Original Item: Only One Available. This is an absolutely beautiful glass paperweight, designed and produced by Gentile Glass of Star City, West Virginia. The paperweight is in fantastic condition with the only wear being visibly present on the flattened bottom, which is expected with a paperweight.

There is no extensive damage present and the artwork is still highly visible with the text REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR / DEC. 7, 1942 surrounded an American ship shooting down an aircraft, presumably Japanese. The bottom has the manufacturer marking for GENTILE GLASS / STAR CITY, WV with an image of a glass worker.

John Gentile (1923-2006) was born into a glassmaking family. He became a giant in the world of glass paperweights. The glass business started by his father, Pietro, in 1947 in Star City, West Virginia, catered to the tourist trade and therefore produced mass quantities of inexpensive simple weights, but over the decades that John Gentile worked with glass he honed his paperweight skills and produced some very nice, interesting, and technically challenging paperweights. They tend to be nicely finished. He was one of the first American paperweight artists to incorporate snakes and lizards. He worked with lampworker Henry C. Johnson who made the snakes and whatnot that John encased in glass. John certainly made many thousands of weights over his career and his highly developed skills are evident in his work, many of which can be found on display in various museums around the world.

A lovely item that comes ready for display or use!