Miniature Punch Bowl with Ladle and Cups, 1966

Paul Stankard, one of the founders of the Studio Glass movement, dreamed of becoming an artist even as he worked for chemical laboratories making scientific instruments. At his home studio in the late 1960s, he began fashioning small flame worked novelties and sold them to support his family. This creative outlet was not enough and he began to experiment with making paperweights--a form in which he would excel.