The Pleasures of Collecting Glass

I began collecting glass about 15 years ago. The first piece I ever bought was a Peachblow Lily vase. It is also the vase that is in my logo. I felt in love with this glass as soon as I got this piece. From there I started going to any antique show or store I could find. In my travels I started to find Burmese Glass and Amberina. These were made in the same time period as Peachblow. I had to learn more about this glass, so I started buying several books on the subject. In reading I learned alot about other glass too, and started collecting Pomona, Moser, Duncan Miller, and Fostoria. Like every collector, it just got so that I had too much. So I became a dealer and started to sell what I really didn’t want.

These days, I collect only Victorian glass for myself, as well as Amberina, Burmese and Peachblow. I also collect Orient & Flume Glass. This is a contemporary glass that was made starting in 1970. I had inherited my first piece from my mother. She was given the vase as a present and was told that it came from the Orient. Well, that seemed odd to me as it looked nothing like Oriental glass. So I started to do research on it and found that it came from a town that was only 1 1/2 hours away from me in Chico, California. I made a trip there and spent hours just watching the glassblowers make all kinds of glass. I have a piece for every year they have been in business and even a piece that was made when they were doing Art Festivals. I make a trip each year to get a new piece for my collection, and also to ask and learn anything I can about this type of glass.

Below you will find a short description of the Victorian glass pieces I collect.

BURMESE:
Blends from salmon pink at the top to canary yellow at the bottom. It was created by adding small amounts of uranium oxide, gold, feldspar and fluorspar to the batch. It was first produced by the Mount Washington Glass Company. The Patent was given to Fredrick S. Shirley in 1885. Burmese was also made by the New England Glass Company. From 1818-1888. Thos. Webb & Sons purchased a license to produce Burmese named Queens Burmese. It was then later produced by Robert Gunderson. The last batch was made in 1956. The Pairpoint Factory in Massachusetts, made limited quantity's in the 1970's.

AMBERINA:
Shades from red at the top to amber at the base. Small quantity's of gold were added to the batch. The patent for Amberina was given to Joseph Locke in 1883. He worked for Libbey and it was called Ruby Amber glass. It was made around the 1900's. New England Glass Works also manufactured this glass in 1883. Mount Washington produced Rose Amber in 1886.

PEACHBLOW:
It shades from rose at the top to white at the base. This glass was made several different ways. Hobbs, Brockunier produced Wheeling Peach Blow in 1886. Mount Washington produced their Peach Blow also in 1886, and named it Peach Blow and Peach Skin. Libbey produced what they called Wild Rose in 1886. Thos Webb began producing it in 1886, and named it Peach Glass. Gunderson, Pairpoint who was the successor to Mount Washington, reissued Peach Blow, Burmese and Rose amber in 1952.

With all the different companies making this glass, each one is different in it's own way. Some are more highly sought after than others.