Obelisk

Object Type
Paperweights are required to be small and heavy but can take almost any form. Here the monumental form of an obelisk - a popular form for desk furniture - has been truncated to a more stable shape.

People
After his final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, remained a hero in Britain until his death in 1852. He was not content, however, to live quietly in retirement, but pursued a political career in the 1820s, culminating in a brief term as Prime Minister in 1829. This paperweight, which shows him as youngish man, was probably made around 1820, or possibly at the time of Napoleon's death on St Helena in 1821.

Materials & Making
Apsley Pellatt's patent for 'Crystallo-Ceramie' of 1819 was a new technique in Britain, but not in France, where it had been practised for some years, chiefly for making paperweights. Most ceramic decoration enclosed in clear glass were thin bas-reliefs (i.e., low-relief surface sculptures), whereas this miniature bust of Wellington is entirely three-dimensional and can be appreciated in profile as well as full-face. The lead glass used for these paperweights was ideal for the purpose: it magnified the image inside while the cut facets caught the light, and in the sunlight perhaps acted as a prism.