Paul Ysart Catalogue

Labelled with Monart Design Code

see also label G3 on labels page

These weights would have been produced by Paul Ysart at John Moncrieff Limited and sold through Moncrieff’s distribution channel. Only weights having a coded label are included here; weights may also appear on another catalogue page until the structures of the PY catalogues are finalised.

Additional information from Ian Turner.

Paul Ysart’s arrangement with Moncrieff’s was that he had permission to go back into the factory after work to make paperweights using the company's equipment and pot glass. He was allowed to keep half of the weights for himself and Moncrieff’s sold the other half, with the Monart Label, to whoever placed orders for them. Paul’s paperweights were sold by Moncrieff’s throughout the 1950’s for 28 shillings (£1.40) plus purchase tax, but his output was very small. According to an article on Paul Ysart by Paul Jokelson, “In the mid-1950’s, at John Moncrieff Limited, Paul only made 16 to 20 weights per month, nearly all of which went to dealers in America.” They were certainly sold at Watson’s China Shop, Perth, Scotland — Ian has a 1959 photograph showing them in Watson’s shop window, priced at £5. The sales book for the wares sold direct from the factory shows that Monart glass and paperweights were still in stock as late as 1964.

Paul, however, sold his weights privately, sometimes in the pubs in Perth (with Jesus Braso, selling his baskets) and later to the family who now have the Stone Gallery, in Burford but previously were located in Newcastle. After the war, one of the principal outlets was through Paul Jokelson in America, but these weights were most likely supplied by Moncrieff’s. This 50/50 arrangement continued at the Caithness Wick factory throughout the 1960’s until Paul’s retirement in 1970.

While no mention was ever made of a catalogue of weights, Ian suspects that the designs were all retained in Paul’s head; the labelled weights were almost certainly the ones sold by John Moncrieff Limited. It is not known how many were made and sold before the war, but they appear in the post-war price lists at a trade price of 28 shillings before tax, and if they were mostly supplied to Jokelson it is probable that more of the numbered pieces survive in America than in the UK.

Another collector reports “I have several Ysart weights which I purchased from an auction and they came in their original Ysart/Jokelson box and had the original Moncrieff’s certificate in the box. Paul Jokelson would hand-write on the certificate a brief description, the number of the weight (for that year) and signed and date it. None of these weights have any sign of a Monart label, which could mean that labels were not applied before shipping, or that Jokelson was removing them (a strong possibility). The eventual owner may have removed the label. However, that same owner saved the box and the certificate so it is unlikely that he would have removed only the label.”