Manufacturers - George Bacchus and Sons

George Bacchus and Sons, Union Glass Works, Birmingham, England

Probably more than twenty glassworks existed in the 18th and 19th century in Birmingham, England. Their remains, mostly underground, are being excavated by archaeologists.

Bacchus Close Concentric Millefiori Union Glass Works, Birmingham circa 1845-55

One of these firms was Bacchus, Green & Green, which was founded in 1818. It was renamed Bacchus & Sons in the late 1840s, after its founder died. The company made paperweights from at least 1848, when they were exhibited at the Society of Arts. Perhaps several workers were responsible for paperweight production at the factory.

Today Bacchus paperweights are very rare, perhaps numbering only in the several hundreds. Bacchus designs are distinctive. They are all millefiori, and often close concentric. The outer rings of canes, rather than being level with the inner ones, angle and slope down with the shape of the weight.

The Bacchus in the Morton Collection has a yellow-lined, center pastry-mold cane surrounded by a single ring cane and five rings of white, blue, orange, and yellow neatly arranged canes.