed bubble in the center of each flower and also a carefully placed bubble in the ground in between each flower. It is hot stamped 'JOE ST CLAIR' on the bottom. A very flashy paperweight. This style of flower is called an ice-pick flower because of the ice-pick like tool used to push each flower down to the ground to form a stem. The St. Clair line (as far as paperweights are concerned) started with John 'Pop' St. Clair, Sr. who worked at the George MacBeth Glass Works in Elwood from around 1903 to 1938. Local natural gas production faltered in 1938 and the St. Clairs began to develop their ideas for a new business of their own. Joe St. Clair (1909 - 1987) did the original experimentation and the business was formally started in 1941 in Elwood, Indiana. John, Sr. and the brothers John, Jr., Joe, Ed and Bob all participated, while another brother, Paul, did not at first. By 1944 St. Clair paperweights were being sold through Georg Jensen on Fifth Avenue in New York. Joe retired (the first time) in 1971 and sold the factory to new owners in Elwood, Indiana. Sometime later, the new owners of the original factory sold the factory back to Joe. For a while, there were two St. Clair factories, one owned by Joe and the other owned by Bob St. Clair. Size: 2 11/16' diameter by 2 1/2' high. The bottom is finished flat and hot stamped in the center with the signature. For extra pictures, click on the picture at the right and the following links: Large picture of the paperweightSOLD. Click on the picture to see a larger image. | Click on the picture to see a larger image |
| 2111 | Rare Miniature Rose Stopper - Possibly St. Clair. c.1950. This is a miniature red crimp rose intended to be a perfume stopper or perhaps a lady's gearshift knob. There are 16 deep red petals and four translucent green leaves. The paperweight end is faceted with four side facets plus a top facet. The facets are angled so that the top is slightly smaller than the bottom. The stem is unfinished. I don't know who made this miniature crimp rose, but the setup matches one attributed to St. Clair by Melvin in the book American Glass Paperweights and their Makers (revised edition 1970). If you have that book, check out the sixth color page between pages 48 and 49. In the middle group of paperweights on that page, there is a pink rose with the same setup (between two star shaped paperweights). The attribution may be incorrect. Miniature Size: 1 1/2' diameter by 1 2/3' high. With the facets the top is slightly rectangular 1 1/8' by 1 1/4'. The paperweight portion just over 3/4' high.
Click on the picture to see a larger image. |
Revised 7/30/2020 IE