Banford, Family

Ray Banford (1918-2003) was from New Jersey - an area with a long tradition in glassmaking. Ray, along with his son Bob Banford, began to experiment with paperweights in the early 1970s. Within a few years they were making top-quality weights in a variety of designs. Both artists are perhaps best known for their beautiful lampwork flower weights often set in intricately-cut baskets. In the early years Ray Banford used a number of different signature canes. From 1980 onwards he used a black B in a white circle. Bob Banford’s signature cane has a red B on a white field within a blue ring.