The Imperial Glass Company was established in Bellaire, Ohio in 1901. The first production of pattern glass was produced in 1904. Pattern glass was followed by carnival glass, stretch glass and two lines of molded cut glass. Imperial is also the maker of Candlewick, a pattern of molded glassware produced from 1936 to 1982, and which is more famous that the Imperial name under which it was produced.

After beginning with pattern glass, Imperial began producing carnival glass around 1910 under the name of Rubigold, an amber based form of the iridescent glass. Eventually Azure (blue) and Helios (green) carnival glass lines were added, and these persisted into the 1920′s.

Someone noticed that the shiny finish from the metallic salts sprayed on carnival glass crazed if the piece was worked after spraying, resulting in an onion-like skin on the glassware. This stretch glass, usually much plainer in shape and with little modelling on the surface, was produced as Art Glass by the Imperial Company from 1916, in a number of colors and in over sixty shapes. The colors were called Pearl White, Pearl Ruby, Pearl Green, Pearl Silver and Pearl Amethyst. This glass is also now called Imperial Jewel glass.

Imperial’s Nucut and Near Cut lines involve molding the glass similar to the cut glass of the American Brilliant Period. Much cheaper to produce than real cut glass, it is also made from the regular glass metal and not lead crystal, making it lighter as well. These lines allowed middle class families enjoy the brilliance of cut glassware at prices within their reach.

Imperial is the maker of Candlewick glass, a pattern so popular that its name is better known to the glass buying public than the company name. This pattern was made by Imperial from 1936 until the company stopped producing glassware in 1982, and the molds have been dispersed and are now used by several companies. Candlewick forms are relatively plainly molded but have a series of small glass beads on the edges of the piece. Imperial was also a prolific maker of milk glass items, making most of their pieces in translucent glass in milk glass also.

Imperial purchased the molds of the Central, Cambridge and Heisey glass companies and produced further glassware from them with the Imperial mark. The Imperial mark is two capital I’s crossed at right angles, and with the letters “IMPERIAL” placed in pairs in the four quadrants formed by the crossed I’s.

See Imperial Glass here.

Look for Imperial glassware at antiques shops and glass shows. The company produced wonderful examples of all the mechanized and semi-mechanized forms of Twentieth Century American glass.

Go to the Table of Contents to see all topics covered so far.

Click glass collectibles to go to the most recent entry on this site.