This is a beautiful and quite rare Scottish paperweights designed by the glass maestro William Manson. He was responsible for the global recognition of Scotland as a leading nation within the world of glass, and his work can be found in prestigious collections around the world.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY/ William Manson (1951 - 2025) was apprenticed to Paul Ysart at Caithness Glass towards the end of the 1960’s. When Paul left Caithness in 1971 to set up his studio at Harland, William joined him in the new business. After Harland closed in 1974, he returned to Caithness where he stayed until setting up William Manson Paperweights Studio in 1997. Sadly William Manson Snr passed away in 2025. His work is continued by his son William and family from there studio in Stirling. They continue his legacy with the production of stunning limited edition paperweights.
It is marked on the base: Caithness Glass with the weight title: Lily and Ladybird. It is No. 23 - out of a small limited edition of 250. The edition actually closed at only 86 weights issued. It dates to 1991. It is classified as CT-841. It had an opening price when first on sale of £175 - so always a much sought after special Manson weight.
There is an angled foot on the weight so you can title it and the viewing window sits at a jaunty angle when on display. The main body of the weight is tinted in a pale olive green colour - and when you look through the veiwing facet - it looks as if the center is a golden yellow colour with a halo of darker green. Inside the center you can seen a delicate yellow lily with orange stamens and orange spotting on the petals. There are five emerald green leaves. On the lowest green leaf there is a cute little red ladybird.
It is not signed as being by William Manson. This is not an unusual occurrence, as many of his weights made at Caithness often devoid of a signature or his WM cane.
It is a fabulous and rare weight - and looks amazing on display. It is listed at a fair price. This takes into account the pretty design, its fine condition and the very small edition size.
Dimensions: The diameter is 3 inches. The height is 2 3/4 inches. I have taken lots of images for your inspection.
The paperweight will be sent to you with Royal Mail Tracked Delivery to keep it safe in transit. This will be applied to your order at the checkout.