Dandelion Paperweight

Material: clear polyester resin, real dandelion clock

Size: Ø 65 mm / Ø 85 mm

Origin: Port Talbot, South Wales

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 and, after numerous failures and with meticulous patience, he finally succeeded to everyone’s amazement. After his passing the designs were refined by his brother, Alan Needham.

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 prevent 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.