This is a brief discussion of American glass and the techniques, patterns and forms that were made at various times. Knowing these general times and classifications can help you find the types of glass you would like to collect and help you communicate with other glass collectors.
The Colonial Period
The Colonial period glass is mostly of a useful nature and include bottles, jars and flasks for storing food and drink. The workshops that created this glass were relatively short-lived and local phenomenon. You can see this glass in museums and in books, but do not expect to find it on the marketplace. Like antique Chinese pottery, this is a realm for experts.
American Flint Glass
The addition of flint rock to glass, making it clearer and brighter, was discovered in Europe in the mid-Seventeenth Century. Flint glass started to be used by some US glass makers early in the Nineteenth Century, and was used for approximately fifty years (1808 to 1860). This glass was blown and tooled, blown into molds and used with early pressing machines. Eventually the lead based glass formula replaced that using flint, and the soda-lime formula became the standard for everyday glassware.
American Cut Glass
American cut glass had an early period of about sixty-five years, from 1765 to 1829, when the patterns were generally reflective of the English and Irish cut glass of the time. Reaction to imported designs brought on a short period of simpler, American designs from 1830 to 1870. The heyday of American cut glass was from 1870 to 1910, a period called the American Brilliant Period in some publications. The glass of this period was heavily made and had intricate cut designs, and was based on a new lead glass formula that used lead as a clarifying agent. Pieces of this period are still easily found on the market, and they reward their collectors with some of the finest American glass, and prismatic rainbows.
Pattern Glass
Pattern glass, also called Early American Pattern Glass (EAPG), is the glass first created using molding machinery. From the 1827 to the 1860s, this pre-Civil War glass was made by skilled workmen using pressing machines and molds. This type of glass is sometimes broken into two types, pressed glass, from 1827 to 1830, and Lacy glass, made from 1830 to 1860. Lacy glass can be recognized by the stippling used on the non-pattern areas, giving a matte effect to the glass. Pattern glass molds were detailed and ornate, trying to replicate the fancy patterns found in the cut glass favored by the well-to-do. This is the first ornamented and ornamental glass widely available and within the economic reach of many Americans.
Art Glass
Art glass is the name given to the hand-made glass wares created in Europe and the US from the 1870s. These pieces were highly artistic and made from colored glass, using cameo and other techniques. In the US, Louis Comfort Tiffany and his Favrile glass are probably the best known of the art glass. Art Nouveau motifs of nature were the main style produced in art glass objects for decoration the home or office.
Carnival Glass
Carnival glass, pressed glass with a iridescent sheen imparted by the addition of metallic salts to the surface of the glass once the piece is molded, was originally made from 1905 to 1930. Made as give-aways during days of economic distress, the term carnival is not complimentary, yet many people now collect this glassware. Enough interest has been generated for it to have been reissued in the 1960s and 1970s, either by the original glass company or another glass companies holding the old molds.
Depression Glass
Following World War I, and the excessive weight and flash of the American Brilliant Period cut glass, American taste turned to light-weight, pastel colors of glass. Depression Glass, made from 1920 to 1940, was molded pieces made in pink, yellow, blue and green as well as clear glass. Simpler designs, often etched on the outside of the glass, provided a light, airy touch to the family dinner table. Most patterns are known by name, but there is some variation in the names applied to some patterns, and the molds were passed from one glass house to another at times, so the same pattern may have different names when made by different glass companies.
Studio Art Glass
Since the establishment of the Seattle glass houses in the 1960s, art glass, handmade and one-of-a-kind works of art, has continued to grow both in volume and influence in the US and abroad. There are now glass houses in most major cities where those interested can watch glassware being made by hand and where the collector can purchase fine glass works of art as well as fine decorative pieces. The growth of this glass has led to imitation by factory made glass animals and perfume bottles from China and elsewhere, so the best bet is to buy directly from the maker or at a glass-works gift shop. Ask to make sure the item was made on the premises.
Synopsis
colonial glass: 1600s to 1800-ish
flint glass: 1808-1860
cut glass: 1765-1910, Brilliant Period 1870-1910
pattern glass: 1827 to 1860s, including pressed glass (1827-1830) and lacy glass (1830-1860)
art glass: 1870s-?
carnival glass: 1905-1930
depression glass: 1920-1940
studio art glass: 1960s to present
In truth, each new style or technical break-through did not mean the end to the production of glass by previous methods or formulas. And there are obviously times, more recently, which have not been given names and dates. These will come as the Twenty-First Century progresses and the items from the second half of the Twentieth Century become collectible.
Glass continues to be made in the US by both hand-worked and machine-made processes, and each has their place. Furthermore, the glass of the late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries continues to be available to the glass collector. Whether you follow the latest fads or collect the glass of one or more past glass periods or styles, there is plenty of glass to look at and consider adding to your own collection.
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