Haford Grange paperweights

I have two Haford Grange dandelion clock paperweights—a large and a small—on one of my shelves of treasures. Both came from Choosing Keeping in London, though you can order them in the U.S. from quite a few places, including WMS & Co. They are just lovely, lovely objects and a wonderful all-occasion gift. Haford Grange also makes versions with an array of other botanical specimens.

I love the story of how they came to be. From their website:

"The original paperweights were first produced in 1968 by Barry Needham as a form of therapy for his muscular dystrophy. One day, a friend challenged him to encapsulate a dandelion clock. Barry met this challenge head on and, after numerous failures and with meticulous patience, he finally succeeded to everyone’s amazement. After his death the designs were refined by his brother, Alan Needham, into the products that we offer today. When Alan Needham started producing the paperweights on a commercial basis, his objective was “to create the unusual, bordering on the impossible”. Clear polyester resin, containing a UV filter to stop fading, is used to embed the botanical specimens without destroying them, as molten glass would, and the globe shape allows the specimen to be seen in its beauty from all angles."