(3) Scottish Art Glass Paperweights. Two by John Deacons and one by Peter McDougall. All with identifying labels on the bottom, and all purchased from Gem Antiques. 

Size: 4 x 4 x 3 in. 

Peter McDougall was born in a small village called Almondbank, Perthshire in Scotland on April 13th, 1952. He was not exposed to the arts by his family, but as a child he lived next door to Jack Allan, the head gaffer of Strathearn Glass in Crieff. He left school after just seven years to begin working in glassmaking, and in 1968 he and four other workers were asked to help Allan start Perthshire Paperweights by the former Strathearn general manager, Stuart Drysdale. He met and married his wife Catherine in 1973, with whom he had four sons who all went on to work in glass with him in different capacities. In the late 1980s he became the general manager of Perthshire, and remained in that position until the facility closed in 2002. That same year McDougall opened his own studio in Crieff, PMcD Glass Studios Ltd. His glass paperweights with fine lampwork and especially detailed millefiori are still highly sought after by collectors around the world.

John Deacons was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1950. From an early age he was interested in art and trained at the Edinburgh College of Art while still in secondary school. After discovering glassmaking, however, he was immediately hooked, and left school to start his career at Strathearn Glass in Crieff in 1967. In 1968 Stuart Drysdale, the general manager of Strathearn, offered Deacons the chance to join him, Jack Allan, Peter McDougall and others from Strathearn in a new venture, Perthshire Paperweights, which would specialize in high-quality paperweights. Deacons spent ten years there before forming his own small paperweight company in Crieff, “J” Glass, in 1978. The company was hit by a recession in 1983 and John closed down the factory operation. Preferring the freedom of working alone, making small batches of a design, John set up an even smaller and low overhead studio attached to his house in 1984, and ran a one man operation until his son, Craig, joined him in 1999 to continue the family tradition. Apart from his traditional millefiori designs which he produces regularly, his work is produced in small numbers usually to specific customer requirements. Today he is still working painstakingly to maintain their level of quality, with assistance from the newest member of the company: Craig’s daughter Erica, the third generation of Deacons glassmakers.