All Kinds Of Glass - Part 2

( Originally Published 1963 )

William Henry Stiegel little dreamed that, by 1870, few towns in Pennsylvania would be too small to have their own glass factory. In the Lackawanna Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania from Wilkes Barre north to Honesdale, few of the twenty-two towns lacked a glass factory. Between 1890 and 1910, one of the smallest of these towns, Jermyn, with a population of about 3,000, had two glass factories. Neither of the Jermyn factories turned out as notable pieces as those of T. B. Clark and Company in Honesdale, and C. Dorflinger and Sons, Inc., in White Mills, a few miles farther north.

England and, for a period, Ireland also were known for cut glass. Ireland's great period of glassmaking extended from about 1780 to 1825, and although Waterford is the best-known name now, Belfast, Dublin, and Cork were other glass centers. The designs even from this great period of Irish cut glass were relatively simple in comparison to the finest made in the United States later. Diamonds, swags, prisms, the thumbprint, a round lozenge, and sawtooth were used in various combinations. The edges of Waterford glass pieces were usually scalloped and rims were likely to flare and possibly be turned over or lipped.

By 1800, cut glass was being made in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Pittsburgh Glass Works founded by Col. John O'Hara, and in the early years of the new century by other firms in western Pennsylvania. The New England Glass Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company in Sandwich also were producing some excellent cut glass.

What is now set aside as the Middle Period of cut glass manufacture in the United States covered the years from 1830 to 1880. Many new glasshouses were built during that time. They turned out a considerable amount of engraved glass as well as cut glass, which generally was a clear, lead glass. Cutting motifs were fairly simple, with the flute probably the most popular. Decanters that were blown, then decorated with flute cuttings and given a steeple stopper, are now perhaps the best-known pieces of this period.

The peak period of cut glass production in this country extended from about 1880 to 1905, and then tapered off gradually to next to nothing by 1915. Experts in the field call the years from 1880 to 1905 the Brilliant Period. During these years, glass of exceptionally fine quality was made, cutting was deep and designs often elaborate, for the wheels now were powered by electricity. In fact, the cut glass of the Brilliant Period was as fine as, if not finer than, the very best quality made anywhere at any time.

Even during its greatest and most popular period, cut glass was never inexpensive. Furthermore, these pieces of the Brilliant Period are now irreplaceable, for no firm anywhere today could afford to make and sell glass of the quality of the Brilliant Period and with a comparable amount of cut decoration. Almost all glass of the Brilliant Period was heavy and all of it sparkled. Irreplaceable too are pieces from the Middle and Early Periods. Although the cuttings were much simpler during the Middle Period, the pieces compare favorably in value with those of the Brilliant Period, if only because they were made earlier.

Perhaps no other type of glass has been in and out of fashion as often as cut glass. Because it was beautiful as well as expensive, it was a status symbol of the nineteenth century. Between 1880 and 1910, no bride felt officially married unless her presents included cut glass. It also was the correct present for anniversaries and special events. Then suddenly, after World War I, cut glass was out of fashion and started gathering dust in cupboards and attics. Often it was given away to anyone who would take it, and replaced by modern or contemporary "crystal."

The last few years, fortunately, have seen a new appreciation develop for American cut glass of the Brilliant Period. It's acceptable, if not fashionable, to display and use it. Some people are collecting it and if you have pieces you want to sell, it's possible sooner or later to find a buyer. Prices for cut glass depend on the eagerness of the buyer as well as the quality and the cutting. It is safe to say, though, that a great deal of fine cut glass can be purchased now not only for much less than it would cost if it could be made at this time, but also for less than it cost when it was made and first sold.

The appraised value of cut glass is much higher in most parts of the country than the actual price for which a piece can be sold. Certainly some of the large cities have more prospective buyers and it brings better prices there. In northeastern Pennsylvania, where so much cut glass was made, it may not be possible to sell a dozen sauce dishes for more than $15 or a 10-inchhigh vase of good workmanship for more than $10-and both originally cost much more. Almost anywhere, a person who owns a sugar and creamer in Pinwheel pattern (certainly worth $20 now, if it isn't nicked or cracked) is likely to give up and sell the pair for $10. Tumblers, even in a common or simple pattern, are worth not less than $4.

Of all the cut glass pieces, decanters are probably easiest to sell. Few, if any, of those that are in good condition and have their original stoppers should be sold for less than $25, and many of them will be worth $35 to $50. Cruets, perfume bottles, candlesticks, inkwells, and paperweights also are easier to sell for a decent price than most of the tableware. A paperweight, depending on the intricacy of its cutting, should bring from $10 to $20. A knife rest, which is as sensible an article today as it was seventy years ago, can be priced at not less than $5 and perhaps $7.50. As a matter of fact, knife rests, like any kind of glass salts, are an item that attracts collectors.

If you can find a collector who is interested primarily in cut glass, such a person will appreciate whatever pieces you have and be prepared to pay a worthwhile price for any that would round out her collection. So far, cut glass has not attracted the amount of interest and the number of collectors that its imitation, pressed glass, has acquired. But it is entirely possible that cut glass will reach this peak of popularity. When it does, it will be easier to sell for prices at or near the appraised values. At least the cut glass market will not be cluttered with reproductions.

All cut glass is good glass, heavy and sparkling. Some pieces, naturally, are better than others. According to Dorothy Daniel, an expert on American cut glass, the four tests to determine whether glass has been entirely cut, partly cut, or not cut at all are based on ring, sparkle, sharpness, and weight. All pieces of cut glass ring like a bell when struck lightly with a pencil or the fingers. Not all pieces ring with the same tone, and closed pieces such as carafes, decanters, and bottles sometimes smother the ring.

When a piece of fine cut class is held to the light, there is refraction. According to Miss Daniel, glass made during the Brilliant Period has the greatest refraction because of the purity of the ingredients and the quick fusion made possible by use of natural gas as the fuel. The deep cuttings of the Brilliant Period also increased refraction.

When you run your fingers over the cutting, the edges should feel sharp. A motif such as a nailhead may have been polished so that its sides are smooth, but the points still feel sharp. The edges of any motif will be sharply defined. Cut glass, as we have already mentioned, always is heavy because of the high lead content of the glass.

Cut glass was made in sets for table use, chiefly for desserts and liquids. Corinthian, a pattern of which almost every glasshouse had its own version.

Tumblers often came with both a carafe and a water pitcher in the same pattern. A knife rest, toothpick-holder, jam jar, syrup pitcher, and punch cups were other possible pieces that might be included in a set. Condiment sets and candlesticks as well as vases and bowls for flowers also often were made to match tableware. Ice-cream sets, although a small part of many patterns, could be purchased as a group. In some patterns, tableware could b° accumulated for a luncheon set and other pieces added to this nucleus to make a more elaborate setting for dinner parties. In fact, it was never necessary to buy a complete set at one time. A gift of a half-dozen tumblers might be the beginning. Then, a few months later, a water pitcher in the same pattern might be another gift or a purchase. Any number of pieces could be added singly or by the dozen or half-dozen over a period of years.

Decanters and perfume and cologne bottles could be bought individually or in pairs. Some gemels or twin perfume bottles that fit into one base also were cut. Candlesticks, lamps, lampshades, and chandeliers were available separately or in pairs too. Miscellaneous items were made in many patterns, some of them to match tableware. Vases were made in all sizes and shapes, in addition to rose bowls and rose jars. Cut glass baskets with handles were an important acquisition. These also were made in all shapes and sizes: taller ones with flaring tops were intended for flowers, the shallow, flat ones to display fruit. Boxes were made in varied shapes to hold jewels, gloves, handkerchiefs, hairpins, powder, puff, and salves. Many of the boxes are charming. Some of the boxes had silver, usually sterling, covers or mountings; others had cut glass covers. There were pin trays too.

Doorknobs, tiebacks for curtains, knobs for mirrors or furniture, napkin rings, inkwells, and paperweights were not uncommon but are likely to be passed over by present-day owners or finders. They shouldn't be, though the cutting on these smaller items was always much simpler than on table and ornamental pieces. The usual four tests will prove whether or not a doorknob or paperweight actually is cut glass. Incidentally, the glass panel in the entrance doors of some of the houses in Pennsylvania glass-factory towns is made of cut glass.

All of these various cut glass items were made in hundreds of patterns. In the Brilliant Period at least, the different glasshouses gave the patterns names or numbers to distinguish them. A named or numbered pattern generally was composed of two or more basic motifs arranged together artistically.

Flutings and other facetings and prism cutting-the latter either straight, broken, or notched-were important earlier, but were overshadowed by the more elaborate motifs and patterns of the Brilliant Period. Carried over into this period were such old motifs as English hobnail and English strawberry diamond, bull's-eye, and block. The hobnail motif was six-sided and flat-topped and resembled the hobnail of a shoe. Strawberry diamond was widely used with larger motifs. It was a diamond-shaped unit of small, deeply cut, equal-sided diamonds. American strawberry diamond with one cross cut into the flat, top surface of each small diamond was coarser-looking but fully as sparkling as the finer-cut English strawberry diamond. Hatching is the term for the fine crossed or parallel lines that often filled in between other motifs.