American glass

The subject of American glass is a difficult one as with the emigration of Europeans into America much glass came with them and whilst some glass was made early in American history it can be almost impossible to determine if it is imported or made by people from one or another country in America. Glass manufacture in America however was probably the first major industry.

There are some known glass houses from the seventeenth century but generally in this period most of the glass was imported from England. It was not until the 1730s that the glass industry started to progress German immigrants began to produce a low quality unrefined green soda glass. Wistar, Stiegel and amelung started their glass houses on the east coast and of course as the population spread westward so did the industry. Later in the century better quality lead glass began to be made including opaque twist glasses and other items similar to the imported glass.

It is possible using modern scientific methods to determine where glass has its origins and consequently pieces can be ascribed to one glass house or another and the previously wrongly attributed wares weeded out. It has been found that many of the truly American pieces are a little more decorative in design than the European imports and that coloured glass was also made. Dating the period in which a piece was made can also be difficult as many of the early type wares remained in production until well into the nineteenth century.

By the early nineteenth century Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania became a centre for high quality cut glass similar to that which was being produced in England. Here large services were made for the tables of the wealthy as well as pieces containing sulphide portraits. Generally all the techniques that were used in European glass manufacture were used in America though with the convergence of many peoples often there was a mixture of styles.

Much blown moulded glass was also made in the first half of the nineteenth century which is very similar to the Irish glass of this period. Many Irish people were finding new lives in America and with them they brought the techniques which they had learned at home. I am sure that there were great opportunities for these skilled workers to pass on there knowledge and to start up a business in a land which was fast expanding and full of raw materials. These blown moulded pieces were mostly of colourless glass with a variety of wares being made, from cruet sets to large bowls with turnover rims similar to the ones made in Ireland, some pieces were made in coloured glass and these are very rare and highly desirable.

The use of moulds was also extended to include the manufacture of flasks and bottles commemorating politicians and other great Americans. Often in coloured glass these can fetch large sums of money though beware as they have been greatly copied and whereas a copy can be bought for little money a rare original could be worth thousands of pounds.

The method of press moulding in the 1820s probably came about when the technique which had been used in Britain and Ireland from the late eighteenth century to make stoppers and bases for bowls, rummers and the suchlike was developed so that complete pieces could be made. Probably introduced by immigrant workers who now had the freedom to experiment and use there ingenuity with the incentive of reaping the rewards for their skills the technique developed throughout the nineteenth century and was a large area of production in the U.S.A.

In the second half of the nineteenth century some high quality pieces of cut glass were produced culminating with the brilliant cut glass of the latter part of the century which was cut in such a way as to strongly reflect light some of the cuts having an almost mirror like quality.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century art glass became popular and the name which is synonymous with this is Louis Comfort Tiffany who had been interested in the arts from an early age. His first pieces were stained glass panels of various subjects drawing inspiration from nature to historical events that were used in his interior designs of which, sadly, few remain.

In 1889 Tiffany toured Europe and here he gained a great deal of inspiration from the wares which were being produced. Particularly in France where he produced stained glass panels for Siegfried Bing and was involved to a great degree in start of the Art Nouveau movement. Bing sold Tiffany wares of all kinds in his Paris shop including the iridescent “Favrile“ glass, which was of a very high standard and comparable to anything produced in Europe, as well as his multicoloured lampshades.

Tiffany experimented with many techniques and styles of glass often his designs have drawn from natural history which he had a great interest in and from oriental works of art which he collected. Generally like most great designers he had a keen interest in many things from many countries and many periods which all were put to use in his designs.

Another important manufacturer in the Art Nouveau period was the Steuben Glassworks which was founded by the English born Frederick Carder who had come from a Staffordshire potting family but had learned about glass after being employed by Stevens and Williams. He took part in all elements of the manufacture from the design and innovation of new techniques to the blowing and making of the glassware. He developed many new techniques and was probably Tiffany’s greatest competitor.

During the late nineteenth century and early twentieth America produced glass that at least rivalled anything made in Europe and often surpassed it. Pieces can be bought from a few pounds for a fairly common pressed glass cup plate up to over one hundred thousand pounds for a superb Tiffany glass panel and the whole area offers the collector a wide and interesting as well as beautiful subject to concentrate his efforts.