The Atterbury Glass Company was established as the White House Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1859. The name became Atterbury & Company in the mid 1860s, and became the final Atterbury Glass Company in 1893. It was a prime mover in the development of glass processes and held many patents for these and glassware designs. The products were well made and Atterbury remains a name of quality even today.
The Atterbury milk glass items include some of the most recognized items in this form of glass. The Atterbury duck bottle, a bottle in the shape of a dusk with all appendages tucked in and the mouth of the duck as the opening of the bottle, is easily recognized, as is the caged marble stopper it came with, but which is often missing today. The wire cage on the cork holds a white marble, which opens when the bottle is tilted to pour and returns to close the bottle when it is resting upright. The complete Atterbury duck bottle with stopper is worth over $500.
The next most recognizable Atterbury product is the Boar’s Head covered box. The fine details of the boar’s head make this a great covered box and a real find for a collector. The Atterbury Large Covered Rabbit box has imported pink glass eyes, which are not part of the same covered box when produced by Imperial. The Raised-Wing Swan covered box by Atterbury has red glass eyes, as does the Atterbury Hen on a lacy base, which also comes in several colors besides white. The Chick on Egg Pile covered dish uses the lacy base so predominant with Atterbury, and Westmoreland used the lacy base for their boxes produced from the Chick on Egg Pile boxes as well, making them difficult to tell apart.
Other Atterbury animal covered dishes include the Ribbed Base Lion and the Ribbed Base Fox. With all multi-part glass items, it is very important to have the correct pairing, and this is where new collectors frequently come to grief. Making sure the base is the right one for the top can be very difficult, so, before you pay the big bucks, learn to tell the different bases apart, or deal with sellers who will give you your money back if you are not satisfied and have an expert look at your purchase as soon as your can.
Other Atterbury products that are unique and which have not been reproduced, to my knowledge, are the Entwined Fish and Flat Fish covered dishes, and the Dual Fish pickle tray. There is a Cat on Lacy Base, and a Bull’s Head Mustard where the handle of the ladle (usually missing) is the bull’s tongue. There is a Melon with Leaf and Net covered dish, a Fern spooner and Lily sugar and creamer, representing the plant kingdom. The Lacy edged bowl, so often the base for the animal covered dishes, was also made by the Westmoreland Company. Atterbury has several items based on the human hand, including the Open Hand pieces where the hand and wrist make up the stem of the item, and the Hand with Fan tray. Other, less representative items, include the Basketweave compote, the Diamond Grill bread plate and the H-border plate. Finally, for good luck, there is the Horseshoe picture frame.
I do not pretend that this is a complete list of the Atterbury opaque glass production, but it does contain some of the most famous Atterbury items, and some less well known ones. Atterbury is a name to be sought after in the glass world, especially milk glass, but know how to recognize the real thing before you pay Atterbury prices. Unfortunately, the company ceased production in the early 1900′s, so the Atterbury production is finite as well as highly desirable. Thus the reuse of their molds by other companies.
Much of this information comes from Collector’s Encyclopedia of Milk Glass Identification & Value Guide, Betty & Bill Newbound, Collector’s Books, 1995.
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