Early American Pattern Glass
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Prior to 1826 glass was largely hand-blown, but in that year Deming Jarves employed the first mechanical glass press in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Early American Pattern glass in usually divided in three stages:
Lacy.
Flint.
Non-flint.
Lacy glass, made from around 1826 to the mid 1840s by the famous Sandwich glass company and others, had ornate lacy patterns in stippled backgrounds. Most pieces were relatively small. The glass was murky and suffered from defects, which the lacy pattern disguised.
Flint glass, made from the 1840s until around 1862, had lead added to the formula. This gave the glass a brilliant color, and a distinctive bell-like ring when tapped.
Non-flint was made from around 1862 until 1915. Lead was needed for ammunition during the Civl War, and so was replaced in the formula with lime.
In general, the lacy patterns were succeeded by geometric patterns which were succeeded by naturalistic patterns. Colors, particularly vaseline, became popular in the 1870s and 1880s. Early American Pattern Glass was manufactured by many companies including George Duncan, Indiana Glass, McKee, U.S. Glass and Imperial.
The Victorian dining room had a predilection for giant table settings, with many specialized pieces such as celery holders, pickle dishes, decanters, cruets, and mugs. Collectors as a rule prefer patterns that came in table settings of at least four pieces.
There are between 1000 - 3000 distinct patterns. Unfortunately the original name of many patterns was not known, and so collectors dubbed the patterns with their own names, leading to several names for the same pattern.
Warning: reproductions abound. Early American Pattern Glass was reproduced as early as 1924.
Standard references include Early American Pattern Glass by Darryl Reilly and Bill Jenks (Krause publications) and Standard Encyclopedia of Pressed Glass by Bill Edwards and Mike Carwile (Schroeder Publishing).
View Early American Pattern Glass for sale at Centennial Antiques
Vicki
Young
PO Box 435
Randolph, OH 44265
330-325-7866