Paperweights were probably first produced in Venice/Murano ca. 1843 when Venice was still part of the Austrian Empire. The first dated examples are from 1845, the year that Pietro Bigaglia exhibited paperweights - and other glassware - at the Exhibition of Austrian Industry in Vienna. Bigaglia’s weights incorporated millefiori, silhouettes and figure portraits made by Giovanni Battista Franchini and later, his son, Giacomo. The Franchini family also made weights - mainly scrambleds. Apart from “GBF” other initials have also been found although it has not proved possible to determine who these makers were.
19th Century weights are usually referred to as Venetian; the term Murano is generally applied to later, 20th Century, weights.

Click on an image for the zoom function or to enlarge; plus sizes & details