American Brilliant Cut Glass
Overview
From about 1875 to 1905 prospective brides looked forward to receiving as wedding gifts pieces of the fabulous cut glass then being created in American glasshouses. It was said that these crystal gifts should “look like a million and weigh a ton”. In the dim lighting of the period, tables at family dinners and parties laid with the faceted punch bowls, vases, trays and every manner of cut glass tableware seemingly sparkled. This thirty year span is often referred to as the “Brilliant Period” of American glass. Brilliant Period cut glass is actually blown crystal, cut by applying the heavy uncut blank, or undecorated piece, to a series of turning grinding wheels.
The quality of a cut glass bowl or vase depends upon a number of factors. First, the characteristics of the molten glass, or metal as it is called in the trade, is vital. Then the complex design or pattern would be traced upon the piece before the all important talent of the cutter comes into play. American glass cutters greatly refined the decorative styles brought across the oceans from England, Ireland and the Continent by earlier immigrant artisans. After cutting, the whitish body is turned over to the polisher who brings the decorated object to full brilliance. We often forget the talent and skills required by the men and women who labored in dangerous and dirty factory conditions to produce what are now considered desirable antiques.
There was almost no limit to the forms created in this marvelous medium. Ornate punchbowls with matching cups were typical wedding gifts. Then there were large compotes, ice cream trays, berry sets, pitchers of every kind for champagne, ice water, milk, juice and cider, joining wonderful sterling silver mounted ladies’ dresser jars and perfume bottles, to mention a few in the legions of brilliant glass offered for sale.
Even when producing these objects of beauty, the industry that created cut glass was also highly competitive, with each glasshouse vying to produce ever more lavish and complex designs to entice customers. Some of the best known firms were T.B. Clark & Co., C. Dorflinger & Sons, T.G. Hawkes & Co., J. Hoare & Co., Libbey Glass Co., Pitkin & Brooks, Tuthill Cut Glass Co. and the Mt. Washington Glass Co. They competed nationally through advertising and with elaborate displays at the industrial exhibitions so common in the late nineteenth century. Copying a competitor’s successful pattern was common with patent infringement suits avoided by simply changing a minor element in the design. The final product was often “signed” with the company’s mark which was etched upon an undecorated area. Unfortunately the marks were so shallow that they regularly disappeared with use.
About 1905 interest in ornate cut glass began to wane while production costs contintued to increase. The glasshouses found ways to reduce costs by turning to shallow cutting and the use of floral motifs. Blown and molded blanks which required less cutting were introduced. The brilliance of cut glass was diminishing. Some of the remaining factories made cut glass into the 1930′s, but the Great Depression was the final straw forcing the end of most production.
Collector’s Notes
However, there is still plenty of fine antique cut glass in our nation’s homes today, having been cared for by succeeding generations. If you are fortunate enough to inherit a piece, or decide to purchase an example, here is some advice. Run your hands over the surface. You should feel the sharpness of the wheel-made cuts. Hold the piece up to a strong light to observe any cracks, chips, flakes or bruises. Flick the piece with your finger; it should ring nicely. If it “clunks” there is a problem. Examine the edges, since these are the places that have often experienced damage from rough handling. It is not uncommon to find a piece that has had the damage polished off, so look critically at the cut decoration. The more complex and the more surface covered, the better the piece. Prices vary by the quality, condition and rarity of the piece of glass, and examples still bearing the glasshouse’s mark are more desirable. As we find in the marketplace for many collectible objects, when a rarity appears, price is defined by the level of a buyer’s interest and seller’s desire to sell.
Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Bob Goldberg.