Giuseppe Fiaschi Desk Accessories

This is a superb decorative antique Italian Grand Tour marble Pietra Dura mounted desk paperweight, circa 1880 in date. This splendid rectangular paperweight is exquisitely inlai...

Italian Murano art glass lily flower with curled stem paperweight. Beautiful blown art glass Murano lily shaped flower with a short curled stem, allowing ...

This antique paperweight is unsigned, but presumed to have been acquired during a Grand Tour through Italy, and dating to approximately 1880 and do...

Vintage Gucci Italian Metal Bird Desk Ornament or Paperweight This charming desk accessory is a vintage piece of home décor or paperweight by the renowned Italian luxury house, Gucci...

Paperweight, ruler with pen by Vanni Mazzetti Brass and steel Good condition. Thank you

An Elegant Silver Mounted "Rannas" Porphyry Paperweight, with small chip on a short edge. Beautiful figuring to the stone. Would enhance any desk's appearance. Circa 1890.

Italian oval white marble paperweight with beautiful colored burnt orange and greenish gray marble inlay with mother of pearl highlights in the form of a butterfly. Lovely piece to h...

Murano Green and Clear Italian Art Glass Flower Paperweight. Italian Mid-century Murano Blown Art Glass Paperweight with Floral Motif. Beautif...

This is a superb decorative antique Italian Grand Tour marble Pietra Dura mounted desk paperweight, circa 1880 in date. This splendid rectangular paperweight is exquisitely inlaid with a sumptuous arrangement of semi-precious stones including malachite, agate, onyx and amethyst. It is beautifully inlaid on a slate base. Not only is this desk paperweight very functional, but it is also an exquisite mineralogical wonder that can be admired by all discerning collectors. Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation, Dimensions in cm: Height 2 x Width 17 x Depth 10 Dimensions in inches: Height 1 inch x width 7 inches x depth 4 inches. Pietra dura is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished coloured stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art. Pietre dure is an Italian plural meaning "hard rocks" or hardstones; the singular pietra dura is also encountered in Italian. In Italian, but not in English, the term embraces all gem engraving and hardstone carving, which is the artistic carving of three-dimensional objects in semi-precious stone, normally from a single piece, for example in Chinese jade. The traditional convention in English has been to use the singular pietra dura just to denote multi-colored inlay work. However, in recent years there has been a trend to use pietre dure as a term for the same thing, but not for all of the techniques it covers, in Italian. But the title of a 2008 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe used the full Italian sense of the term, probably because they thought that it had greater brand recognition. The material on the website speaks of objects such as a vase in lapis lazuli as being examples of "hardstone carving (pietre dure)" The Victoria & Albert Museum in London uses both versions on its website, but uses pietra dura. "A method of inlaying coloured marbles or semi-precious stones into a stone base, often in geometric or flower patterns...." Giovanni Montelatici...

Beautiful and very unusual, vintage Murano hand blown multicolor millefiori flowers Italian art glass mushroom / toadstool sculptural paperweight. Th...

Vintage Flower Art Glass Egg Paperweight in the Style Murano of Italy, circa 1980s. This heavy vintage art glass egg paperweight, crafted in the style of Murano, showcases a vibrant ...

This elegant paperweight is a collectible piece created by the French silversmithing house Christofle and designed by B. Quentin in 1983. Crafted in silver-plated metal, it features ...